Tag Archives: life

hitting the wrong key….

4 Dec

These past few days , I’ve had a bit of a fascination with….wait for it … ‘keyboards’.comptometrist

Not the musical variety …but the highly functional communication tool that’s allowing me to write this. I have no idea what prompted it  (well actually I might know) … but since tuning in to this fascination … it seems I am being haunted by them…. (keyboards that is).

Since caving to the world of gadgetry and purchasing  my phabulous phablet  last week, I’m reminded that if I’m writing anything longer than 2 lines……..I would rather use a ‘thumbnail dipped in tar’ than type on a touch screen keyboard. It’s silly I know, but there is something comforting knowing that  I can feel and hear the clicking of the keys. …and the tactile aspect is  so much more ‘real’than tapping on a sheet of glass !!

Which brings me to the functional part …how DOES that sheet of glass translate that little ‘tap’  into letters on the screen. I mean …just stop and really think about it ? It is quite amazing technology …but it almost makes me forgive my ‘not so smart’ phone for it’s poor spelling and grammar.

The more you contemplate the humble keyboard the more there is to wonder, ponder and appreciate really….. like ‘why ARE the keys on a qwerty keyboard arranged the way they are’ ? and what key is used the most (tip have a look at the most shiny and faded one) ….. and how often should you actually clean your key board ??? (and how ???)  …..the list goes on.

I began to wonder why I was so fascinated…. and it suddenly occurred to me that it must be genetic. My Mum was a Comptomotrist way back in the 1940’s  ….busily tapping holes in cardboard 8 hours each day …. bet she didn’t use a ‘smart anything’ to help her ….just  good old fashioned  and clunky keys.

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cubicle life …

8 Aug

So many amusing things encountered in my world today … but one of the most bizarre was a (yet another)  toilet story … I have no idea why my musings often involve the cubicle… perhaps it’s something to do with slowing down and taking notice ???? …but lets not go there.

Anyway, I was working at one of our health centres and trotted off to the staff bathroom. While washing my hands I turned and noticed an A4 sized flyer blu tac’d on the partition beside me  and promising Fresh Air  (kind of amusing in a toilet block) …but bear with me.

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As I looked closer at the notice, I discovered it was a promo for a ‘new’ smoke free policy being launched across the health facility, and advising workers of their rights … Now nothing TOO unusual about that EXCEPT if you note the date at the bottom ….. it was LAST CENTURY!!! …literally !! April 1998.

This harmless sheet of paper has been housed in the four walls of the women’s toilets for 16 years and yet it’s promising that Fresh Air is COMING … I know that there is a lot of red tape and things don’t move quickly  in the Health sector … but seriously ????

I might just run a survey to see who has actually read the notice … I just wonder………

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point that pinky properly …

3 Aug

I was surprised to see the timeless June Dally Watkins in my face as I flicked the telly on this morning.

Surprised to see that she was alive and well …and still looking like gorgeous despite her  85 years on this planet.  An Aussie icon, she has been teaching young women to be ‘ladies’ for as long as I can remember ….and  I have been pondering the process for almost that long.

Are elocution and deportment relics of a bygone day?deportment

I mean… really ? walking with a book on your head…and learning to hold your little pinky properly when you sup your cup of tea from a fine bone china cup? Do they really make you a better person ?

Don’t get me wrong… I’m sure there is merit in having manners and common courtesy… and it can’t be bad to ‘speak nicely’ rather than ‘talk like a bogan’  but I think maybe it’s the notion of turning out ladies is what troubles me.

Such a funny and old fashioned word … so I ‘googled it’ to find a definition and see if it explained why it rubs me the wrong way …

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1. A well-mannered and considerate woman with high standards of proper behavior.
2.A woman regarded as proper and virtuous or a well-behaved young girl.
3. A woman who is the head of a household.
mmm … I guess the clue might be the word ‘proper’…  I mean what exactly IS proper ?? ..In whose eyes and in what century ??

Anyway I take my hat off to you dear June, for teaching me how to choose when I need to be proper and when I can just be real.
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what the ???

23 Jul

I love living in a place where it’s perfectly OK to display one’s cultural or religious perspective overtly and safely, as long as they offend no-one. It’s what makes our country interesting and colourful….But I am completely puzzled and amused when the behaviour doesn’t match the message. Let me explain….

This morning I gave way to a large 4WD that was merging in the traffic. As I sat behind it I couldn’t help but read the bumper  message …

‘Jesus is coming …are you ready? YOU MUST be born again’

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Now I am not a practising Christian, but what the hell… it’s a harmless message and I felt special that it was speaking directly to ME (even if a little fear inspiring). Anyway, smiling to myself I continued driving behind this oversized ‘truck’ and watched as it swerved from one side of the lane to the other…then slowed to a pace well below the speed limit …and then sped up again. An erratic style, to say the very least, (my guess is that there was a telephone involved…but I have no proof).

It made me wonder if he was looking for his chance to be ‘born again’…sooner rather than later …??

After 15 minutes behind this ‘crazy-man’, the road widened and cleared so I had the opportunity to overtake and get out of his way … before one of us met his maker under tragic circumstances.

As I overtook, I was astounded to see the middle aged god-fearing driver look at me and vigorously raise his middle finger by way of  a not-so-pleasant ‘morning greeting’ !!!!

mmm…. now that makes my wonder … should I have reported a stolen car?

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back on the brow…

19 Jul

Way back in the early days of my year-long blog challenge, I made a number of observations about eyebrows…their purpose, their shape, their usefulness, and their contribution to finishing one’s face.eyebrows

Well here I am again, bemoaning the fact that mine are quickly disappearing. They have always been thin and fair…. but they appear to be fading into oblivion with my increasing maturity.

This past week has seen me searching each morning, to find those fine thread-like strands growing above my eyes…so that I could colour them in….you know, join the dots with a pencil from my palette before facing the world.

I’m not craving anything high fashion, nor expecting that the gods are about to smile on me and have me wake up in the morning with thick lush brows … all I want is to NOT look like the elderly women that we are all familiar with …you know the ones that draw a thin black arch over their orbits to replace what nature has so cruelly removed.

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panda eyes…

17 Jul

Carrying on in a similar vein as last night ….. I wonder at what point you TELL someone about a personal mess or clothing goof up???

You know the sort of thing… an open fly, dress tucked into knickers, spinach in your teeth, loo paper hanging out your pants…

Well….today I was in a meeting and I became a tad emotional, angry and upset . I wasn’t actually crying however a sneaky tear escaped one eye….before it quickly dried and things moved along nicely.

I left the meeting, chatted to a bunch of people in the hallway, had a coffee with a colleague… then went back to the car where I caught a glimpse of the ugliest panda eyes you can imagine. A huge smudge under one and a corner full of black goop in the other.panda eyes

Bloody hell, why didn’t anyone mention that I looked like a traffic accident ?? (while I was busy feeling quietly smug, as I was sporting my new, fresh hair-do). What does it take for someone (in this case, not even strangers) to give you a quiet whisper telling you to pull yourself together??

Anyway, lessons learned  …

1/ don’t save waterproof mascara for the summer swim season… and

2/ if I ever come across a sister (or mister) who is sporting some unsightly malfunction….I will tell them.

Would you ??

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a hallmark moment …

2 Jul

I never cease to be amazed by the random interactions that occur when you least expect them (I guess that’s why they’re ‘random’)….

Anyway, today I was minding my own business, browsing in a department store, and all of a sudden this woman appeared at my side….and launched into …

“excuse me, my son turns 18 tomorrow…. what card should I buy for him”? …… as she presented me with three to choose from.

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I was completely stunned, and immediately wondered ‘what the hell’??? before helping her rule out two of the three cards in her hand, by asking ...

(Q)’is he a funny guy’?…(A) NO

(Q) is he a very conservative young man’?…(A) NO

BINGO!!! we were left with a fairly safe but contemporary looking hallmark creation which was sure not to offend …. that was…until she opened it to discover the inside leaf had been inserted upside down. While this appealed to my sense of humour….and really fitted with the bizarreness of this encounter … she was not impressed, so off she headed back to the ‘card section’ leaving me wondering what on earth just happened.

I went back to my business, but 10 minutes later she came running to me at the cash register, just to prove that she found the ‘right’ card…with the insert in correct position…PHEW it was great to know that all was good in the world again (lets just hope that ‘Mr 18year old’ appreciates his Mum’s efforts tomorrow).

 

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winning the half marathon

1 Jul

halfwayI can’t believe I’m half way !!!

On the first of January I made a rash and somewhat grand statement that I would  share some whimsical thought, reflection or just plain nonsense every day for a year. It seemed easy enough at the time…after all …I love words and they (usually) fall out of my brain easily… but I hadn’t accounted for the challenges that life throws up along the way.

That said, I’ve made it this far having missed only 2 days.

One day that didn’t exist for us as we crossed the International Dateline on our return from New York… and the other was just last Saturday, when (as many of you know) I was busy  preparing, hosting, celebrating and then recovering from our huge ‘fur and flanno’ farewell event.CAM00254

 

I wont pretend that it’s been scintillating, intellectually stimulating, particularly humorous….or necessarily interesting reading…. BUT hey I never promised that! All I said was that it would be a random collection of observations…a window to my world…. and it would definitely NOT be political, whining or negative.

So with a deep breath I now jump into part 2 of 2014…I’m still ‘50something…..and not dead yet’

 

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I know you’ve heard it before … BUT…what ARE the chances???

20 Jun

I never cease to be amazed as the serendipitous moments in every single day …. (no I haven’t had too much to drink although I do sit here with my Friday night wine)… But as I have ‘matured’ into a ’50Something’ …( kind of like a good cheese), I am constantly in awe of those strange and special  ‘pleasant surprises’.

I have pondered in the past that synchronicty is amazing… BUT only if you notice it.

If we are all running around with our heads up our bums and completely self absorbed, we are guaranteed to miss these quirky and seemingly meaningless messages that remind us ‘all is good in the world’ (well…. maybe not “all” good, but life could be a lot worse for most of us).

Anyway, at the risk of rambling (and sounding lime a complete ‘nutter’… a couple of things have happened these past few days that prompt this odd post.

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The first one was randomly emailing a very dear friend, and as I hit the ‘send’ button … I received an email from that exact same friend … same moment in time and very similar sentiment!! Yep a little weird, and very lovely… but probably not ALL that amazing to many of you.

But how about this ? …..Driving home tonight … in the dark and cold, and I’m getting a little warm and fuzzy as my mind wanders to planning a rather significant family farewell celebration for next weekend. As I ponder the impact of #1 son and his beautiful partner moving to the other side of the world … I pass a car with a CAM numberplate (yep, that would be his name). I smile and remember that we will never be too far apart !

Then… as if that’s not enough, within the next 30 minutes on the road I pass ‘MYK‘ (Mr 50 Something)  and ALI (#1 daughter) … WOAH!… (now this is starting to get a little weird).  All I can say is thank god I read number plates !!!

So… what ARE the chances ???…

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120 years young…

13 Jun

It’s Friday 13th, and all things considered it’s been a good day.

I am excited to report to those who have been following my vocal challenge, that I have more consistent voice today than I can remember having in years…. Now that may not seem TOO exciting to others … BUT for me it’s like winning the lottery !!! I think we can safely say that the most recent  procedure (see “ice cream fixes everything” a couple of weeks back) has been a modest success.

But tonight I am giving it some serious rest… because tomorrow we need to party …TWICE !!

We will be celebrating 120 years of life ~ 60 at lunchtime then another 60 in the evening (I’m feeling  tired already) … but it suddenly struck me today “how on earth did I get to have friends who are turning SIXTY”?

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I remember when my Mum and Dad were 60  … Mum with her compulsory curly perm and Dad in his grey ‘slacks’ and cardi. They were sensible and responsible… and ‘oh-so-old’ ….(talking pension plans and false teeth)… a far cry from our ‘new-age 60 year olds who are  still deciding what they want to do when they grow up.

Wishing happy beginnings to my 2 fabulous  Hexagenarian friends

(remember…you’re 60 something …but you’re not dead yet)

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