Archive | August, 2014

sigh…

31 Aug

weekend

 

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the power of the paddle-pop person

30 Aug

It’s amazing how a fairly frail and elderly gent can have more impact on the bad habits of drivers than any amount of  police surveillance.

I drive past 4 schools on my daily trek to work, usually within that dreaded 40kph time zone. As I have mentioned before I take extra special care these days not to exceed the limit by even 1or 2 kph… my point-score & my wallet simply can’t afford it…BUT I have been taking particular note of the behaviour of others.

200286804-001Now, only one of the four school areas has an attendant on hand to help the little people cross the busy main road, and it’s an amazing thing to watch.

This elderly gent stands ‘at the ready’ on the footpath, with his paddle-pop stop sign and high vis vest …just waiting to be called into action. Every single car slows to the appropriate speed and he gives each one a wave of thanks and a great big smile in return. What a win  win story …great way for him to start the day…great way for speed to be controlled…great for public costs to be cut (rather than dispatching a police car with a radar camera)…great for the kids to be safe…and GREAT for him to feel important !!!

I say well done and thanks  to all the paddle pop people protecting our petite pedestrians.

 

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rewind friday

29 Aug

After being caught in some kind of timewarp LAST Friday and getting it all wrong …we made it tonight to catch this awesome and moving show.

.. Rolling Thunder Vietnam

If you remember the 70’s…the incense, the flowers, the garage bands, the weed and the war… If you loved the music, and you feel like a bit of time travel.. do yourself a huge favour and get there.

Definitely Baby Boomer bliss … plus a fabulous way to share our history and our music with our young’ns…and to reinforce the futility and stupidity of war.

Limited shows  but if you are quick you might strike it lucky here !!!!

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not so quiet carriage

28 Aug

I know I’ve said it before …. but you’ve gotta love the endless entertainment and people watching opportunities while travelling on a  train .quiet

Today while returning to the outer western ‘burbs’ after a meeting,  I found myself on the ‘quiet carriage’ … (such a great invention) … and it was all beautifully peaceful….until ….

The well dressed guy sitting opposite me with his ear plugs firmly in place, started tapping his feet in time with a favourite song. There he was in a world of his own busting a  few dance moves with his feet, while sitting with his head back and eyes closed, and looking like he was in heaven.

I sat pondering the obvious enjoyment of this young man who was clearly in his own little  bubble   ….then suddenly he burst into song…loud…clear …and definitely waaay off key… Hilarious!

Then, just like  someone flicked a switch, he opened his eyes and instantly realised where he was, and that he had an audience…OOPS!

Mmmm probably not QUITE ready for the X Factor mate …thanks for the entertainment, but my advice  stick?… with your day job.

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no such thing as a ‘quick-stop shop’…

27 Aug

fruit and vegesI know I should try harder with the whole environmental thing, and I do TRY to remember my envirobags when I head to the shops…but there are those times that I get caught short and find myself relying on the plastic tear-off bags for my fruit and veges.

Today was one of those days, and it reminded me how tricky a ‘quick-stop at the shop’ has become.

There I was, just popping in for one or two items, with my wallet, car keys, phone and reading glasses in my hand. Next  minute I’m trying to juggle said items, dropping them clumsily amongst the avocados while feeling for firmness with one hand and the trying to tear a bag off with the other. Finally I manage to rip my bag off … but the next challenge was to actually separate the plastic layers to open it.

No matter how hard I tried I could not part it (having dropped my glasses, I was flying blind, and it took a while to realise that I was trying in vain to open the sealed edge…). But I stood there determined that the damn thing was NOT going to beat me … I mean it can’t be THAT hard…. can it ?

Success at last !! Then… to complete my ‘quick stop’ I headed to the self serve checkout – another habit I have tried to avoid…. but I was rushing…ok?envirobags

Well there I was, balancing my bits and pieces (now along with the added complication of my shopping) … and trying to manoeuvre a bag open to drop my goods into… Again it won’t play!!! The bags were all bunched together and stubbornly refusing to be budged with my one free hand.

So I guess  I can say I have taken the hint …and my envirobag collection is once again tucked safely in the back of the car.

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the lost art of bed making ….

26 Aug


Having been drilled into the fine art of ‘hospital corners’ as a young nurse … it pains me to see how sloppy we have become with the craft of creating a well made bed.

Last century’s introduction of fitted sheets ….quickly followed by the feather doona, changed    bedmaking 3                                 our whole approach to the job… No more need for neatness, just stretch the bottom sheet and let        the elastic do the rest …then fluff the doona and it’s done.

SO easy, yet today I couldn’t manage it before I ran out the door.

It’s a funny thing, but I can count on one hand, the days that  I’ve left the house without making the bed …and I’ve gotta admit  that it’s just one of ‘those’ obsessions for me . I can’t bear the idea of crawling into an unmade bed (whatever that is given that we don’t ACTUALLY  make them these days) … nor walking back into the house after work to see  a pile of feathers lumped in the middle of the mattress.

Long gone are the old days of smooth flat fitted  sheet… top sheet …and a couple of blankets all turned  over at the top and perfectly tucked, before being topped off with a floral fitted bedspread.

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petrol pump ponderings…

25 Aug

Today I’m wondering if it would be too difficult to create some consistency between car fuel tanks. I mean why can’t they all be on the same side?

I have access to a number of different cars in any one day, so it’s easy to get caught out atPetrol_Pump_Kilakarai the petrol pump… you know, pulling up on the wrong side only to find the hose wont reach and there you are with the cap off  and needing to move the car . It happened to me not once but twice today today…. in the  pouring rain. (Someone once told that the fuel indicator l light  is a hint as to which side the fuel cap is located …. whichever side the hose is shown, supposedly the side you would find the fuel tank… Well  I can confirm that THAT is a load  of nonsense).

petrolIts bad enough when you squeeze the last drop out of your own fuel tank, but when you jump in a fleet car to discover the petrol warning  light blinking…and you need to rush into the nearest petrol station … well !!!

I wheeled in, and found myself doing battle to find the latch to unlock the tank….then jumped out into the rain to discover I was on the wrong side of the pump!!! aaargh lets just say I was ‘not impressed’ (and quite wet) – but the time I reached my destination .

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doing it old style….

24 Aug

God know what possessed me…but today I took to my knees with a scourer in one hand…gumption in the other and scrubbed the bathroom floor.

No fancy schmancy steam mop today …just good old fashioned elbow grease and sore knee-caps.

There I was head down & bum up, stuck beside the toilet bowl and it got me thinking…scrubbing 3. THIS was the way our Mums and our Mums’ Mums did it, back in the ‘olden days’  (maybe not the toilet bowl bit, ’cause that was usually out the back). But that was their life, often with hair in rollers and a hairnet, down on their knees scrubbing floors til they were clean enough to eat off….at LEAST once each week…. every week.

Well, we’ve come along way with all our mod-con products and gadgets,  BUT the question is …’is my bathroom actually any cleaner today, than if I had just used the steam mop’ ?…. well I’m not about to eat off it, but I reckon I might be.

That said…. the experiment is now over and I think  I’ll happily return to 21st century. I rest my case (and my scourer), and take my hat off to Mum and all those great scrubbers before her.

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it’s all relative …

23 Aug

hoarders

time warp …

22 Aug

oops ~ my badoops

nothing like losing a whole week somewhere

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