Conversation with my dad regarding my cousin's recent wedding:
ME: And what was Wendy [the bride] wearing?
DAD: A white dress.
A Month of Reflection
1 year ago
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Cool slideshow feature: Tasmania
I have just discovered a cool feature of Google Photos (Picasa) and that is the ability to create slideshows of your albums to embed in a web page or blog post. This differs from the permanent slideshow that I have in my toolbar to the right as I can only display one album at a time here, it's small and you can't view captions. With the Google Photos Slideshow I can choose the size and create a new slideshow every time I post a new album. You can view captions by clicking on the speech bubble. (If you can't see speech bubble and other controls just hover your mouse over the slideshow.)
Of course you can always go and run the full size slideshow yourself by clicking on the 'My photo gallery' link to the right but a cool new toy is a cool new toy and it just begs to be played with. So here is the first of what could be many embedded albums: Honeymoon in Tasmania.
Of course you can always go and run the full size slideshow yourself by clicking on the 'My photo gallery' link to the right but a cool new toy is a cool new toy and it just begs to be played with. So here is the first of what could be many embedded albums: Honeymoon in Tasmania.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Me, the discerning bride
Yes, more wedding stuff for your delectation. Many of you will remember my tendancy to drag my birthdays out for as long as possible and now I'm doing the same with our wedding. I don't do it with birthdays any more though; I'm too old for that now.
This time it's The Discerning Bride magazine feature that came out a few months ago. I have finally got around to scanning it and getting it online (after scanning it as PDF and emailing it around, photocopying it and sticking in the post to my grandparents, and handing it around to everyone who'd bother to look at it).
In further exciting wedding news (I am obsessed; I have no life) we are now in possession of over 1000 professional digital images of our wedding and in a few weeks we should have our wedding album. I will probably struggle to show this to most of you but I do have digital images of the layout so I may well post that at some point too.
This time it's The Discerning Bride magazine feature that came out a few months ago. I have finally got around to scanning it and getting it online (after scanning it as PDF and emailing it around, photocopying it and sticking in the post to my grandparents, and handing it around to everyone who'd bother to look at it).
In further exciting wedding news (I am obsessed; I have no life) we are now in possession of over 1000 professional digital images of our wedding and in a few weeks we should have our wedding album. I will probably struggle to show this to most of you but I do have digital images of the layout so I may well post that at some point too.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Big Freeze
So you think you're frozen back in the Old Dart* what with your snow and that? That's nothing! Check out this cool clip where 200 people froze themselves in time at exactly the same moment for five minutes in New York's Grand Central Station.
For more information see ImprovEverywhere.com
* The Old Dart: An Aussie reference to Britain (I'd never heard of it either), the origin of which is a corruption of "dirt", as in the old dirt, meaning the old country.
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1837062.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-old1.htm
For more information see ImprovEverywhere.com
* The Old Dart: An Aussie reference to Britain (I'd never heard of it either), the origin of which is a corruption of "dirt", as in the old dirt, meaning the old country.
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1837062.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-old1.htm
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
To the moon and back
Wow! What a trip! I LOVE TASMANIA!!! We had a fantastic time and it's a beautiful place. I recommend it to anyone, particularly those people who live in Australia and have little excuse for not having been, but also to those who may be planning a trip Ozwards and may not have considered including Tassie in their itinerary.I have uploaded our photographs to Picasa and I'm in the process of adding comments to each one. I may summarise them in a post some day but to expedite getting it out there I will leave it at that for now, rather than giving you a lengthy travel journal straight up. I will be continuing to add comments and probably a few more maps, especially for those of you who may be thinking of going and are keen on doing some walking whilst there.
There is so much that we didn't get to see or do, surprising considering the size of the place. I can't understand how people can "do" the whole place in three or four weeks; they really wouldn't be doing it justice. We stayed on the Tasman Peninsular for seven days and that was nowhere near enough just for that one little section. It's definitely on our list of places for a second visit.
Thank you so much to all of the friends who helped make this trip possible. Thanks to Lucie, Scott, James, Melissa, Jillian, Jimbo, Mark, Mindi, Guy, Libbette, Jon, Megan, Pete and Daneale.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/lindseybuckle/HoneymoonInTasmania
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Quote (and word) of the day
I wanted to share with you this great quote I read last night in the novel Fear of Flying by Erica Jong:
I haven't got much else to say really. I just blogged for a chat and because I liked that quote. It's a bit like when you phone a friend for no particular reason but just to hear their voice, say "hi" and have a chat. I don't really do that any more, which is a bit sad really.
Another interesting thing I learnt today is the meaning of the word "nonce". I don't know what I thought it meant but I didn't think it meant any of the definitions I found. I looked it up because it fell into a sentence I was reading at work, about web site authentication. The sentence was thus:
Dictionary.com also claims it means:
There are no atheists on turbulent airplanes.How true.
I haven't got much else to say really. I just blogged for a chat and because I liked that quote. It's a bit like when you phone a friend for no particular reason but just to hear their voice, say "hi" and have a chat. I don't really do that any more, which is a bit sad really.
Another interesting thing I learnt today is the meaning of the word "nonce". I don't know what I thought it meant but I didn't think it meant any of the definitions I found. I looked it up because it fell into a sentence I was reading at work, about web site authentication. The sentence was thus:
The server sends a nonce to be used in creating a digest of the user's password.A what? I thought. Now, I think I thought a nonce was a silly person and I did wonder why the server would send a silly person to the browser so I looked it up and this is what I found:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaNonce may refer to:Well, I never. Sex offender, indeed. I will never call anyone a nonce again. Not sure I ever did anyway but I certainly won't in future. (Obviously, in terms of the sentence above it means the first definition. I am surprised that it can also mean sex offender but am in no way implying that a web server sends a sex offender to the browser. That would be really, really creepy.)
- Cryptographic nonce, a number or bit string used only once in security engineering
- Nonce (slang), a sex offender or child sexual abuser
- Nonce word, a word used to meet a need that is not expected to recur
- The Nonce, a rap duo
Dictionary.com also claims it means:
the present, or immediate, occasion or purpose (usually used in the phrase for the nonce).So there you go. And that's that from this rather random post.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The trouble with blogging
The trouble with blogging is that you can't always say what you want to say, and what you do say you worry about.
This applies in all forms of writing and journalism, and I guess it applies to comedians too. In fact sometimes I wish I was a comedian rather than a writer. Yes, I consider myself a writer. I have a number of writing projects on the go other than this blog, and one day I'd like to do something other than just write my blog on occasion. I'd really like to make a career of it. This is really just practice.
But back to why I'd rather be a comedian. Anything goes in comedy and everyone knows that it's supposed to be funny. Granted, it isn't always; sometimes it's just mean. But people know what to expect from comedians. Friends and family know that anything they say or do can and will be used against them, in the form of comedic art. I suppose, too, that not many people will be present at a comedian's every show. Take, for example, the popular mother-in-law jokes comedians seem to love. Do you suppose that they tell those jokes when said mother-in-law is in the audience? Or perhaps said mother-in-law didn't really do or say the things the comedian claims; it's all artistic license and she couldn't possibly be offended by that. But, you get my drift.
The trouble with writing is that no one really knows whether you're being literal or humourous, and anyone can pretty much read anything you publish into the public arena. You can't publish a blog post and say "oooh... hope the boss isn't in tonight".
My writing is based on real life. Things in my life influence what I write. Sometimes I exaggerate; sometimes I bring a number of different things together with a common theme. Always I worry about whether the people I mention, or even people I don't mention but who may recognise aspects of themselves in my writing, will be offended by what I write. Much of it is tongue-in-cheek and intended to entertain, not offend, but you just never know. So far I've had no complaints but I have had indirect comments (i.e. via Toby, for example) by acquaintances who think certain other acquaintances mentioned in my writing may be offended by what I've said.
Indeed I have left out many an amusing story from this blog because of concern that others involved may be upset. Right now I am busting to tell you a funny story about a conversation regarding cooking breakfast with one saucepan, possibly only funny because of my perception of the conversation. I'm aware that the other participant of the conversation may have a different, un-funny view of it and may think I am making fun of them so I have refrained from telling my side of it. Unless, of course, that person reads this and gives me their permission to tell the story.
To all of you reading now I say writing is my passion. I hope you are entertained by it. Should you one day find yourself, something you have said or done, or perhaps just a caricature of yourself, parodied, or indeed literally represented within this blog, or any other work of mine, please do not be offended. Just know that you are all fair game.
This applies in all forms of writing and journalism, and I guess it applies to comedians too. In fact sometimes I wish I was a comedian rather than a writer. Yes, I consider myself a writer. I have a number of writing projects on the go other than this blog, and one day I'd like to do something other than just write my blog on occasion. I'd really like to make a career of it. This is really just practice.
But back to why I'd rather be a comedian. Anything goes in comedy and everyone knows that it's supposed to be funny. Granted, it isn't always; sometimes it's just mean. But people know what to expect from comedians. Friends and family know that anything they say or do can and will be used against them, in the form of comedic art. I suppose, too, that not many people will be present at a comedian's every show. Take, for example, the popular mother-in-law jokes comedians seem to love. Do you suppose that they tell those jokes when said mother-in-law is in the audience? Or perhaps said mother-in-law didn't really do or say the things the comedian claims; it's all artistic license and she couldn't possibly be offended by that. But, you get my drift.
The trouble with writing is that no one really knows whether you're being literal or humourous, and anyone can pretty much read anything you publish into the public arena. You can't publish a blog post and say "oooh... hope the boss isn't in tonight".
My writing is based on real life. Things in my life influence what I write. Sometimes I exaggerate; sometimes I bring a number of different things together with a common theme. Always I worry about whether the people I mention, or even people I don't mention but who may recognise aspects of themselves in my writing, will be offended by what I write. Much of it is tongue-in-cheek and intended to entertain, not offend, but you just never know. So far I've had no complaints but I have had indirect comments (i.e. via Toby, for example) by acquaintances who think certain other acquaintances mentioned in my writing may be offended by what I've said.
Indeed I have left out many an amusing story from this blog because of concern that others involved may be upset. Right now I am busting to tell you a funny story about a conversation regarding cooking breakfast with one saucepan, possibly only funny because of my perception of the conversation. I'm aware that the other participant of the conversation may have a different, un-funny view of it and may think I am making fun of them so I have refrained from telling my side of it. Unless, of course, that person reads this and gives me their permission to tell the story.
To all of you reading now I say writing is my passion. I hope you are entertained by it. Should you one day find yourself, something you have said or done, or perhaps just a caricature of yourself, parodied, or indeed literally represented within this blog, or any other work of mine, please do not be offended. Just know that you are all fair game.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Generous listening
This morning I endured one of the most excruciating one and a half hours of my life in the form of an immensely boring department meeting, during which I was trying my very best to "listen generously".
During the meeting a young colleague, whose wife has recently had a baby, commented that the start of semester had gone very smoothly for IT Services. Eventually, after a lengthy soliloquy, the IT Director replied that she was pleased that this young chap had made such a comment, upon which she mentioned his name. I do not think that her comment warranted a response, yet when he failed to do so she brought it to everyone's attention, asked if he was off in "babyland" and told us all that we must be aware of the difference between "generous listening" and "stingy listening".
An hour and a half later I had decided that those who wish others to "listen generously" should also speak generously, which in fact means the opposite of how it sounds, that is to speak succinctly. Such speakers should remain aware of the time that these generous listeners are investing in their listening, place the appropriate value on that time and respect it accordingly. As such, I have combined my own guide to public speaking, or speaking during meetings.
If anyone has any further suggestions, please leave a comment.
During the meeting a young colleague, whose wife has recently had a baby, commented that the start of semester had gone very smoothly for IT Services. Eventually, after a lengthy soliloquy, the IT Director replied that she was pleased that this young chap had made such a comment, upon which she mentioned his name. I do not think that her comment warranted a response, yet when he failed to do so she brought it to everyone's attention, asked if he was off in "babyland" and told us all that we must be aware of the difference between "generous listening" and "stingy listening".
An hour and a half later I had decided that those who wish others to "listen generously" should also speak generously, which in fact means the opposite of how it sounds, that is to speak succinctly. Such speakers should remain aware of the time that these generous listeners are investing in their listening, place the appropriate value on that time and respect it accordingly. As such, I have combined my own guide to public speaking, or speaking during meetings.
- Do not use more words than is necessary to convey your point.
Most writers understand this one. However, it is a little more difficult to put into practise during speech as you can't really edit your words after you've said them. Perhaps just put a little more thought into what you wish to say before you've said it. - Do not give your listeners more information than they need.
Be aware of who your listeners are and what their viewpoints and roles are. Keep this in mind when deciding which information to impart to them. Time is precious and they have important jobs to do, and if you happen to be their manager then you really want them to do those jobs. So don't waste their time by telling them little side stories about the politics of your last board meeting. Don't tell them about all the effort you've put in to get a particular result; they expect this from you anyway. They only need to know the facts. - Do give them the opportunity to find out more information if they are interested.
This might be in the form of questions following your presentation or speech. In a large group, however, this might only interest a small number of your audience. Be respectful of the others, particularly if they are the majority. This is especially pertinent if the meeting is a mandatory one and the attendants are not necessarily there by choice. If you are presenting a document, don't read it to your listeners. Give them the gist (a verbal executive summary) and make the document available to them to read in their own time. - Don't talk about all the things that could have or would have happened; just talk about what has or will happen.
Whilst I'm aware of the potential irony here, this is really just another way of saying points 1 and 2 above but with a specific example. - Don't use a long word if a short one says the same thing.
Long words and flowery language do not make you sound clever, just really boring. This makes it much harder for people to listen generously. - Do not interrupt the main speaker, even if you are his superior.
Interruptions and interjections make the speaker's speech longer, which in turn makes it more difficult for people to listen to. If the speaker makes a mistake with a relevant detail, then correct him in a non-condescending tone. Do not interject just because you like the sound of your own voice and think the listeners might too, and do not continuously argue an irrelevant point with him just because you hate to be wrong and think he should respect his superiors. - Assign approximate portions of time to each of your points before you start speaking.
Before the meeting decide what it is that you wish to talk about. Then prioritise each item. Take the length of time that you will have to talk, being mindful of possible interruptions and divide it proportionately amongst your items, allowing more time for the higher priority items.
For example, let's say you have four items you wish to discuss during a one hour meeting, one of uber-importance and three of lesser but equal importance. You know the Director will also want to speak for a short while, and each team leader will give an update. Let's assume this leaves you with approximately 35 minutes. Take away between 5 and 10 for interruptions and corrections from the Director, and questions from those of your listeners who are actually listening generously. You have 25-30 minutes. You could speak for 10-15 minutes on your uber-important item and approximately 5 minutes each on of your remaining items.
Do not present your listeners with a document consisting of approximately 18 items (although the exact number is unknown to them) and then proceed to spend 6 minutes on the first item, no matter how uninteresting or irrelevant. This will only serve to fill them with despair and they will stop listening generously in order to plan their escape from the room. - Spreadsheets and Word Documents are not interesting material for display on a projector.
This applies even if the spreadsheet has coloured lines.
If anyone has any further suggestions, please leave a comment.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Movie: Fool's Gold
Last night I went to see Fool's Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. I haven't been feeling too well lately and Toby was away in Brisbane, so when a friend said she was going to see it and invited me along I decided that rather than stay at home on my own feeling sorry for myself and watching crap TV, I would go. This film has had terrible reviews. Awful. I didn't read any of them before I went but I did watch the trailer. I thought it looked worth the $8.50 on cheap-arse Tuesday.
Seriously though, what do these critics expect? Matthew "shirt-off" McConaughey, Kate "rom-com" Hudson and a movie (clearly in the "chick flick" genre) about treasure hunters. I was expecting nothing but pure unadulterated cheesy entertainment and escapism. And that's exactly what I got. Was it predictable? Yes. Was it believable? Not in the slightest. Were the actors convincing? Not really. Did any of that matter? Absolutely not.
So here's the thing: Dumb-blonde action-man Matthew and bookish-but-outdoorsy Kate are married but about to get divorced because Kate is sick of Matt getting into debt for his obsession with treasure hunting. Turns out though that he's not particularly good at finding treasure without Kate because he's stupid and she's clever. So, when he finds a clue she agrees to have one last look around, using her millionaire employer, Donald Sutherland's equipment. There's a bit more to it than that. Obviously you have to have the obligatory bad-guy and the mentor-turned-rival, token gays and some other bits and pieces not really worth mentioning. The basic gist is there is action, a bit of violence, wonderful scenery (the highlight for me, especially the underwater stuff) and Matthew McConaughey looking hot with no shirt on and being all tough and brave.
Would I recommend it? As long as you're not expecting anything too deep, yes, go see it. It's fun. Would I see it again? Probably not. Maybe in a few years I'll watch it on DVD. Would I have gone to see it if I'd known what I know now about it? Absolutely. It was perfect for my mind-set. Pure escapism. Is it good? Define good.
Some people think Matthew McConaughey looks like Toby. Well, I don't know about that but he is hot (have I mentioned that?) and obviously I think Toby is a bit of alright. Well, one scene in particular made me laugh as he was wandering around in baggy knee-length shorts, a bad t-shirt and no shoes. That is so Toby. And maybe Kate's character reminds me a bit of myself; quite happy reading books and writing and being all intellectual but can't really say no to a bit of adventure as long as there's a hot, strong and brave man to look after her. So perhaps for me, the escapism was all the better because I could actually imagine Toby and I one day cruising around the Carribean (or Great Barrier Reef) hunting for treasure together. One can dream. Just so long as I don't get stuck in a blow-hole.
Seriously though, what do these critics expect? Matthew "shirt-off" McConaughey, Kate "rom-com" Hudson and a movie (clearly in the "chick flick" genre) about treasure hunters. I was expecting nothing but pure unadulterated cheesy entertainment and escapism. And that's exactly what I got. Was it predictable? Yes. Was it believable? Not in the slightest. Were the actors convincing? Not really. Did any of that matter? Absolutely not.
So here's the thing: Dumb-blonde action-man Matthew and bookish-but-outdoorsy Kate are married but about to get divorced because Kate is sick of Matt getting into debt for his obsession with treasure hunting. Turns out though that he's not particularly good at finding treasure without Kate because he's stupid and she's clever. So, when he finds a clue she agrees to have one last look around, using her millionaire employer, Donald Sutherland's equipment. There's a bit more to it than that. Obviously you have to have the obligatory bad-guy and the mentor-turned-rival, token gays and some other bits and pieces not really worth mentioning. The basic gist is there is action, a bit of violence, wonderful scenery (the highlight for me, especially the underwater stuff) and Matthew McConaughey looking hot with no shirt on and being all tough and brave.
- Matthew McConaughy: Hot
- Kate Hudson: Gorgeous
- Alexis whatsherface: Cute and annoying
- Donald Sutherland: Donald Sutherland. 'Nuff said; he's totally wasted in this film. What is he even doing here?
- Ray Winstone: Hmm... I do like Ray but I prefer him as a cheeky east-end likely lad. I didn't find his American accent particularly convincing but who cares?
- Acting: Not great, but who cares?
- Direction: Was there any?
- Script: Pretty bad, a bit cheesy.
- Laughs: a few, mainly of the slap-stick variety rather than the intellectual witty sort.
- Cinematography: lovely.; beautiful underwater scenes which made me want to jump right on a plane to some remote island on the Great Barrier Reef and don a BCD and scuba tank.
- Action: yes. Oh... the best bit which made me hold my breath and feel a bit sick was when Kate was stuck in a blow-hole. That chick has balls.
Would I recommend it? As long as you're not expecting anything too deep, yes, go see it. It's fun. Would I see it again? Probably not. Maybe in a few years I'll watch it on DVD. Would I have gone to see it if I'd known what I know now about it? Absolutely. It was perfect for my mind-set. Pure escapism. Is it good? Define good.
Some people think Matthew McConaughey looks like Toby. Well, I don't know about that but he is hot (have I mentioned that?) and obviously I think Toby is a bit of alright. Well, one scene in particular made me laugh as he was wandering around in baggy knee-length shorts, a bad t-shirt and no shoes. That is so Toby. And maybe Kate's character reminds me a bit of myself; quite happy reading books and writing and being all intellectual but can't really say no to a bit of adventure as long as there's a hot, strong and brave man to look after her. So perhaps for me, the escapism was all the better because I could actually imagine Toby and I one day cruising around the Carribean (or Great Barrier Reef) hunting for treasure together. One can dream. Just so long as I don't get stuck in a blow-hole.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Teenage Song
Sorry for the recent lack of communication but things are a bit crazy in my life at the moment. Work has been busy, life is busy, and I haven't really thought of much to blog about. But this, I just had to share, it's so funny. For those of you reading this on email you may need to visit the site to watch this youtube movie but it's worth it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Apology: Historic day for Australia
This morning Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, formally apologised to the indigenous people of Australia for a policy referred to as the "stolen generations". In an emotive and carefully worded speech Rudd apologised on behalf of the government for past policies that resulted in generations of aboriginal children being taken from their families, homes and communities and forced to integrate into Western culture.
The policies started in the 1860s and continued until 1969 and involved primarily mixed-race children. They were based upon the belief that aboriginal society was dying out and that integrating the children into western society would be for their benefit. Later on it was thought that mixed race children were at risk of abuse and neglect within their communities and they were removed for their own saftey. It is clear from personal accounts that this wasn't always the case. One such account was published as a book called The Rabbit Proof Fence and a film of the same name was released in 2002. Some children never saw their parents again.
After ten years of the previous Liberal government, led by John Howard, refusing to formerly apologise, this is a momentous day in Australian history. The apology was broadcast outside Parliament House and watched by thousands. I felt quite emotional watching it as Rudd told a story of a woman remembering her childhood before the age of four, sitting around campfires and dancing, before being taken from her mother whom she never saw again. I imagined being taken from my parents as a child and how losing them was the subject of a recurring nightmare I had when I was young. I'd worry about being abandoned and I'd dream that I'd come downstairs for comfort after waking from a bad dream. I'd see my parents sitting on the settee watching television. When I walked around the front of the settee though, I'd realise they weren't my parents. They looked like them but they had different faces. It was terrifying. Then I'd realise they were wearing masks and rip them off but they'd still have different faces underneath. Then I'd realise that the new faces were also masks and so it went on until I woke up.
Imagine living that nightmare. Okay, so maybe the authorities didn't dress up as aboriginal parents and start ripping off their own faces but the feeling that I felt, of not knowing where my parents were and wanting nothing more than to find them, would have been very much how those children would have felt. I can still remember the way that dream made me feel and it makes me want to cry when I think of the 100,000 children being taken from their homes to a completely different culture.
I think it's great that the Prime Minister has apologised. I'm amazed at how many people are against it; 30% I read on one website. It means so much to the indigenous communities to have it said; does it really mean that much to the white Australians? Why do they so passionately believe that the government shouldn't be sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not saying I'm responsible but I'm sorry that it happened. The apology was more about understanding and acknowledgement of the hurt caused than about admitting responsibility. How can anyone not want to say to someone who was taken from their parents, "I understand that this must have hurt you and I'm so sorry this happened"? We say sorry to people who are bereaved but that doesn't mean we are admitting responsibility for the death of their loved one.
The opposition leader Brendan Nelson, possibly the most uncharismatic party leader in the world, also stood up and formally acknowledged and backed the apology and made a speech that I lost interest in. He went on about the problems in aboriginal communities today, problems of alcoholism, violence and drug abuse. Granted, these are problems that are rife and need to be dealt with but did they really need raking up on this day of celebration and reconciliation? Talk about killing the party. The crowd outside Parliament House turned their back on him, clearly unimpressed with the leader of a party that has had the opportunity for ten years to say sorry and yet pointedly refused. Nevertheless boring Brendan kept droning on. Seriously, the Liberals are never going to win an election with him as their leader.
If you want to read the apology, check out this website: http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/apology/text.htm
To read Australians' comments on the apology go to http://www.news.com.au/comments/0,23600,23206140-2,00.html
The policies started in the 1860s and continued until 1969 and involved primarily mixed-race children. They were based upon the belief that aboriginal society was dying out and that integrating the children into western society would be for their benefit. Later on it was thought that mixed race children were at risk of abuse and neglect within their communities and they were removed for their own saftey. It is clear from personal accounts that this wasn't always the case. One such account was published as a book called The Rabbit Proof Fence and a film of the same name was released in 2002. Some children never saw their parents again.
After ten years of the previous Liberal government, led by John Howard, refusing to formerly apologise, this is a momentous day in Australian history. The apology was broadcast outside Parliament House and watched by thousands. I felt quite emotional watching it as Rudd told a story of a woman remembering her childhood before the age of four, sitting around campfires and dancing, before being taken from her mother whom she never saw again. I imagined being taken from my parents as a child and how losing them was the subject of a recurring nightmare I had when I was young. I'd worry about being abandoned and I'd dream that I'd come downstairs for comfort after waking from a bad dream. I'd see my parents sitting on the settee watching television. When I walked around the front of the settee though, I'd realise they weren't my parents. They looked like them but they had different faces. It was terrifying. Then I'd realise they were wearing masks and rip them off but they'd still have different faces underneath. Then I'd realise that the new faces were also masks and so it went on until I woke up.
Imagine living that nightmare. Okay, so maybe the authorities didn't dress up as aboriginal parents and start ripping off their own faces but the feeling that I felt, of not knowing where my parents were and wanting nothing more than to find them, would have been very much how those children would have felt. I can still remember the way that dream made me feel and it makes me want to cry when I think of the 100,000 children being taken from their homes to a completely different culture.
I think it's great that the Prime Minister has apologised. I'm amazed at how many people are against it; 30% I read on one website. It means so much to the indigenous communities to have it said; does it really mean that much to the white Australians? Why do they so passionately believe that the government shouldn't be sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not saying I'm responsible but I'm sorry that it happened. The apology was more about understanding and acknowledgement of the hurt caused than about admitting responsibility. How can anyone not want to say to someone who was taken from their parents, "I understand that this must have hurt you and I'm so sorry this happened"? We say sorry to people who are bereaved but that doesn't mean we are admitting responsibility for the death of their loved one.
The opposition leader Brendan Nelson, possibly the most uncharismatic party leader in the world, also stood up and formally acknowledged and backed the apology and made a speech that I lost interest in. He went on about the problems in aboriginal communities today, problems of alcoholism, violence and drug abuse. Granted, these are problems that are rife and need to be dealt with but did they really need raking up on this day of celebration and reconciliation? Talk about killing the party. The crowd outside Parliament House turned their back on him, clearly unimpressed with the leader of a party that has had the opportunity for ten years to say sorry and yet pointedly refused. Nevertheless boring Brendan kept droning on. Seriously, the Liberals are never going to win an election with him as their leader.
If you want to read the apology, check out this website: http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/apology/text.htm
To read Australians' comments on the apology go to http://www.news.com.au/comments/0,23600,23206140-2,00.html
Friday, February 08, 2008
Reasons I love working in IT - No. 1
What was my colleague talking about during a meeting this morning when he said (and I quote):
Cracked me up as it did a few of my less mature colleagues; or maybe just the ones who were paying attention.
I played with it again this morning and tried to get it up...
Cracked me up as it did a few of my less mature colleagues; or maybe just the ones who were paying attention.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
The Shift: A movie about an evolutionary shift in the collective consciousness
I stumbled across this film clip this morning on a blog called We The Change. I thought it was pretty cool and that it should be shared. Unfortunately it seems the film-makers are still raising funds to finish the movie so I don't know when it's likely to be released.
If you have some spare cash lying around and you're in the business of supporting independent film-makers then you can make a donation at The International Documentary Association website. Visit the film's website at The Shift Movie.
Monday, February 04, 2008
If you don't behave yourself I'll take you back to the shelter
I don't think I've ever actually threatened the cats with a trip back to the shelter but Zadie has been behaving a tad strangely since her visit there on Friday.
I was taking both of them down for various things. Monty ceased his days as the full monty and had his balls taken care of. Zadie had the injection the shelter should have given her back in November before we took her home. They were both microchipped.
Having experienced the joys of taking Zades to the shelter previously, when she went to have her stitches taken out a few days after she came to live with us, I insisted that Toby stick around to help me get them in the car. Monty was no bother. We only have one pet carrier so we stuck him in a cardboard box. He seemed quite happy. Then we tried to get Zadie into the carrier. We couldn't put her in a box as she's incredibly vicious in her attempts to escape. I tried to coax her into the carrier head-first. Her legs went the other way. We both tried. She refused to cooperate. She's surprisingly strong. We took the top off the carrier and Toby placed her in (still with stiff-you-can't-make-me-go-there-legs) whilst I struggled to try and clip the top back down and re-attach the front, her pushing her head through the side, front, top, trying to make a bolt for it, whinging at us. It took so long that Monty started trying to escape from his box so we had to parcel-tape him in. Then he tried to escape through the view-port I had kindly cut out for him so we had to parcel-tape some cardboard over that.
Eventually, with both cats securely in their respective carriers, I began the 20 minute journey to the shelter. Monty's head and one paw were permanently squished as far as he could get them through the now-mini viewport (more like a breathe hole really). Zadie yowled and scratched and bit at the bars of her box and attempted to dig her way out.
Once we got there they were a bit better behaved. The lady that looked after Zadie for a while before she was our cat was pleased to see her and fussed over her, and they got to sit in a cage together. When I went back later that day to pick them up Zadie was sitting in the litter tray and had been all day, the vet told me (weird cat). Monty was drowsy after his operation but Zadie perked up as soon as the vet and I tried to get her in the carrier again. And again, it took two struggling adults quite a while to get one small (but strong) cat fastened in. Yowling and biting ensued for another 20 minutes on the way home.
Zadie didn't eat for two days after that. Monty didn't eat much either but that was expected after his anaesthetic. She has also been more affectionate than usual. I'm sure she thinks we took her there to show her what would happen if she was naughty. Monty slept most of Friday but had almost fully recovered by early Saturday morning, which he celebrated by jumping on my feet with his claws out at 5am! Nice! I think he's forgotten the whole thing ever happened now and in a week or so, when his wound is healed, he'll be able to come and go as he pleases during the day rather than being stuck in the house all the time.
One sad thing about the trip to the shelter was the discovery that two of Zadie's kittens were still there. I wouldn't change my cats for the world but it did feel a bit strange, given that we'd originally been going to take her and one of her kittens (but Monty insisted we take him instead). One of them, Morgan, was being desexed at the same time as Monty. He seemed so much younger than Monty although there are only a couple of weeks between them. He was incredibly cute, with Zadie's beautiful face and Monty's colouring, and over a kilogram lighter than Monty. I only wish I could have taken him home and fattened him up but two cats is enough.
It's been a while since I last checked in here, over a month in fact. I don't know about you but that surprised me. January has flown over and here we are, a little over a twelfth of the way through 2008 already. I must be getting old because time is speeding up. It's been a very social month, what with 30th birthdays, our house-warming party, a baby shower.
Toby and I realised yesterday that it was our "demiversary"*. Six months since our wedding day and we still haven't been on honeymoon or got our wedding album. But let's not speak of the have nots; at least the 'moon is now booked and the album is with the photographer so it's out of our hands. We celebrated by drinking beer with the neighbours.
We now have our top wedding cake tier back in our own freezer; it had been staying with Lucie since the period of homelessness. The fridge situation is still a little odd in our house, in that our fridge sits in the garage not doing anything, not even plugged in (and I'm a little concerned this is bad for a fridge) and some big, huge, old oddly-shaped thing that lived in our house before we did is in the kitchen keeping our food cold. It's deep and wide until you open the doors because the fridge and freezer are side-by-side. It has an ice and cold water dispenser which we never use (and which doesn't work when you do want to use it, such as at a party) and which merely serves to take up room in the freezer which seems to be missing a basket anyway and consequently is a bit of a rubbish freezer. It's good for parties though because you can load bags of ice into it. The point I'm trying to make is that the cake is now residing on a jaunty angle because it doesn't actually fit into the freezer.
I'm not sure how we're going to get along with decorating and choosing furniture if we can't even sort out our fridges. I spent yesterday cutting the nasty colours off green paint colour charts. White and pale green is about all I've narrowed it down to for our living area. I can't decide between mint and lime but I don't want a yellowy-tone. I'm not sure how pale to go and I've no idea whether to paint the dado green and the wall white or the wall green and the dado white. I attempted to calculate how much paint I'd need but that was too hard. I think I'll just paint the whole thing white and take it from there.
Interesting DIY note: polyfiller is called spakfiller over here.
* I'm not convinced this is a real word. I thought I'd made it up but a quick search on Google uncovers plenty of other people who believe the same thing. Dammit!
I was taking both of them down for various things. Monty ceased his days as the full monty and had his balls taken care of. Zadie had the injection the shelter should have given her back in November before we took her home. They were both microchipped.
Having experienced the joys of taking Zades to the shelter previously, when she went to have her stitches taken out a few days after she came to live with us, I insisted that Toby stick around to help me get them in the car. Monty was no bother. We only have one pet carrier so we stuck him in a cardboard box. He seemed quite happy. Then we tried to get Zadie into the carrier. We couldn't put her in a box as she's incredibly vicious in her attempts to escape. I tried to coax her into the carrier head-first. Her legs went the other way. We both tried. She refused to cooperate. She's surprisingly strong. We took the top off the carrier and Toby placed her in (still with stiff-you-can't-make-me-go-there-legs) whilst I struggled to try and clip the top back down and re-attach the front, her pushing her head through the side, front, top, trying to make a bolt for it, whinging at us. It took so long that Monty started trying to escape from his box so we had to parcel-tape him in. Then he tried to escape through the view-port I had kindly cut out for him so we had to parcel-tape some cardboard over that.
Eventually, with both cats securely in their respective carriers, I began the 20 minute journey to the shelter. Monty's head and one paw were permanently squished as far as he could get them through the now-mini viewport (more like a breathe hole really). Zadie yowled and scratched and bit at the bars of her box and attempted to dig her way out.
Once we got there they were a bit better behaved. The lady that looked after Zadie for a while before she was our cat was pleased to see her and fussed over her, and they got to sit in a cage together. When I went back later that day to pick them up Zadie was sitting in the litter tray and had been all day, the vet told me (weird cat). Monty was drowsy after his operation but Zadie perked up as soon as the vet and I tried to get her in the carrier again. And again, it took two struggling adults quite a while to get one small (but strong) cat fastened in. Yowling and biting ensued for another 20 minutes on the way home.
Zadie didn't eat for two days after that. Monty didn't eat much either but that was expected after his anaesthetic. She has also been more affectionate than usual. I'm sure she thinks we took her there to show her what would happen if she was naughty. Monty slept most of Friday but had almost fully recovered by early Saturday morning, which he celebrated by jumping on my feet with his claws out at 5am! Nice! I think he's forgotten the whole thing ever happened now and in a week or so, when his wound is healed, he'll be able to come and go as he pleases during the day rather than being stuck in the house all the time.
One sad thing about the trip to the shelter was the discovery that two of Zadie's kittens were still there. I wouldn't change my cats for the world but it did feel a bit strange, given that we'd originally been going to take her and one of her kittens (but Monty insisted we take him instead). One of them, Morgan, was being desexed at the same time as Monty. He seemed so much younger than Monty although there are only a couple of weeks between them. He was incredibly cute, with Zadie's beautiful face and Monty's colouring, and over a kilogram lighter than Monty. I only wish I could have taken him home and fattened him up but two cats is enough.
It's been a while since I last checked in here, over a month in fact. I don't know about you but that surprised me. January has flown over and here we are, a little over a twelfth of the way through 2008 already. I must be getting old because time is speeding up. It's been a very social month, what with 30th birthdays, our house-warming party, a baby shower.
Toby and I realised yesterday that it was our "demiversary"*. Six months since our wedding day and we still haven't been on honeymoon or got our wedding album. But let's not speak of the have nots; at least the 'moon is now booked and the album is with the photographer so it's out of our hands. We celebrated by drinking beer with the neighbours.
We now have our top wedding cake tier back in our own freezer; it had been staying with Lucie since the period of homelessness. The fridge situation is still a little odd in our house, in that our fridge sits in the garage not doing anything, not even plugged in (and I'm a little concerned this is bad for a fridge) and some big, huge, old oddly-shaped thing that lived in our house before we did is in the kitchen keeping our food cold. It's deep and wide until you open the doors because the fridge and freezer are side-by-side. It has an ice and cold water dispenser which we never use (and which doesn't work when you do want to use it, such as at a party) and which merely serves to take up room in the freezer which seems to be missing a basket anyway and consequently is a bit of a rubbish freezer. It's good for parties though because you can load bags of ice into it. The point I'm trying to make is that the cake is now residing on a jaunty angle because it doesn't actually fit into the freezer.
I'm not sure how we're going to get along with decorating and choosing furniture if we can't even sort out our fridges. I spent yesterday cutting the nasty colours off green paint colour charts. White and pale green is about all I've narrowed it down to for our living area. I can't decide between mint and lime but I don't want a yellowy-tone. I'm not sure how pale to go and I've no idea whether to paint the dado green and the wall white or the wall green and the dado white. I attempted to calculate how much paint I'd need but that was too hard. I think I'll just paint the whole thing white and take it from there.
Interesting DIY note: polyfiller is called spakfiller over here.
* I'm not convinced this is a real word. I thought I'd made it up but a quick search on Google uncovers plenty of other people who believe the same thing. Dammit!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Forgotten Christmas spiders (and Happy New Year)
Warning: if you're scared of spiders don't scroll down
I had to go back to work today. I happen to think that January 2nd is far too early in the year to be going to work. The year needs to settle a bit first. Like a fine wine it should be allowed time to breathe, it is not the sort of thing that should be rushed. But anyway, I digress, as usual.
New year's eve was quiet but fun. We went round to Scott and Lucie's house for a few drinks and some nibbles, plus a game of that entertaining Peruvian dice game, Perudo. Toby didn't drink much so at 11.45pm, with a slight break in the fairly consistent rain we'd been having most of the day, he suggested we drive up to Point Cartwright and see the new year in there. Which we did and which was rather nice, it having been the location of our wedding back in August. We took a bottle of nice sparkling wine, popped the cork and got merry on the bubbles. The wind was howling over the headland at a rate of about 30 knots and then the rain started again. As you can probably imagine it was nigh on horizontal. We sought shelter behind the big water tower. Eventually the rain subsided and we strolled down the hill to get out of the wind. Then the rain started again, really heavily and we ran back to the car through the forest track: partly because it was a short-cut and partly because it provided some shelter from the rain. We were soaked by the time we got back to Scott and Lucie's. And that was our new year's eve.
I realised that I forgot to share some Christmas highlight photos the other day. We went for a walk (another wet one) with Scott and Lucie through Mooloolah National Park and most of the tracks were spanned by massive bright yellow tough and sticky spider webs. Often we had to duck our heads (particularly Scott who is 6'7) to avoid getting tangled in them. In the centre of the webs were huge golden orb spiders. Here is a series of photographs I took:
A golden orb spider and its yellow web
A golden orb spider which has caught a cicada and wrapped it in webbing so there is no escape and is now devouring it.
Huge puddles (not shaped like Australia)
Hairy shoes: our shoes became covered in thick sticky mud and hairy twigs which proved to be incredibly difficult to remove and rather awkward to walk upon.
The biggest big spider we saw, and Scott's hand for perspective.
Toby and the biggest big spider we saw.
I had to go back to work today. I happen to think that January 2nd is far too early in the year to be going to work. The year needs to settle a bit first. Like a fine wine it should be allowed time to breathe, it is not the sort of thing that should be rushed. But anyway, I digress, as usual.
New year's eve was quiet but fun. We went round to Scott and Lucie's house for a few drinks and some nibbles, plus a game of that entertaining Peruvian dice game, Perudo. Toby didn't drink much so at 11.45pm, with a slight break in the fairly consistent rain we'd been having most of the day, he suggested we drive up to Point Cartwright and see the new year in there. Which we did and which was rather nice, it having been the location of our wedding back in August. We took a bottle of nice sparkling wine, popped the cork and got merry on the bubbles. The wind was howling over the headland at a rate of about 30 knots and then the rain started again. As you can probably imagine it was nigh on horizontal. We sought shelter behind the big water tower. Eventually the rain subsided and we strolled down the hill to get out of the wind. Then the rain started again, really heavily and we ran back to the car through the forest track: partly because it was a short-cut and partly because it provided some shelter from the rain. We were soaked by the time we got back to Scott and Lucie's. And that was our new year's eve.
I realised that I forgot to share some Christmas highlight photos the other day. We went for a walk (another wet one) with Scott and Lucie through Mooloolah National Park and most of the tracks were spanned by massive bright yellow tough and sticky spider webs. Often we had to duck our heads (particularly Scott who is 6'7) to avoid getting tangled in them. In the centre of the webs were huge golden orb spiders. Here is a series of photographs I took:
A golden orb spider and its yellow web
A golden orb spider which has caught a cicada and wrapped it in webbing so there is no escape and is now devouring it.
Huge puddles (not shaped like Australia)
Hairy shoes: our shoes became covered in thick sticky mud and hairy twigs which proved to be incredibly difficult to remove and rather awkward to walk upon.
The biggest big spider we saw, and Scott's hand for perspective.
Toby and the biggest big spider we saw.Monday, December 31, 2007
Reflecting on 2007 (plus highlights of my Christmas)
Well, tis the final day of 2007, possibly the most exhausting and exciting year of my life, so far. Clearly, I can't let such an occasion pass without re-capping the events of the last 12 months and remarking, once more, upon my astonishment of how one family can fit so much in. But first, a pictorial review of the highlights of the past week of Christmas:
Crazy cats playing with their new toys...
...and each other
Possibly the smallest dog in the world...
Scott and Lucie's new puppy, Rocco
...and perhaps the largest
My first ever attempt at a Christmas cake
not bad either, if I do say so myself
Christmas at the beach in 25 knot winds
Toy aeroplane racing
New tablecloth from my Gran and Grandpa
Cute cats
Lazy cats
Crazy weather and big surf
Riding bikes in the rain
And now for the year in review
This time last year Toby and I were spending the night at Catherine and John's house in Cramlington, Northumberland (UK). Catherine and I have known each other since we were four which makes her my oldest friend. That day, the final day of 2006, I became a godmother for the first time to Catherine and John's eight month old son, Joshua. Toby and I had been living together for almost four years and, after wondering if we'd ever wed, I'd decided that it didn't matter and that I didn't mind either way. We were planning to start looking for a house to buy when we returned to Australia in January. We'd just spent Christmas with my family, the first time for me since 2002 and the first time ever for Toby. My sister and her husband, Alan had just moved from their first flat into their first house and had been on an exciting holiday to America. A month or two earlier I had finally passed my driving test at the age of thirty.
The following day, the first day of 2007, whilst driving back to go for a brisk walk in Durham with my parents, Toby let it slip that he wanted to marry me but made it quite clear that this in no way constituted a proposal and that I was to wait until he'd mentioned it to my parents. And therein began the rollercoaster ride that was 2007. A week later we were engaged and beginning talks of the wedding. A few weeks into January we decided to get married that August. We had an engagement party on Australia Day, January 26th, which was the same day that my sister told us she was 6 weeks pregnant (and unfortunately wouldn't make the wedding).
To cut a long story short (because you can probably get the majority of the long story from previous posts) I now have a beautiful engagement ring which Toby and I designed together, we're married, I have my own car, two beautiful pussy-cats, a gorgeous 3 month old niece and finally, our own home. We're local celebrities and currently have a beautiful double-page spread in The Sunshine Coast Wedding Guide in the form of our photographer's 2008 advert. It seems I will soon become a godmother for the second time for my lovely niece, Lucy. And Toby is now working for a different local council (it's all a much of a muchness though as they are soon to amalgamate into a "super" council).
Wow! What can 2008 bring? Hopefully, it will bring more sleep, more stability, a honeymoon, and a trip home so I can become Lucy's godmother in person and finally get to give her a cuddle. And with that in mind, I'm off to end the crazy year of 2007 in the company of good friends, Scott and Lucie who have shared the craziness with us this year, having been heavily involved in the wedding, neighbours for a while, bought their first home together and recently got a cute King Charles spaniel puppy.
Crazy cats playing with their new toys...
...and each other
Possibly the smallest dog in the world...
Scott and Lucie's new puppy, Rocco...and perhaps the largest
Brent's dog, Big Red (wonder how they came up with that name) with Lucie and Brent for a bit of a perspective on his size.
My first ever attempt at a Christmas cake
not bad either, if I do say so myselfChristmas at the beach in 25 knot winds
Toy aeroplane racing
New tablecloth from my Gran and Grandpa
which fits our giant patio table, and matches my beautiful Christmas centrepiece.
Cute cats
Lazy cats
Crazy weather and big surf
Riding bikes in the rain
And now for the year in review
This time last year Toby and I were spending the night at Catherine and John's house in Cramlington, Northumberland (UK). Catherine and I have known each other since we were four which makes her my oldest friend. That day, the final day of 2006, I became a godmother for the first time to Catherine and John's eight month old son, Joshua. Toby and I had been living together for almost four years and, after wondering if we'd ever wed, I'd decided that it didn't matter and that I didn't mind either way. We were planning to start looking for a house to buy when we returned to Australia in January. We'd just spent Christmas with my family, the first time for me since 2002 and the first time ever for Toby. My sister and her husband, Alan had just moved from their first flat into their first house and had been on an exciting holiday to America. A month or two earlier I had finally passed my driving test at the age of thirty.
The following day, the first day of 2007, whilst driving back to go for a brisk walk in Durham with my parents, Toby let it slip that he wanted to marry me but made it quite clear that this in no way constituted a proposal and that I was to wait until he'd mentioned it to my parents. And therein began the rollercoaster ride that was 2007. A week later we were engaged and beginning talks of the wedding. A few weeks into January we decided to get married that August. We had an engagement party on Australia Day, January 26th, which was the same day that my sister told us she was 6 weeks pregnant (and unfortunately wouldn't make the wedding).
To cut a long story short (because you can probably get the majority of the long story from previous posts) I now have a beautiful engagement ring which Toby and I designed together, we're married, I have my own car, two beautiful pussy-cats, a gorgeous 3 month old niece and finally, our own home. We're local celebrities and currently have a beautiful double-page spread in The Sunshine Coast Wedding Guide in the form of our photographer's 2008 advert. It seems I will soon become a godmother for the second time for my lovely niece, Lucy. And Toby is now working for a different local council (it's all a much of a muchness though as they are soon to amalgamate into a "super" council).
Wow! What can 2008 bring? Hopefully, it will bring more sleep, more stability, a honeymoon, and a trip home so I can become Lucy's godmother in person and finally get to give her a cuddle. And with that in mind, I'm off to end the crazy year of 2007 in the company of good friends, Scott and Lucie who have shared the craziness with us this year, having been heavily involved in the wedding, neighbours for a while, bought their first home together and recently got a cute King Charles spaniel puppy.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Christmas is coming, my brain is going splat...
... please put a penny in a poor Geordie's hat.
In which I discuss the joys of summer ('cause I forgot last time), the stresses of Christmas shopping over the internet, and the cultural mashup that is the Aboriginal Zorba!
Christmas seems to have come way too soon after my dear husband and I ventured into the world of joint finances. Toby keeps telling me he's "not a presents person" which is his way of saying "I think you should do all the Christmas shopping". But I have not yet come to grips with the fact that my money is no longer my money and that I can't just spend what I damn well like on what I damn well want to. I don't know what to buy for half of his family, and I don't know what is a reasonable amount to spend, coupled with the fact that I'm still not sure how much we have to play with once our mortgage and credit card has been paid, having only had one such set of payments which, in the case of the credit card, wasn't a full month anyway.
The good things about summer include Christmas and Australia Day
Nonetheless, I am, as usual getting into the Christmas spirit, although I missed the IT Christmas party when I went to Cudge's 90th birthday party last week, and then I missed the IT ladies' lunch yesterday because of my splattered brain. Clean forgot, went home instead, will explain why in due course. See, I realised that after whinging about summer I forgot to tell you what is so good about it. Well, Christmas is one thing. Another thing is that we get all the non-public holiday days between Christmas and New Year off work for free which is a real chance to wind down. Christmas doesn't seem as mental here as it is in the UK which I didn't like at first but am now beginning to appreciate. The other great things about summer are Australia Day where everyone gets together to listen to the best tunes of the previous year, drink beer, have barbies and generally celebrate becoming a federation. Crikey, what will they be like if they ever get to be a republic? And also being able to swim in the ocean at any time of day and the water is warm. Lovely.
What isn't so wonderful is Christmas shopping over the internet and I'm never doing it again if I can avoid it. Usually I shop a couple of months before Christmas for some lightweight items which I then lovingly wrap, stick in a huge box and send to my Mam and Dad's house, posting by the end of November or beginning of December. I used to think about Christmas only once my birthday was done with so it took me a couple of years to get into this new routine but now I quite enjoy it as it helps me get into the Christmas spirit. Plus, once you hit thirty, birthdays are less significant. This year has been so crazily busy though, and what with being homeless and moving house all around the time I would usually be doing my Christmas shopping, plus having a new niece and a friend's wedding to shop for, well it just didn't happen.
Online shopping craziness...
"No worries," I thought, in the manner of a seasoned pommie-living-in-Australia, "I'll just buy everything on that wonderful super-information-highway known as the internet. I shall enter the web 2.0 world of easy, interactive online shopping from the comfort of your own armchair," which may well have been the case had I settled for buying everything on Amazon. And I might well have been able to do this if I'd spent a little more time in the gift section - what doesn't Amazon do these days? But I had it in my head that I had to go to Boots or Marks and Spencer for my grandmothers. So I set about visiting a number of online stores, browsing for ideas, and constructing a list of potential gifts for every member of my family, of which there are ten that I buy regular gifts for.
No Boots for Buckle
Boots was a write-off right away. I didn't even really bother such was the effort required to merely navigate my way around the site. But eventually I managed to compile a list of prezzies from a handful of other sites.
Early last Monday morning I set about purchasing them, thinking it would take about half an hour. After five minutes I decided I was tired and had a headache and would call in sick. I planned to finish my shopping, then go back to bed before having a nice relaxing day, getting myself better and finishing some of my jobs around the house. No such luck.
Firstly, thinkGeek wouldn't take me to the payment section but I called Toby and he managed to do it from work (which is about all he can do with his work internet connection). Then to Prezzy Box where I had a few problems getting my voucher code accepted. No big deal really as it as a free £5 off.
Marks and sparks of frustration
I then trudged along to Marks and Spencer and keyed in the URL for the present I'd chosen to my sister; added that to my basket. Then I keyed in the URL for my Nana's gift. Added that to my basket. Discovered my sister's present had disappeared from my basket. Then looked into the basket and Nana's present was gone too. Strange. Added them again. Same thing happened. It was like someone was following me around the shop taking everything from my basket as soon as I put it in there. Tried a number of different ways around this; made sure scripts were enabled; used IE instead of Firefox; only went to one URL at a time. I think eventually it was this latter one that worked. I had to key in the product ID instead of the entire URL but you know... it's so long since I started writing this post that I can't be certain. Either way, Nana's gift then wasn't available in her size so I had to look for something else; the site (or the internet; or perhaps both) was excruciatingly slow; I kept adding things that turned out to have lead times of 4-6 weeks or be out of stock.
Back to the front
By far the most annoying thing about the M&S site was the fact that when I added something to my basket, it threw me into my basket too, with no obvious way of getting back to where I was. When I clicked on Continue Shopping I ended up back on the home page. It's the web equivalent of picking up a pack of M&S knickers, and being forced on placing them into your basket to look at everything else in there (just in case you wanted to throw anything out or get more of something; I don't care what else is in there, thanks, I'm just thinking about the knickers right now!) before being frog-marched to the front of the shop. What the?
-But I was in lingerie, take me back to lingerie.
-Sorry, you'll have to find your own way back.
-Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
EVENTUALLY, after many hours, I made my purchases, only to discover that I would have to pay £3 per item for wrapping! There were eight items for three people!! I didn't even calculate it because it would have been painful before converting to Aussie dollars. So I sent them to my Mam for wrapping. Thanks Mam.
I felt a bit bad about that so I decided her gift would be wonderful. I'd already picked out a beautiful blouse from Debenhams so I got on with purchasing that. Or at least I would have done had Debenhams not refused to authorise my AmEx card when using Firefox. And my Mastercard. And both when using IE too. Aaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh.
Next! Don't bother.
Over the road to Next to find an alternative blouse. Found a nice one, went to buy it, not ready for 2-3 weeks. Found another one; nice piece of jewellery to complement it; through to check-out. I asked if they could gift-wrap it for me but they pretended not to hear. It doesn't seem to be a service they offer. So I decided to send it to my sister to be wrapped. But then something in the terms and conditions suggested that I had to be a UK resident. I thought about trying it anyway, with Clare's address but then thought of the heartache I'd feel when it rejected my credit card because the delivery address didn't match the card address. By this point I was unbelievably stressed and tired and had spent about seven hours at the computer doing what I thought would be a thirty minute job. I gave up. I was so distressed.
Eventually Mam's present came from Amazon because I have absolutely no complaints about their service whatsoever. I've used them for years and, unlike the other shops, this is what their niche is and what they set out to do and boy do they do it well. If ever I have to do my Christmas shopping online again it's all coming from Amazon. It's just so disappointing that I couldn't get what I wanted.
To top it all off, Debenhams made two $2.35 transactions on my credit card which led to it being blocked. Still trying to sort that one out. Internet shopping is like drugs (but far less fun): just don't do it.
Well, it's been a crazy week and I don't know where my head's at. I'm really looking forward to a bit of a break... the 2007 reflection post will come soon I'm sure but this isn't it. I'm going to leave you all with merry Christmas wishes for your festive season. I hope you all have a great time and that Santa is very kind to you.
To close, I'd like to share with you this YouTube movie that's very popular over here at the moment. It's an Aboriginal dance group performing traditional dance moves (traditionally used to communicate and tell stories), with a few updated steps thrown in, to modern music, often incorporating music from other cultures. Here, they dance to the Zorba! Brilliant. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
In which I discuss the joys of summer ('cause I forgot last time), the stresses of Christmas shopping over the internet, and the cultural mashup that is the Aboriginal Zorba!
Christmas seems to have come way too soon after my dear husband and I ventured into the world of joint finances. Toby keeps telling me he's "not a presents person" which is his way of saying "I think you should do all the Christmas shopping". But I have not yet come to grips with the fact that my money is no longer my money and that I can't just spend what I damn well like on what I damn well want to. I don't know what to buy for half of his family, and I don't know what is a reasonable amount to spend, coupled with the fact that I'm still not sure how much we have to play with once our mortgage and credit card has been paid, having only had one such set of payments which, in the case of the credit card, wasn't a full month anyway.
The good things about summer include Christmas and Australia Day
Nonetheless, I am, as usual getting into the Christmas spirit, although I missed the IT Christmas party when I went to Cudge's 90th birthday party last week, and then I missed the IT ladies' lunch yesterday because of my splattered brain. Clean forgot, went home instead, will explain why in due course. See, I realised that after whinging about summer I forgot to tell you what is so good about it. Well, Christmas is one thing. Another thing is that we get all the non-public holiday days between Christmas and New Year off work for free which is a real chance to wind down. Christmas doesn't seem as mental here as it is in the UK which I didn't like at first but am now beginning to appreciate. The other great things about summer are Australia Day where everyone gets together to listen to the best tunes of the previous year, drink beer, have barbies and generally celebrate becoming a federation. Crikey, what will they be like if they ever get to be a republic? And also being able to swim in the ocean at any time of day and the water is warm. Lovely.
What isn't so wonderful is Christmas shopping over the internet and I'm never doing it again if I can avoid it. Usually I shop a couple of months before Christmas for some lightweight items which I then lovingly wrap, stick in a huge box and send to my Mam and Dad's house, posting by the end of November or beginning of December. I used to think about Christmas only once my birthday was done with so it took me a couple of years to get into this new routine but now I quite enjoy it as it helps me get into the Christmas spirit. Plus, once you hit thirty, birthdays are less significant. This year has been so crazily busy though, and what with being homeless and moving house all around the time I would usually be doing my Christmas shopping, plus having a new niece and a friend's wedding to shop for, well it just didn't happen.
Online shopping craziness...
"No worries," I thought, in the manner of a seasoned pommie-living-in-Australia, "I'll just buy everything on that wonderful super-information-highway known as the internet. I shall enter the web 2.0 world of easy, interactive online shopping from the comfort of your own armchair," which may well have been the case had I settled for buying everything on Amazon. And I might well have been able to do this if I'd spent a little more time in the gift section - what doesn't Amazon do these days? But I had it in my head that I had to go to Boots or Marks and Spencer for my grandmothers. So I set about visiting a number of online stores, browsing for ideas, and constructing a list of potential gifts for every member of my family, of which there are ten that I buy regular gifts for.
No Boots for Buckle
Boots was a write-off right away. I didn't even really bother such was the effort required to merely navigate my way around the site. But eventually I managed to compile a list of prezzies from a handful of other sites.
Early last Monday morning I set about purchasing them, thinking it would take about half an hour. After five minutes I decided I was tired and had a headache and would call in sick. I planned to finish my shopping, then go back to bed before having a nice relaxing day, getting myself better and finishing some of my jobs around the house. No such luck.
Firstly, thinkGeek wouldn't take me to the payment section but I called Toby and he managed to do it from work (which is about all he can do with his work internet connection). Then to Prezzy Box where I had a few problems getting my voucher code accepted. No big deal really as it as a free £5 off.
Marks and sparks of frustration
I then trudged along to Marks and Spencer and keyed in the URL for the present I'd chosen to my sister; added that to my basket. Then I keyed in the URL for my Nana's gift. Added that to my basket. Discovered my sister's present had disappeared from my basket. Then looked into the basket and Nana's present was gone too. Strange. Added them again. Same thing happened. It was like someone was following me around the shop taking everything from my basket as soon as I put it in there. Tried a number of different ways around this; made sure scripts were enabled; used IE instead of Firefox; only went to one URL at a time. I think eventually it was this latter one that worked. I had to key in the product ID instead of the entire URL but you know... it's so long since I started writing this post that I can't be certain. Either way, Nana's gift then wasn't available in her size so I had to look for something else; the site (or the internet; or perhaps both) was excruciatingly slow; I kept adding things that turned out to have lead times of 4-6 weeks or be out of stock.
Back to the front
By far the most annoying thing about the M&S site was the fact that when I added something to my basket, it threw me into my basket too, with no obvious way of getting back to where I was. When I clicked on Continue Shopping I ended up back on the home page. It's the web equivalent of picking up a pack of M&S knickers, and being forced on placing them into your basket to look at everything else in there (just in case you wanted to throw anything out or get more of something; I don't care what else is in there, thanks, I'm just thinking about the knickers right now!) before being frog-marched to the front of the shop. What the?
-But I was in lingerie, take me back to lingerie.
-Sorry, you'll have to find your own way back.
-Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
EVENTUALLY, after many hours, I made my purchases, only to discover that I would have to pay £3 per item for wrapping! There were eight items for three people!! I didn't even calculate it because it would have been painful before converting to Aussie dollars. So I sent them to my Mam for wrapping. Thanks Mam.
I felt a bit bad about that so I decided her gift would be wonderful. I'd already picked out a beautiful blouse from Debenhams so I got on with purchasing that. Or at least I would have done had Debenhams not refused to authorise my AmEx card when using Firefox. And my Mastercard. And both when using IE too. Aaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh.
Next! Don't bother.
Over the road to Next to find an alternative blouse. Found a nice one, went to buy it, not ready for 2-3 weeks. Found another one; nice piece of jewellery to complement it; through to check-out. I asked if they could gift-wrap it for me but they pretended not to hear. It doesn't seem to be a service they offer. So I decided to send it to my sister to be wrapped. But then something in the terms and conditions suggested that I had to be a UK resident. I thought about trying it anyway, with Clare's address but then thought of the heartache I'd feel when it rejected my credit card because the delivery address didn't match the card address. By this point I was unbelievably stressed and tired and had spent about seven hours at the computer doing what I thought would be a thirty minute job. I gave up. I was so distressed.
Eventually Mam's present came from Amazon because I have absolutely no complaints about their service whatsoever. I've used them for years and, unlike the other shops, this is what their niche is and what they set out to do and boy do they do it well. If ever I have to do my Christmas shopping online again it's all coming from Amazon. It's just so disappointing that I couldn't get what I wanted.
To top it all off, Debenhams made two $2.35 transactions on my credit card which led to it being blocked. Still trying to sort that one out. Internet shopping is like drugs (but far less fun): just don't do it.
Well, it's been a crazy week and I don't know where my head's at. I'm really looking forward to a bit of a break... the 2007 reflection post will come soon I'm sure but this isn't it. I'm going to leave you all with merry Christmas wishes for your festive season. I hope you all have a great time and that Santa is very kind to you.
To close, I'd like to share with you this YouTube movie that's very popular over here at the moment. It's an Aboriginal dance group performing traditional dance moves (traditionally used to communicate and tell stories), with a few updated steps thrown in, to modern music, often incorporating music from other cultures. Here, they dance to the Zorba! Brilliant. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Summer bloody summer
The gist is back as I discuss summer and its various merits and downfalls, plus, of course, an update on my lovable pussies. Once more, I am enduring the season of mosquito bites and sleepless nights as I get used to another hot Aussie summer.... read on for a classic Buckle update, the likes of which you haven't seen for a while.
Ah summer! That glorious time of year when the pool covers come off, the bbq heats up and Queenslanders sit back and take life easy; when the humidity and mercury rise to almost unbearable heights, the sun beats down when it isn't obscured by rain clouds and storms, men start wearing shots and sandals for work and I get covered from head to toe in red, swollen, sore and itchy welts from the man-eating mozzies. Just as my immune system was getting used to those few and far between beach-side mozzies, I am now introducing my poor pommie skin to a new breed of mozzie; the silty-forest mozzy (or something). So far the skin appears not to like it much, but then I was subjected to a few mauls.
Little black cat ruins fly screen
Thing is, I shouldn't really have any bites because generally I'm quite careful. I went for a walk after work last night and covered my exposed skin in Mosi-guard. However, I did then go for a dip in the ocean which probably would have washed it all off. But I already had some of the bites, and I suspect I got them whilst sitting in our supposedly mozzie-proof covered-in outdoor patio. Actually I know I did because I killed one, and felt another one biting me. When we moved in I did notice a few gaps in the insect screen. I think these have got much worse as Monty (the little black one) likes to climb the screens in an attempt to chase moths and geckos on the other side. Stupid cat - doesn't he realise they're on the other side of the screen and he can't get them anyway? I now have approximately 8 bites on the left-hand side of my body, mainly my arm, including one incredibly sore one right on the tip of my elbow. My right side is better off, with only one or two. Somehow I managed to get one on the tip of my right elbow too. I am fueling my sleep with antihistamines as I know I'd be awake itching all night otherwise. Plus, when I have this many bites my immune system starts to struggle and I feel unwell. God knows my immune system has enough to worry about at the moment with all the stress I've put it through lately. (Oh poor immune system! What about ME?)
Itchy bites aside, summer often brings sleepless nights anyway thanks to the heat and humidity. We finally took our duvet out of the cover and stuck it in the top of the wardrobe (walk-in, yah!) the other day after a particularly hot and stuffy night during which I barely slept and woke up like a bear with a sore head. I think we have our room sorted now but also thankfully a cool south-easterly weather system has come through bringing rain and cool breezes. Ah! Bliss!!
Large grey one leaves hair on floor
The other unfortunate side effect of summer is sinusitus, thanks to the humidity, and probably some dust and pollen in the air too. I had the worst headache thanks to my sinuses the other day. Even Toby has suffered from it this year. I vaccuumed all the tufts of grey fur the cats lovingly leave all over the floor whilst we're at work, just in case that had anything to do with it. Yes, Zadie's a moulter. Although they chase each other all over the house like wild fire they do have a preferred spot for their play fights, which is very considerate of them as this is where the majority of Zadie's hair ends up. However, as soon as I vaccuum the little grey tufts I discover that there's an almost imperceptible film of fine grey hair covering the rest of the carpet.
IT men are slobs
I would like to digress on the subject of my domestic life and adaption to summer for a short while to tell you of the downside of working in IT amongst a load of men. Some of the men in my office, and by no means all of them, I assure you, but some of them are actual slobs. They really are. You know when you cook something in the microwave and you don't cover it up and it goes SPLAT and when you open the door there's sauce or whatever over the inside? You know how if you're quick enough it's still uncooked and comes off really easily when you wipe it over with a cloth? Well, the majority of the men in my office appear to be unaware of this. Every time I have to clean sauce off the inside of the microwave I find myself spending 5 or 10 minutes scrubbing really hard to remove somebody's well-cooked stubborn muck from god knows when. And they leave dishes in the sink, coffee granuals and water all over the bench. They obviously are very lucky men with lovely wives who do absolutely everything for them but it annoys the crap out of me. I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for indulging me. If you're still reading, that is. (Well done if you are!)
The secret to a long life is....
There may have been more I wanted to talk about. For example, I probably wanted to tell you how I was late for work this morning because Monty insisted that I give him a cuddle by climbing up my back (whilst I was kneeling on the floor) and sitting on my shoulder purring into my ear; or maybe I wanted to tell you about how he climbed into the bathroom cupboard today and wouldn't come out so I shut the door thinking "ha! that'll teach him, I'm going to go and feed the other one whilst he's in there and he'll soon learn not to climb into cupboards then refuse to leave" only to see him bounding down the hallway towards his feeding place. He's a regular Houdini; the other night Toby got very cross with him for roaming around on the bench so he locked him in the laundry (which is where they sleep). As there is a cat-flap from the laundry to the patio where we were eating dinner, he got the heavy doormat and laid it against the cat-flap. First Monty tried to pull the cat-flap open (clever!) but eventually through sheer persistence he managed to move the mat slightly by repeatedly pushing the flap with his nose, until there was less pressure and he was able to pull himself through.
But anyway, I wanted to end by telling you I think I may have discovered the secret of a long life. On Saturday night we went to Cudge's 90th birthday party, Cudge being Toby's paternal great aunt. Although she had a health scare about three years ago (in which the doctors gave her about 3 months to live; pah! what do they know?) which has left her somewhat frail, she still lives alone (with some hired help, friends and family popping in now and then) and is totally switched on. The family gave her a digital photo frame which we stuck a load of photos onto and she wanted to know where the photos where stored and how, what digital meant, and what would a USB stick look like if she cut it in half? She has an amazing interest in a diverse range of subjects and has friends within many age groups, including my own. So, obviously that is a large part of it: keep up interests, occupy the mind and, for as long as possible, the body; but be gentle with the body and don't push it too much. She also has a faith in God, and whilst I'm not religious myself I think looking after your spiritual health and having some kind of faith definitely contributes to a long and happy life. However, I think the key is the fact that she never married and had children. That's the real secret to a long life. (She seems really happy too, by the way!)
Ah summer! That glorious time of year when the pool covers come off, the bbq heats up and Queenslanders sit back and take life easy; when the humidity and mercury rise to almost unbearable heights, the sun beats down when it isn't obscured by rain clouds and storms, men start wearing shots and sandals for work and I get covered from head to toe in red, swollen, sore and itchy welts from the man-eating mozzies. Just as my immune system was getting used to those few and far between beach-side mozzies, I am now introducing my poor pommie skin to a new breed of mozzie; the silty-forest mozzy (or something). So far the skin appears not to like it much, but then I was subjected to a few mauls.
Little black cat ruins fly screen
Thing is, I shouldn't really have any bites because generally I'm quite careful. I went for a walk after work last night and covered my exposed skin in Mosi-guard. However, I did then go for a dip in the ocean which probably would have washed it all off. But I already had some of the bites, and I suspect I got them whilst sitting in our supposedly mozzie-proof covered-in outdoor patio. Actually I know I did because I killed one, and felt another one biting me. When we moved in I did notice a few gaps in the insect screen. I think these have got much worse as Monty (the little black one) likes to climb the screens in an attempt to chase moths and geckos on the other side. Stupid cat - doesn't he realise they're on the other side of the screen and he can't get them anyway? I now have approximately 8 bites on the left-hand side of my body, mainly my arm, including one incredibly sore one right on the tip of my elbow. My right side is better off, with only one or two. Somehow I managed to get one on the tip of my right elbow too. I am fueling my sleep with antihistamines as I know I'd be awake itching all night otherwise. Plus, when I have this many bites my immune system starts to struggle and I feel unwell. God knows my immune system has enough to worry about at the moment with all the stress I've put it through lately. (Oh poor immune system! What about ME?)
Itchy bites aside, summer often brings sleepless nights anyway thanks to the heat and humidity. We finally took our duvet out of the cover and stuck it in the top of the wardrobe (walk-in, yah!) the other day after a particularly hot and stuffy night during which I barely slept and woke up like a bear with a sore head. I think we have our room sorted now but also thankfully a cool south-easterly weather system has come through bringing rain and cool breezes. Ah! Bliss!!
Large grey one leaves hair on floor
The other unfortunate side effect of summer is sinusitus, thanks to the humidity, and probably some dust and pollen in the air too. I had the worst headache thanks to my sinuses the other day. Even Toby has suffered from it this year. I vaccuumed all the tufts of grey fur the cats lovingly leave all over the floor whilst we're at work, just in case that had anything to do with it. Yes, Zadie's a moulter. Although they chase each other all over the house like wild fire they do have a preferred spot for their play fights, which is very considerate of them as this is where the majority of Zadie's hair ends up. However, as soon as I vaccuum the little grey tufts I discover that there's an almost imperceptible film of fine grey hair covering the rest of the carpet.
IT men are slobs
I would like to digress on the subject of my domestic life and adaption to summer for a short while to tell you of the downside of working in IT amongst a load of men. Some of the men in my office, and by no means all of them, I assure you, but some of them are actual slobs. They really are. You know when you cook something in the microwave and you don't cover it up and it goes SPLAT and when you open the door there's sauce or whatever over the inside? You know how if you're quick enough it's still uncooked and comes off really easily when you wipe it over with a cloth? Well, the majority of the men in my office appear to be unaware of this. Every time I have to clean sauce off the inside of the microwave I find myself spending 5 or 10 minutes scrubbing really hard to remove somebody's well-cooked stubborn muck from god knows when. And they leave dishes in the sink, coffee granuals and water all over the bench. They obviously are very lucky men with lovely wives who do absolutely everything for them but it annoys the crap out of me. I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for indulging me. If you're still reading, that is. (Well done if you are!)
The secret to a long life is....
There may have been more I wanted to talk about. For example, I probably wanted to tell you how I was late for work this morning because Monty insisted that I give him a cuddle by climbing up my back (whilst I was kneeling on the floor) and sitting on my shoulder purring into my ear; or maybe I wanted to tell you about how he climbed into the bathroom cupboard today and wouldn't come out so I shut the door thinking "ha! that'll teach him, I'm going to go and feed the other one whilst he's in there and he'll soon learn not to climb into cupboards then refuse to leave" only to see him bounding down the hallway towards his feeding place. He's a regular Houdini; the other night Toby got very cross with him for roaming around on the bench so he locked him in the laundry (which is where they sleep). As there is a cat-flap from the laundry to the patio where we were eating dinner, he got the heavy doormat and laid it against the cat-flap. First Monty tried to pull the cat-flap open (clever!) but eventually through sheer persistence he managed to move the mat slightly by repeatedly pushing the flap with his nose, until there was less pressure and he was able to pull himself through.
But anyway, I wanted to end by telling you I think I may have discovered the secret of a long life. On Saturday night we went to Cudge's 90th birthday party, Cudge being Toby's paternal great aunt. Although she had a health scare about three years ago (in which the doctors gave her about 3 months to live; pah! what do they know?) which has left her somewhat frail, she still lives alone (with some hired help, friends and family popping in now and then) and is totally switched on. The family gave her a digital photo frame which we stuck a load of photos onto and she wanted to know where the photos where stored and how, what digital meant, and what would a USB stick look like if she cut it in half? She has an amazing interest in a diverse range of subjects and has friends within many age groups, including my own. So, obviously that is a large part of it: keep up interests, occupy the mind and, for as long as possible, the body; but be gentle with the body and don't push it too much. She also has a faith in God, and whilst I'm not religious myself I think looking after your spiritual health and having some kind of faith definitely contributes to a long and happy life. However, I think the key is the fact that she never married and had children. That's the real secret to a long life. (She seems really happy too, by the way!)
Friday, December 07, 2007
Rainbow over Sydney Harbour Bridge
I was looking back through some really old (well, four years) photos and found these ones that Toby and I took down in Sydney when we saw a rainbow over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was a really solid intensely coloured rainbow. I figure it's not often you see something as spectacular as that. This was before the days of my supa-dupa Olympus camera though, so the pictures aren't of a great quality.
The jolly Sydney Ferries man
We could see the other side of the rainbow too but we couldn't find a pot of gold unfortunately.
The jolly Sydney Ferries man
We could see the other side of the rainbow too but we couldn't find a pot of gold unfortunately.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Herding cats on Groundhog Day with IT cowboys (or catboys)
Do you ever feel like you're going round and round in circles? Do you often get the sinking feeling that you're in some kind of sadistic extended real-life version of Groundhog Day? Do you ever find yourself repeating a task you completed months before only to have been told that "actually we don't need it after all", only to then months later have the same request made, only to then be told that it is no longer a requirement and so on and so forth? Do you work in IT?
I never would have thought that my work in IT could be likened to trying to get the cats to bed at night but then my boss showed me this YouTube movie, which she used to communicate to one of the University big-wigs how it feels for us poor IT folk when requirements keep changing, conflicting requests come in, processes are by-passed and communication is poor or non-existent.
Perhaps we need to start enticing the University executives with biscuits. Works with the cats.
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