What's the word ...

... for fear of dentists? I was supposed to have a dental appointment this afternoon, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I just couldn't do it today. I don't like dentists at the best of times, and knowing that they were going to do a major, yet non-urgent job this afternoon made it worse. The closer it got, the more anxious and upset I felt. Not sure why that was, because this morning I was sure I was fully prepared for it (I guess that kind of says it all doesn't it?). In the end, I rescheduled - and breathed a great sigh of "self preservation" relief. I just knew today wasn't the day for it - which might be in some way related to the coughing fits I've been having all day. Oddly, they have now stopped - or they had - and I've now made an appointment with the respiratory/allergy specialist, as recommended by my doctor - and maybe she can recommend someone I can see about my dentophobia - which incidentally ties as equal 3rd on the list of common adult fears - right up there with going out alone at night, and death.

Health Update

Well, Billi has had her first lot of chemotherapy and it went well - except that she threw up in the car on the 1.5 hour drive home (not the whole time though!). If you knew Billi, you would know that she would be very embarrassed by this - but hopefully she will forget before it's time for the next treatment. She's scheduled for five treatments, 10 days apart.
Her owner's treatment is going to be a bit more intensive than this. The tests have been completed and treatments discussed - and she'll be fronting up for radiotherapy every day for 6 weeks. Hopefully this will shrink her 5 cm tumour. At this stage they're not talking surgery - and the tests revealed no other growths. Phew. Thank goodness (and her partner) that she had it checked out when she did.
I can't imagine what it has been like for she and her partner coming to terms with this - especially in the days when they were waiting for the tests to be done, and then for the results of those tests to be discussed. I guess it all could have been easier if they had already finished the house they're planning to move in to at the end of this month. All of this could seem like too big an incentive to get it done - especially waiting for the prognosis which (from the first doctor's appointment) had seemed like it would be much worse.

Evacuation

Each year, as part of the office's Occupational Health and Safety requirements, we have a trial evacuation of the building (usually done a couple of floors at a time). Today was the day (actually Monday). I spent part of the bus ride in to town this morning reviewing my warden procedures - and wondering how I would have gone if the evacuation had been unannounced - the way it will be for the rest of the non-warden staff. The question of why wardens receive advance notice was raised by a friend last week - and it is a good point ... and one that has me determined to be more familiar with my warden procedures on a day-to-day basis.
The evacuation went fine - we're not timed - which is just as well because we had to descend from Level 15 to Level 6. It's amazing how you can get slightly disoriented when you walk down a few flights of stairs though - but it's good practice. Our previous evacuation was only two floors worth - and it really isn't the same.
And it's amazing how tender one's legs can be the following day! I couldn't work out this morning why my legs were a bit on the sore side - I thought it might have had something to do with the exercise bike - and then I remembered the stairs, and it made total sense.

Towel Day

Used to be that 25 May was Towel Day - as in Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (H2G2) and that a towel is a very useful thing for any intergalactic traveller to have. 'Used to be' because I didn't see one towel-carrying person (besides me in reflections in store windows) in the Sydney CBD! Hopefully there was more of a show of H2G2 support elsewhere.
But at least something came of it - in looking up the H2G2 (I get confused with the acronym) I came across the h2g2 project. According to part of the Wikipedia entry : h2g2 was founded in April 1999 as the Earth edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the author of the series, Douglas Adams, and his friends and colleagues at The Digital Village. "h2g2" serves as a handy abbreviation for that rather lengthy title, with the advantage that most people are able to spell it.

A touch on typing

Just when you thought they had come up with everything ... Here's the Das Keyboard - just like a regular 104 key-board, but with one little difference - there's nothing printed on the keys. Metadot Corp had a clear target market in mind when developing Das: : "A keyboard with no inscriptions on the keys was obviously only for a certain type of geek, not just normal ones, only those who are above the pack: the übergeeks." It costs $US79.95 and is available from www.daskeyboard.com. If you go to the site, note the illustration of the Windows Menu Key. My favourite though was one of the endorsements: "At first I was intrigued, but when I started using it two things happened: it was a joy to type and my colleagues looked at me like I was a superhero! I would not go back to a normal keyboard now." -- Philippe H
On the more practical side, the Das people claim that using the keyboard could help you type up to 100% faster in a few weeks. Theory is since you can't tell what the keys are by looking, you'll memorize their positions - and type faster. Wish they'd had that at school in my day when I was learning typing - we had to do with the low tech version - with a bib tied around our neck - and fastened to the top of the manual typewriter so all you looked down on was the cloth - and you couldn't see the keys. The incentive to get it right was great - cause those were the days you were working on your original with three carbons behind - and those funny little rub-out pencils that could put a hole in the paper if you weren't careful. Ah, progress!

Latest craze

Sudoku has arrived in Australia - and within moments I was addicted! Even though it appears to be a numbers puzzle - and that it should require some considerable skill in mathematics -it's really a logic puzzle. Of course it helps if you can count from 1 to 9. The pic shows a Sudoku grid - and your role as a puzzler is to complete it using numbers inclusive of 1 to 9 only once in each row, column and square. This one was billed as "easy" but I suspect that description works only if you're familiar with the Suduku "slice and dice" methodology and can work the logic. There are sites that explain in great detail how to play - and you'll find them easily with a Google or Yahoo search - or you might just want to plunge right in. It's not hard - and you know the principle - 1-9 in each row, column and square. But be warned ... Sudoku is addictive ... and when you can get the Palm/PDA or PC (not sure about Macs) version you'll notice time simply evaporates (what do you mean it's already May?)!

Bye Hannah (aka Pumpie)

In my recent post about Billi, I mentioned she was one of the nicest dogs we know. The other was Hannah who last week developed an auto immune problem which stopped her body creating platelets which clot blood. After 10 days in intensive care, where the vet staff did everything they could for her – including transfusions of live platelets from dogs owned by their staff – she was not improving. While she wasn’t in pain, she was very weak and losing a lot of blood. Last night Lyndall, with the support of her partner, and their vet, conceded the miracle they hoped for was not materializing and made the decision to let Hannah go – thus ending as Lyndall put it in her email advising Hannah's passing “the 14 year walk with my (our) mate”. She will be missed.

Fire Safety Aid

An email went around the office the other day telling about a safety device called the Evacu-8.It is a fire-retardant hood and breathing appartus which gives the user an extra 15 minutes of breathing air in case of fire that fills the room with smoke.
It's a great idea but I'm not sure how I would go using one. With a lifetime behind me of people saying not to put a plastic bag over your head - here is something which is designed to have you do just that - and secure it tightly with the provided ties. Freakier still would be breathing through your mouth - to take advantage of the charcoal filter in the apparatus. "Don't panic" would be very sound advice in this situation.
The Evacu-8 site also mentions that if you use the device, return it, and provide a testimonial letter - they'll send another free of charge. Can't get a better deal than that.

Good news and bad news

Which first? Well ... Billi's prognosis is good - it seems the specialist was able to successfully excise the four growths (there was one they hadn't previously detected in her spleen - so they've whipped that out as well) and it looks like they've gotten it early enough for the prognosis to be good. She was home the day after her surgery (seems they thought she'd be a better patient in familiar territory with familiar people around her).
News isn't so good for her owner though. Her tests revealed cancer, and for someone who thought she knew what the problem was, this was a huge shock. They're in the middle of exploratory scans etc at the moment to find out if, how far and where it may have spread. Not good. You know it's serious when the doctor can get you to see the oncology specialist who has a year's waiting list within a couple of hours.
I can't imagine what's worse - finding out about it - or waiting to find out how bad it is.

Only temporary

Thank goodness some things in life are only temporary. Sooz is currently on assignment at a pathology lab and it would be fair to say it is a pain in the neck. Literally - thanks to a lack of focus on things ergonomic. Just goes to show some companies aren't as diligent as they could be about their people - and that it doesn't take a long time for the effects of muscle misuse to set in. At least Sooz is using a copy stand now and has some stretching exercises to keep her a bit more flexed. The good news is that she's on to it early - and the assignment has only another 4 weeks to run - hopefully she'll come right fairly soon after that (helped by sitting in the dark for two weeks of the Sydney Film Festival).

Billi update

Billi is at a specialist in Brisbane. The consult today revealed a mass near her bottom - and secondaries under her spine. They're operating tomorrow and it will be major surgery - and there's a lab on site so they'll be able to do biopsies and blood tests straight away so they can do what they need to. They'll also be doing a chest x-ray to make sure her lungs are clear. She'll be in intensive care for three days post-surgery, the first 24 hours with a personal attendant. Then, all going well, after ten days she'll front up for the first of five chemotherapy sessions. Apparently chemotherapy for animals is not as disruptive as it is for humans but because Billi is not a dog who handles easily, she will need to be anaesthetised for each chemo treatment.
But we're quietly trying not to worry about her - which is only slightly easier because we have so many wonderful memories and pictures of Billi - and because they have found the problem before it started affecting her health. Usually, said the specialist, dogs don't present until they are definitely not well - and that makes treatment much harder.

Flemington Markets

We were at Flemington Markets at 6.15am last Saturday morning - ditto a whole lot of other people. It is truly a wonderful way to start the weekend - although part of me wishes that we didn't have to get up at 5am for the privilege. But it's fun to be out there with the forklifts and the barrows and the fruit and the vegetables - and did I mention there are a lot of people there as well?

Exploring

If you've got a spare moment or two, you might want to go on a little virtual explore of other people's lives and thoughts. Up the top of this blog - above the Musings title bar, you'll find the Blogger bar. On the far right is the NEXT BLOG>> button. Select that and go for a little wander and see where you end up - but be careful because you never know what you might find (I really wasn't really for the picture of placenta as I ate my raisin toast!!). I'm not sure how blogger organises it, but it seems that each time I go for the NEXT BLOG option, it always takes me somewhere else. The next one this morning was PROMINFO - which just had no text - just links from the headings of each blog item which took you to a site for Prom Dresses (oh - so that was actually headed Prom-Info). The one after that was for Options Trading Information. Now, tell me that that kind of mix isn't going to keep one's mind active!

Billi

Billi is one of the nicest dogs we know, so spare a thought for her while she's at the vet having a suspected growth checked out. Hopefully it will be a "it's nothing - get out of here" scenario - but if not, then ... well it's not going to be very nice.
Spare a thought also for one of her owners. She's due in for a "procedure" this week too. Hopefully both of them will get the all clear.

Podcasting

ABC Radio has started a podcasting trial - making some programs (or parts of them) available for download and playing on your computer or digital audio player. I'm fairly new to this myself, but with the help of a program called ipodder, it's possible to set the web addresses for programs you want to download - and to have the program automatically go off to get any updates. It's worth a look - or would that be "listen" - not just for local Australian content - but because there's a whole world of listening out!

Sydney

Gotta love it! This is Sydney - well, one street in Sydney as photographed last Monday morning, just as a heavy blanket of fog was lifting from the city. The photograph looks south, along York Street, towards Sydney Town Hall. To the left is the Queen Victoria Building - and to the right, although you can't see them here, are a bevy of electronic stores including JayCar Electronics (which recently sold me the transmitters and receivers to allow the beaming of wireless television signal throughout our flat).

Collectors items?

I noticed an ad in today's Daily Telegraph for a new $2 "instant scratchies". It's the Star Wars $100,000 and we're encouraged to COLLECT ALL 8 TICKETS IN THE SERIES. But if you're a collector, you're not going to want to scratch the prize panels are you - because that would destroy the reason you bought the collector's series in the first place! And, it seems that you'd have to scratch the games to have any chance of winning. So does this mean the "instant scratchies" people have found a way of increasing their odds of not paying out the "big one"? No scratch-scratchies?

Choices

If you were walking along and 3 fire engines came barrelling past, and pulled up a block down the street, and were soon joined by another 5 engines - would you stay to see what the commotion was about - especially if there was no obvious reason for their presence - or would you walk away as fast as you could? That was the situation Sooz and I found ourselves in the other night. Before I could even think about whipping out my camera though, Sooz was powering away and some good distance in front - and she wasn't about to slow down until we were well away from the area - and out of any possible harm's way. It's something for me to remember if it happens when Sooz isn't there to drag me away ... sometimes it's safer to "run" away.

Bits or Bytes

Stumbled across an interesting notion the other day regarding download speeds and how they are described. When I chose my wireless broadband plan it was based on a 1Mbps download rate - which is pretty fast, but not as fast as I'd thought - because it isn't 1MBps (note the change in capitals) - which would mean 1MegaByte per second; rather, it's 1MegaBit. There are 8 Mbps to 1 MBps or, in real terms the best speed I'd ever be able to achieve in downloads is 125kb a second (which I think is a pipedream because I'm sure there are a whole lot of factors besides the download speed of your provider which come into play!). However, I've reached 45kb/s yesterday - and when you're used to 3kb/s on dial-up it's blazingly fast!!

Gadget Grrl

I think I have just found a new hobby - well, a way of playing around with my existing interests. I am going to call myself "GADGET GRRL" and offer assistance to people who don't have time to read instructions for their new purchases. I can provide the "five easy steps" - or "what you really need to know". That way I can play with the latest technology without having to buy it! Now, if I can just get me an interested new i-pod owner! (That means you Lizzie!)

Wireless

No, not wireless as in radio - but wireless as in no wires broadband. I have finally decided to give it a go and have signed up with a group called Independent Service Providers (ISP for short). It took a minute to get the system up and running - after a false start which was PEBCAK - but it's working like a charm now. Just like a store bought one. It works in the office, and at home - but will it work at my morning cafe? Stay tuned.

That's service

Following on in my quest for a replacement pair of sunglass clip-ons for my current frames, I wandered into the Optical Superstore in the Sydney CBD and gave them the "story so far". Even though I explained that my health care fund had already been in contact with the frame suppliers, they said they'd give it a go anyway - and what do you know? - yes, the supplier could get another set of sunny clip-ons; they'd have to import them but they'd be in three weeks. Well, of course I ordered them there on the spot - and resolved that the next lot of frames I need would be coming from the Optical Superstore. If they give my this kind of service for frames I didn't get there - imagine what after sales service they'll give me on a pair I do!

Big Brother

Well, it's that time of year again - when they lock a group of complete strangers (and they may or may not really prove to be strange over the coming weeks) in a house at the DreamWorld theme park on Queensland's Gold Coast. I can't believe I am actually watching the starting show on television - especially as I have told myself many times over since it ended last year that I am not going to get caught up with it again. Of course, at this point, I am just saying that this has to be better than watching "Sixty Minutes".

Pieces of Art

Today we went to the Art Gallery of NSW with Annie, a mate who's out from Scotland. (Her Mum is fairly ill and Annie wants to be here rather than half way around the world.) The Archibald and Sulman have recently been judged and entrants are currently being shown. There is some amazing work on display - but I found I had really only one comment: why is it that artists who choose to do a self portrait feel they need to do it of themselves in the nude? Annie suggested it might have something to do with the outward looking nature of artists generally - their willingness to "exhibit". I guess that makes sense.
As well as the Prize exhibits, we also went for a walk through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders gallery - and there was some wonderful work in here as well. It's interesting to see the way that aboriginal art seems to have been influenced by non-aboriginal artists. The "Fruit Bats" is amazing and I'm sorry that the piece is only available as a "poster" - although it will look wonderful on the wall of my office!
I am always amazed by how many ideas are floating around "out there" and how it is that artists come to record them - through a variety of media. It's also amazing how people have different reactions to the same pieces - I guess art appreciation is based on many things - including one overheard comment "there's lots of stupid stuff here".

A great reception

When we moved into our flat last year (is it really 5 months?) we arranged the dining/living room according to how the furniture fitted. This meant we couldn't use the wall jack (with the external antenna feed) for the television. And that was okay. We were used to not brilliant reception. But today, well, today we bought a 7.5m lead so we could try the jack and see if there was an improvement. Improvement is an understatement. For the first time in years (including the time we spent at our last place) we can channel surf and get good reception on every channel without having to adjust the rabbit ears this way or that. It means there is a chance we will be able to tape programs on different channels without having to worry about the best compromise on different channels - because the rabbit ears settings were different for all channels. We are on "cloud 9" - and still getting used to it - everytime I look up at the set I am amazed at the clarity of the image. Now we just have to work out a way of making this all work without metres of lead everywhere. I think I feel some wireless technology coming on.

Community action

BP Australia has introduced Opal Petrol - a very low aromatic petrol blend which has been designed to reduce the incidence of petrol sniffing, a very real issue in remote communities. The company is working with local communities on a number of initiatives to educate & increase confidence, especially of children.

On your bike!

They say some things are like riding a bike - you don't forget - but what if you did? Would you, in your non-childhood years, approach a bicycle with a masterful gaze and be prepared to give it a go? Or would the thought of precariously balancing on two wheels as you ride along on rough bitumen, and being unsure of how to stop safely, put you off (so to speak). Purdue University USA might have something to help - bearing in mind it was developed to help with the initial bike riding learning process.
They have invented a combination tricycle and bicycle called “Shift”. The faster you go, the more bicycle it becomes, but if you lose confidence and slow down you won’t fall off, because it becomes a tricycle. The design features a single front wheel and two slim rear wheels that are initially splayed outward to stabilize and prevent the rider from toppling over. As the rider accelerates and leans forward, the rear wheels shift inward, narrowing into a single wheel surface that essentially makes it a two-wheel venture. Go on - on your bike!

Problem quotes

There are so many idiosyncrasies one has to be on the watch out for when blogging. With that last post I almost went spare trying to get the link to work. I have been trying to memorise the code for linking to another web page – to save looking it up each time – and thought I had it – but no matter what I did, it wouldn’t work. Then I realized that the “marks” looked different – and sure enough, if they’re not in a compatible format – all bets are off. (And I still don't know why the "Comments" option is still not showing!!)

Road trip

We have decided that it’s time I finally saw some of the United States of America. For a very long time I have wanted to go to Disneyland, and Universal Studios – and eat Chinese food out of a wax paper carton (ok so I can do that one here) – and just sup on the experience that is America. We have provisionally decided on a date – Sept/Oct 2006 – which will give us time to save – and decide what we want to do. Sooz wants to go back to places she has been before – and that’s one of the reasons we are planning to go in the U.S fall – because Boston is great that time of year. Our mates Lizzie and Michael may also join us for part of the trip – which would include New York and the aforementioned Boston – and there’s also been talk of a short roadtrip. Which brings me to the blog I found this morning - US Road Trip 2005. Maybe this time in 18 months ours will be there (well, not there exactly, but there.)

No cross words here

I often get promotional emails from various Palm software vendors and sometimes there's a gem in there. A short while back one of them carried an ad for a crossword puzzle program. Now I just love crosswords and other word puzzles and games - and despite what anyone may have thought - this is one of the main reasons the Daily Telegraph is my hard-copy newspaper of choice - it's puzzles, especially the one with the anagram - suit me better. The pack, from BeOcean, came with a selection of sample puzzles (310) by various compilers (because not all puzzles are created equal) - and it's possible to download others free from the net (you just need to convert them to Palm format - using the converter that came with the Palm software). For all this I paid the princely sum of $9.38 Australian. I am one very happy customer – especially since the clues, hints and solutions are all included too! The puzzles from Thinks are great - a bit quirky, but definitely manageable - and if you have the time, and the right software on your computer - you could even do them online.

And now ... the answer to OTT ...

Well, before I forget, it's time for the answer to the OTTFFSSE- sequence. Did you get it? If not, you might just want to count the number of letters now - just to make sure you got all nine. One, Two, Three, Four, F, S, S, E and finally Nine.
When I finally realised, I couldn't believe how easy it was. Paul, who put me on to it, said that a university professor had given his students this puzzle and by semester's end, they still hadn't cracked it. I can believe that, just as I can believe that when the puzzle was given to a group of first-graders, they had it solved within a day!
Hope you had fun with this.

More "selling up"

Well, I don't know where the concern I had with "up selling" last week came from - especially as I allowed myself to be "upsold" very easily on the weekend. We were at the Gold Coast, picking up our hire car and we were offered an upgrade from the 3-door economy model I had reserved - to a Saab convertible. For an extra $22 a day what could I say?
And it was fun. We managed to work out how to take the top down (no can opener involved and, truly, a masterpiece of engineering). I just wish my Ripway account could host videos but as it can't I'll just have to make do with a photo recording the occasion.

Innovations and the drawing board

The GE site has this cool feature where you can draw a picture and then share it with a friend. They can add to it or change it - and you can do some more - and then they can - etc etc. From the looks of the site, it might actually be possible to do this in real time, rather than emailing the link for the updated drawing to each other. I drew a "Bombe Alaska in a Box". A really cool thing is that when you click on the link in the email - and it goes to the site to open the drawing - it doesn't just present the finished drawing - it draws it onto the screen!
For those looking for a practical application - think noughts and crosses on the net!

Selling up

... or would that be "up selling" as in "would you like fries with that" or, as I had yesterday when I went to my Health Fund's Eye Care Centre "well, because you wear multifocals then you are going to need sunglass clip-ons that are exactly the same shape as your glasses, and since the manufacturer has no more of the clip-ons that came with your frames, then you'll need to get new frames with new clip-ons. But it's okay because you've got this year's allowance of $170 ...". Yes, $170 sounds like a lot of money, but not when you think that it's only going to go a fraction of the way of covering the cost of the new frames - and, naturally, the new lens to fit the new frames. I said "thank you" but "no thank you" and walked slowly back to the office - quite disheartened that the first optometrist I'd tried didn't have the right size in the clip-ons that seemed to do the trick quite nicely. Yes, I know I might have been missing something, but it just seemed like a bit of an "up sell" - and the only thing that gets up is my back, and possibly my nose!

Give up yet

Well, have you given any thought to the
OTT
FFS
S--
sequence? And have you got an answer? It's time like these that I think that it might be a good idea to enable "Comments" on here. Thinking ... thinking ... thinking. Well, if you're on the right track - the next letter in the sequence is E. And the next sequence is ..... ?

Toadally puzzling

Visitors to Hamburg are being advised to be careful of a new menace - exploding toads. Authorities are not certain why it's happening but some ideas being explored are fungus, an unknown virus, or an protective measure (!!??) against aggressive crows that have recently moved into the area. Over a thousand toads have exploded so far - and by all reports it's something you don't want to be around for - eyewitnesses say the toads swell up to three and a half times their normal size before suddenly exploding - sending entrails flying metres into the air. The question asked with the ABC's report was whether this could be a solution to the cane toad problem here in Australia.

Splitting headache

Artur Dzhavanyan has decided not to press charges after waking up from a heavy drinking session to find that the splitting headache he had may have had as much to do with the kitchen knife stuck in his face as the alcohol.
Artur had invited a friend around for a drink, but went to bed early after telling his friend he was fed up with hearing him moan. As the "friend's" fingerprints were found on the knife, police are fairly certain they know who the culprit was but Artur, billed as extremely lucky by the doctors who removed the knife from where it had lodged 10cm under his eye, won't press charges. He said he was "just lucky to be alive" which I guess you can take more than one way!

Smelly vision

Ananova, one of my favourite news sites, carried this piece recently:
A television is being developed that allows viewers to smell what is on screen. Scientists at Sony in San Diego, California are creating the small device in the set will send out harmless ultrasound signals to the brain. It means that viewers will be able to smell and taste a dish on a cookery programme reports The Sun. Work on the device has been going on for five years but news of its development came to light after the company applied for a patent.
Of course, you would hope that the device had a failsafe built in - so that it didn't do it for all programs. There are some smells from television that I'd rather not have filling my head!

Puzzling

A colleague at work sent me an email last week which contained a puzzle for me to solve. I love puzzles so I was pleased (and I had given him a puzzle previously so it was payback of a sort too).
OTT
FFS
S--
What are the next letters in the sequence and explain your rationale!
Well, I was lucky I had the long weekend and an understanding partner because I spent more time than I really had to spare worrying over this - looking at the letters this way and that, trying to work out what they meant, what was the pattern, and what for Foobar's sake was the answer.
What do you think?

New New (aka News)

Have you heard of Wikipedia the web-based collaborative encyclopaedia - well there's now WikiNews. Stories come from a network of volunteer reporters, and editors hopefully vet out fake posts, incorporate original sources and update coverage to reflect changing current events.
Reporters are encouraged to submit original stories and photos - so what are we waiting for?

Laser Warning System

My brother assured me over lunch last week that there are anti-aircraft missile launchers atop the White House.
The Pentagon have now said it will use lasers to warn pilots when they've flown into restricted airspace near the Capitol.
SNAP - as I was writing this, listening to the news, an item said the US President had been evacuted from the White House into a shelter after a plane encroached restricted airspace over the Capitol.
Does this mean the system didn't work or that it's not operational yet? Apparently the latter - checking back, the news report I read was dated 11 April and the Pentagon had said the system would be operational within 30 to 45 days.
So how does it work? And wouldn't shining lasers into the eyes of the pilots make them go blind? And haven't there been numerous reports of late throughout the USA (about 100!) of incidents where laser beams have been flashed into cockpits?
Yes and no. According to NORAD the low-intensity lights they will use are less powerful that those that have prompted warnings, and tests have shown they are safe for the eyes.
NORAD says that the lasers could replace fighter jets as a way to warn the hundreds of small private planes which stray into Capitol airspace. Hopefully the training program NORAD plans will be a success so the pilots know that the red-red-green flashes means "oops". But wouldn't it be funny (??) if the laser malfunctioned one day and all the pilot saw was a steady red laser beam (like the kind they've seen on laser sights on rifles)?
Who said flying was dangerous?

And on the subject of Danish

Are there any other foods where there names are adjectives used to describe a country. Yes, I know that it's really "danish pastry" but people just ask for a "danish". Are there others?

Bounce Room

I listen to 2WS on the bus to work and they've just been talking about a recent innovation at a care facility for senior citizens in Holland (or was it Denmark ... because there was a whole conversation about Danes, Copenhagen and Dykes - so I'm not really sure). Anyway, forget about the tabletennis room - there's now the Bounce Room - where couple can go for some privacy and a double bed. Seems residents at the facility don't have their own room and no-where to go if they want to spend some quiet one-on-one time with that someone special. You have to make a booking for the Bounce Room - and apparently it's okay to bring in outside sex workers.
I wonder if the notion will catch on.

What price punctuality?

The public rail network in Sydney has earned a lot of criticism over the last years with trains not showing up, or chronically late. They have fiddled with the timetables, tried to recruit new drivers, and heavens knows what else to fix it.
Plagued with a similar problem in Tokyo, their rail network had instigated a system for "talking" to drivers who ran late - even a second late.
The driver of the train which crashed into the side of an apartment building in Japan earlier this week had previously been cautioned for running late. On the day of the accident, he had overshot a station platform by some metres, backed back to the platform, and then proceeded on his way, seemingly at speed, reportedly to make up for the lost time.
They are still investigating the cause of the accident, but if the driver was speeding, it would not have helped in the chain of circumstances which resulted in the accident.
Did those who lost their life because of the crash pay the ultimate price for the punctuality of a rail network?

Not such a good idea with the flag!

What would you do if your neighbours starting flying a Nazi flag? Darren McKay, of Mannering Park NSW bought the flag at local markets for the bargain price of $10 - and was unaware that people might take offence at the flag because he had not learned about Adolf Hitler in school history lessons. Well, it's not a bad excuse, but I'm not sure that it's actually true. Wasn't one of the Royal princes in trouble recently for wearing a Hitler Youth uniform to a fancy dress party. Yes, that only made front page news and was pretty high up in the line-up for the nightly news - but Mr McKay may have been busy that day. And have these people never seen a WWII movie?
If it's true and he didn't know about the Nazis, the whole affair is more worrying. Those who forget (or don't know about the past) are doomed to repeat it. (Note to the Daily Telegraph: it appears your photo had the back side of the flag on display - the hooks were going the wrong way.)
And, as suggested by my mate Deb, is there any signficance to this happening so close to Anzac Day?

Life or Death?

Did Schapelle Corby smuggle 4.5kg of drugs into Indonesia? We may never know - although since they do weigh all luggage at airports - you would think there would be a way of checking that - or if she was captured on camera at all with her bags, surely the extra weight (if there) would have affected how she handled the bags. But I'm sure they thought of that already.
And what of Schapelle and the punishment that stretches before her if found guilty. Which would you rather - life imprisonment in an Indonesian prison - or death by firing squad (not a particularly fast death!)

Positioning for the Papacy

I wish I had the time to do some serious research into how outspoken cardinals had been in the closing months of Pope John Paul II's life. These thoughts come following my previously-mentioned hope that Cardinal Pell (from Australia) would not secure the top job - and this was based on his outspokenness about various issues. Of course, I disagreed with his views on just about everything - and he has been outspoken about a lot of things. It then occurred that maybe he had been outspoken because it would ensure he was noticed - not just by standard folk like you and I - but by his fellow Cardinals (and they are all fellows) who would be the ones attending the Conclave and casting their votes (in whatever form that might have taken). Not outside the bounds of possibility - it's behaviour encouraged of politicians and others running for (public) office. But, as the world now knows (which is a generalisation but will suffice) the new Pope Benedict XVI was previously Germany's Joseph Ratzinger. (Is it only the Pope aka Pontiff who is allowed to pontificate?)

Waiting ... waiting

I am trying to download a sizeable file (nearly 350MB) over the internet - and at times like this, I wonder how fast broadband actually is. I have not yet decided on a broadband provider - although I keep thinking about it, and am to the point of budgetting for it. I just don't know how much to budget. Do I want to have broadband at home only, or do I want it when I am out and about - so I can blog and check email on the road (so to speak)? The level of access required, the amount of traffic and whether you want to be "mobile" or "portable" all directly impact on the price of the plans available.
The file continues to come in - up to 3% done so far - and I do wonder if just typing here is going to slow down the process - and certainly when I post this to the blog, it is going to have some impact.
I am due at work at 8.30am but at this rate (and it's now 7.55am) it's going to take another 3.5 hours for the download to finish. I would put the exact figure - but as I watch it, the number goes up, the number goes down. Maybe watching the indicator bar slows it too.
4%. (Maybe I can work from here today - McDonalds, George Street, Sydney.) Oh no, I've just had a horrible thought - what if my prepaid access to the network expires before the file downloads? Aarrgh.
(OK at 8.15am with only 10% loaded I called it quits. I'm off to find out more about broadband!!!!)

Safety Moment

Yesterday at our staff meeting I volunteered to do the next "Safety Moment". Our company is very safety-focused and each meeting starts with one. But it's not my first safety moment. I did one last year - on the Dangers of Halloween. This time, I'm going to do something on urban legends. I'm sure there has to be a safety moment in there somewhere. And if there isn't, it's a good reason (not that I really need one) to visit the Snopes site. As well as urban legends/myths, it also has what I guess you can call "urban photos" - ones you've probably received by email along the way and weren't sure if they were as real as the accompanying text suggested. Visit today. It's good fun. And you might just learn how to avoid a scam!
Oh - and the photos come with warnings if they are of a graphic or disturbing nature. So, are you more inclined to look a photo labelled "graphic" or "disturbing"? I think I am. (I wonder where my book of forensic medicine is. I haven't seen it since the move.)

Email addresses

What happens to your hotmail and yahoo account if you don't use it. How long does it remain intact before it's just wiped. And what about if you die, does someone/anyone/maybe your estate, have the right to access your account? And how many times does it take for you to get the name of your choice when you first open a hotmail account. I know I didn't - but at least, the letter and number combination I ended up hadn't been taken at the other free email providers either - so I've got the same one at yahoo, hotmail, gmail and optusnet. (And no, 6 email accounts is not excessive.)

Department S

I just happened to be in KMart yesterday, looking for a phone double adapter and a modem cable, when I chanced upon their DVD sale. I managed to get "Harvie Krumpet", "SuperSize Me", and "Being John Malkovich" for under $10 each. But I'm hoping the real bargain will be something called "Department S" - a cult tv series of the late 1960's by the same people who gave us "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)" - I used to love that show!
Department S came in a 7-DVD boxed set and I read on the internet this morning that this was every episode ever made. On the cover, it bills it as the precursor to shows such as "X-Files" and Jonathan Creek". Is it any wonder that I decided to part with my $30 on the off-chance that it was decent. If nothing else, being nearly 40 years old, there's a good chance there's going to be some "new" ideas in there. I've started watching the first episode "Six Days" - in which a commercial airliner goes missing for (oddly enough) 6 days and the crew/passengers have no knowledge/recollection of their disappearance. I had the oddest sensation while watching it though - in one scene I could have sworn I was watching the "Thunderbirds" but they'd been transformed into real, and admittedly less jerky, people. And there's nothing like '60's fashions - really!
If nothing else, this is a great reminder of how far we've come with technology in our everyday lives.

Conclave Question

The Papal Conclave starts today. I had read in "Angels and Demons" (Dan Brown) that the process involved the cardinals voting, and then the votes would be burned - some with black-smoke chemical if the vote had not elected the next Pope, or with a white-smoke chemical for a successful ballot. This seemed reasonable enough. But then I got to thinking - spurred on by an article in one of the Sunday newspapers which stated that part of the ritual was each Cardinal had to swear that they would never reveal the goings-on of the Conclave. If one assumes this rule has been in place since the process was first used - how does anyone know what happens? For all anyone knows the process could be quite different - like Cardinal whizzing competitions. When I mentioned this to Sooz she asked if I'd heard about the Nun who goes to the Bishop after she's found two boys holding a competition to see who could whizz the highest up a wall. "And what did you do" asked the Bishop. "I hit the roof" said the Nun. "Good for you" he replied.

Fire training

Today I went on fire-fighting training with work (but that's not me in the pic). I am a stair warden on our floor, so the training may come in handy one day - but hopefully I'll never have to use it - at work or at home!
So what did I take away from the training?
* Fire extinguishers are heavier than they look.
* Modern extinguishers don't need to be turned upside down (and if you have an older one that does - sell it on eBay and still make a profit after you've bought the replacement!)
* Two acronyms you should know for fire/extinguishers = R.A.C.E. (something, ALERT, COMPARTMENTALISE, EXTINGUISH - and the "something" will come back to me - or according to an acronym site I found on the web RESCUE, ACTIVATE alarm, CONFINE the fire, EVACUATE/EXTINGUISH) and P.A.S.S. (PULL the pin and test, AIM at the base of the fire, SQUEEZE the trigger, and SWEEP from side to side)
* If you're calling Triple 0 in an emergency situation - remember to dial 0000 if you need to dial 0 for an outside line, and 112 if you're dialling from a mobile phone. Also - give your full location details including floor, street, suburb, state and postcode (just in case your call is routed to a call centre in India)!
* Fire blankets should be used only once - and then made unusable (cut a large X through it) so the person who removes it from your rubbish can't re-use it, have it fail, and then come after you for damages (because you could be civilly liable!).
* The most effective fire-fighting agents appear to be the most harmful to the environment.
* And, of course, I had practical training with a fire blanket, extinguishers and a fire hose.
The other take-away was that it's a good thing to have your wiring at home checked!

Where endeth the Castle?

According to the online news Quiz for the UK's Guardian newspaper, it will soon become illegal for people to litter their backyards. I didn't see the original article on this, so I don't know how they're intending to enforce/police the ban but it does make me wonder where the rules and regulations will end. How long will it be before the rule moves inside and houses themselves have to be kept clean, tidy and uncluttered? Unfortunately, it would still be too late for the Collyer brothers.

Fake Rolexes

So, just how good is a Rolex watch?
Sydney's Daily Telegraph today tells of (not so successful businessman) Karl Suleman's purchase of two supposed-Rolex watches that weren't. "Encrusted with diamonds to the point of absurdity ... unfortunately, only the internal mechanisms are the genuine article."
Suleman, who shelled out $50,000 for the watches, appears to have been conned and the price paid "was not commensurate with their value". But there could be a plan to recoup at least part of the loss. Paul Weston, liquidator of the Suleman companies, advises "It is anticipated that the watches will be dismantled and the Rolex mechanisms sold separately." So, really, how good are these watches that it would be worthwhile to do this?

What price fandom?

The actor who played Mr Chekov in the original series of Star Trek will be in Sydney later this month for a fan convention. I am a Star Trek fan, although more inclined to "The Next Generation", and I have sometimes toyed with the idea of attending a convention - like a real Trekkie. I'm not sure I want to spend $100 for the experience though - so I'll go to their site to have a look and see if I can convince myself!

Skive

Verb
(contact) remove the surface of; "skive leather"

I recently found the Skive website which carries short fiction stories from contributors. I don't know where the name comes from or what it has to do with the definition but it's always fun to look up words! And to read a story or two. Such was my excitement at finding contemporary short stories on the web that I forget to wonder "who are the contributors". I'm confident, well at least hopeful, that there will be some talent on the site and was pleased to see that you can search stories by author if you're after more of someone's offerings.
As well as the current month's offering, the site also archives previous stories back to late 2003. Oh, and submissions are accepted - you can find their guidelines on the site.
(And thanks Lizzie for reminding me that I do things/find sites that I can post here!)

Poor imitations

One of my favourite television programs when I was growing up was "The Addams Family". They were quirky and fun, yet remarkably conservative in their own way. So it was with some disappointment that I noticed an ad on television the other night for, I think, some kind of cleaning product. The talent were Addams family look-a-likes. Uncle Fester wasn't bad - but the others weren't even close. But the props ... and how they were representing them made my skin crawl - such was the blatant misrepresentation of my lovely Addams'. Hopefully not everyone had the same reaction to the ad - it's hard to get people to buy something if they can't remember what it is. (Okay, so I saw the ad again and it's for a paper towel.)

Back to reality

How many times can you repeat the episodes of a reality television or lifestyle program? We almost watched Burkes BackYard the other day - until we realised it wasn't a recent repeat. I suppose that's one thing about drama - you can keep repeating it years afterwards - but this may not work so well when your special celebrity gardener hasn't been in the public eye for a very long time.

T5

What I do like and don't like about my new palmOne Tungsten T5.
Y - It has a painted logo. The Palm decal fell off the T3 and I've had it held on with sticky tape for months.
N - It no longer has the universal connector so my spare cradle, cable and keyboard aren't compatible.
Y - There was a free offer of a wireless keyboard when I purchased the T5.
Y & N - No slider so big/extended screen all the time BUT not all pre-loaded applications take advantage of the added screen real estate.
Y - Excellent screen resolution.
N - Some programs "glitch' with the T5 eg interfere with the global find function (one of the coolest things about Palm).
Y - New drive mode to allow T5 to function like a spare drive via USB on any computer (not just yours with the Palm software loaded).
Y - The calculator - which used to be ultra-basic but has now come of age! Many functions and modes - more investigation (and some instruction) required.
N - It takes so long to do a soft reset - and it needs resetting a LOT it seems.
N - Instead of the reset hole being big enough for a stylus tip, it's gone back to pin-size - so each time you need to force a reset, you have to undo the reset pin tool from the end of the stylus - and put it back again when you're done.
N - the power button on the T5 is where the retractable stylus was on the T3 so I keep turning the T5 off. Very annoying!
N - It is sooooo slow sometimes! The palmOne Knowledge base puts this down to some ''third party applications" but I don't buy it!
Y - The media functionality which has the conversion protocol built into the Palm desktop. However, it won't convert all file types. More investigation needed.
Y & N - The onboard memory but its use is not intuitive. It allows you the option of opening items from the Files area but none of them ever does - even simple Docs files - the resulting message is invariably "no application knows how to open this".
Y - that the cover that came in the box hinges from the side, not the top.
N - no LED - so you can't see if it's charging without turning it on and checking the battery status for the lightning smbol.
Y - the sync/charging cable/s. Out of the box you get a cable for syncing, and the power cable plugs into that. (No lights anywhere on either of these to tell if the unit is charging.) The good news is that you can also plug the power cable direct into the T5. This is a bit more flexible that previous iterations - where you needed the cradle to be able to charge the unit.
And that's all I can think of for the moment. If I were giving it a rating of 1-10, it would be about a 6.5 or 7 - only because it seems to have lots of buggy things about it - and some form features that haven't been thought through - or tested by hands who are used to using their Palms many times a day, and as a natural extension of themselves.
I'm not yet missing the other features that were dropped from the T5 - flashing LED alarm (although I do miss the LED itself), vibrating alarm, and voice recorder. I do miss the universal connector though.

Simple Tests

Email is a wonderful thing - a tool for use for good, or for evil. And it can sometimes bring little quizzies - like this one - amuse and bemuse.

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get catgut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?

I'd like to say I managed a score of 10 on this one, but no such luck. How do you reckon you went - because here are the answers:
1) 116 years
2) Ecuador
3) Sheep and Horses
4) November
5) Squirrel fur
6) Dogs
7) Albert
8) Crimson
9) New Zealand
10) Orange.

Simple Pageantry

The Pope's funeral was held yesterday, and images were televised around the world. On the front page of today's Sydney's Daily Telegraph is one of the images. Gathered around the Pope's simple wooden coffin was row after row of Catholic Church leaders - all ornately-dressed in flowing red and white cassocks (and not a younger person or woman in sight). This was one of the paradoxes of the occasion - the humility and the pageantry; the solemnity and the rock-concert feel; and the saying goodbye to a Man of God, and a Man of the People.

Ear we go

Browsing the shelves in the chemist this morning, I chanced upon EARcandles. I was sufficiently interested/curious to pick up a brochure for "ORIGINAL HOPI EARcandles" - aka "Thermotherapy for the Head and Ears from BIOSUN". From the picture on the front of the brochure it looks like you put one end of the EARcandle in the ear, and light the other end. Admittedly, the picture, while clear, does not clearly show a flame, but as it has a wick - and they use the word "thermotherapy", that's what I'm going with. According to the brochure, EARcandles may be beneficial for the temporary relief of a whole range of problems - sinus, glue ears, headaches, tinnitus, sore throats and allergies. While contraindications have not been encountered, they strictly advise "not the use the EARcandles in the case of perforated ear drum, acute ear infections and allergic reactions to constituent elements". Hmmm. The EARcandle seems to work in two ways - slight underpressure inside the EARcandle (did I mention it is a hollow nine-inch tube) and a vibration of the rising air column through the natural movement of the flame which gentle massage the ear drum.
Of course, there are always questions. The EARcandles are sold in packs of 2. The brochure includes the words "we strongly encourage you to try a pair". The aforementioned picture on the front of the brochure shows a child lying on its side, with the candle stuck in the ear (that isn't pointing down). Obviously you can only have one EARcandle in at a time - so how can you "try a pair". And would you be game to try one?

Li(f)e Support

Maria Korp lies in a coma in hospital, on life support, following a brutal attack where she was strangled and left in a car boot for 5 days. Her husband and his lover are accused of her attempted murder. Mr Korp has now advised, via his lawyer, that he will fight to keep his wife alive - even though she is in a vegetative state and if life support were withdrawn, she would die within a couple of weeks. Mr Korp is currently appealing for bail - and one of the seemingly compelling reasons why it should be granted is that the main evidence seems to be his co-accused saying he was in on it. Supposedly, he told "the other woman" that it was the only way they could be together.
So - if Mr Korp fights to keep his wife alive via life-support, and she doesn't die - could he ever be charged with murder. Is this a loop hole? How big a penalty does "murder" carry, compared with "attempted murder"? Is it worth his while - especially if he is innocent as he claims he is? And how long after life-threating injuries sustained can you count them as "murder"?

Re-makes

What has happened to all the writers out there? Are people not having original thoughts any more? And if they are, why aren't the studios buying them? Why are there so many re-makes of movies at the cinemas, and so many reality programs on television. Where are the bright new ideas? They don't even have to bright, just new. Yes, we all know there is nothing new in show business, but there must be two thoughts people can string together in a way they haven't been strung together before! Yes, I know, I could start. (Watch this space.)

Papal Salary

It occurred to me today, while reading about the Pope's Will, that as Head of the Catholic Church, the Pope was probably drawing a reasonable salary. This was the first time I had thought about a Person of God being paid - although I know I knew this happened. I know that it isn't really more than a stipend in some instances, but it did get me wondering how much the Pope was worth a year.
The other thought I've had since the Pope went to meet his Maker, was that with the Conclave, and the Papal position up for grabs, I think it would be very disappointing if the Australian Cardinal George Pell were to get the No. 1 job. Not that it's for me to judge, but some of the things this man has said over the years have been divisive and not very holy.

Court Notes

I chanced upon some notes I made a couple of years ago when I sat in a court hearing for a few days. It was the first hearing I had been to (if you don't count the time I was called as a witness in a trial about crosswords - but that's another story). As a would-be (or should that be "aspiring") writer, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was in "observer" mode and in the three days that I went there - I made numerous notes about what I saw and what was said. Some of it is recorded conversation - the others just snippets/observations. For example: there is only one letter difference between "mother" and "smother"; and isn't it odd that "lung" and "tongue" are spelt differently.
Kathleen Folbigg is Currently in prison, serving a 40-year sentence for the murder and/or manslaughter of her four children. During the trial, lots of evidence was heard - but the jury didn't hear about Kathleen's own childhood (her father murdered her mother in front of her when Kathleen was under 2 years of age). They also didn't hear from Kathleen, who chose not to give evidence on her behalf. A question could be if the diary excerpts that were presented as part of the evidence against her were an accurate representation of her "voice".

Body memory

It is amazing how we learn to do things - and how part of that learning is related to physical memory. I am using a new keyboard with my Palm this morning, and even though it is still a "full size" keyboard, it is has a slightly different layout from the last, as the space bar is in two parts. I usually use the bit that now sits between those two parts, so I find I am trying to relearn this - so I don't have to go back and put in spaces all the time (because that could be a bit annoying in the long term!).
That's a bit funny. I was playing with the different keys to see what would happen and I turned the screen orientation around - and was amazed that the infrared signal would still work, given the machine was now not pointing that way - of course, I was wrong. The machine hasn't moved, it's the screen orientation that has changed (but it did take a few goes to work that out!)

Mystery solved?

I think my curiosity about the Calvin Klein shop front- and ''why chickens?'' - has been answered. I think they are not really chickens but roosters - as in Year of the Rooster!

A Question of Alcohol

How long does it take for the effects of alcohol to be felt - in terms of diminished brain functioning capacity. Also, how long does it take for the effects to disappear as the blood alcohol level dissipates. Craig Knowles, a NSW Government Minister, was charged with drink driving the other night. In Sydney's The Daily Telegraph this morning it gives a run-down of "The minister's night out" - including that at 11.55pm he recorded an initial concentration of 0.085. The next reading, at 12.24am is 0.06 (at which point he is arrested). At 1.26am he is down to 0.051, and then at 1.39am "He blows 0.044 and is allowed to drive home." Why were the additional readings done post-charge? So he would know when he was again under the lcgal limit and safe for him to drive again? What a difference those last13 minutes makes!!

A good belt(ing)

Police utility belts seem to be causing some concern for local NSW officers. The gear they carry on their belts - 11 items weighing around 6kg - seems to be causing injury to some officers. A survey by the NSW Police Association found about 800 officers complained of aches and pains caused by the belt. All the items on the belt are essential so the focus is on changing the belt so it is more user-friendly. Might it become a harness?
The cause of the problem? It appear to be the coincidence of the abolition of the height requirement for people joining the service and an increase of the number of items the constabulary are required to carry (on their belts).
There are some who think I carry a lot in and from my bumbag. I am pleased to report that mine weighs only 1.4kg so I have a long way to go before I catch up!

Easter Traditions

"Traditional Choc Cross Buns" - read the sign outside the bakery this morning. Since when have chocolate cross buns been traditional Easter fare? I must have missed something along the line because I didn't even realise there were chocolate (hot) cross buns until Sunday. Who knew that the fruit hot cross buns I innocently purchased at the Wamberal bakery were also laced with chocolate. Not really a good look in the toaster.

Not ... Lost

How many people are downloading the Lost program from the internet even as I write this? An item in this week's televison Guide in the Sydney Morning Herald suggests that it is "lots" . Okay, I admit I have been the recipient of two episodes. Both of which were downloaded for me by a friend as I had missed them - and it's important not to miss any of "Lost" because it is becoming more interesting with each episode.

On a roll?

On the way to breakfast this morning I passed the Bank where a security company was delivering a trolley-load of coins. The trolley was a shiny red two-wheel job with two great big inflated rubber tyres (did you know the Amish refuse to use inflated rubber tyres because they were invented for use by the military). The trolley looked wonderful parked on the footpath as the two Chubb officers lifted the rolls of coin from the trolley to the chairs that were propping the bank doors open at the top of the double step. Hmm. Maybe it's time they considered bringing a ramp along for jobs where they're not on the flat. Okay, if you were going to make off with enough of the rolls to make a difference in your life (besides being caught and convicted of robbery) you'd need your own truck - but it just didn't look that professional. If I'm ever in a position where I need to hire someone to transport money - it may not be them!

Social comment

I don't often get a laugh from the Here's Luck column in Sydney's Daily Telegraph but all that changed today with an entry in their Six-Pack (a list of possibilities re various topical happenings). Today's was about Australian cricketer Shane Warne who has made headlines several times in the past for texting inappropriate comments to women. He has been in the news lately for doing it again. The Here's Luck comment which gave me a good chuckle was included in "Six messages retrieved from Shane Warne's mobile": Is this lifeline? If so, my nm is Shane & I'm a txt addict.

Art and life?

The Pope has not been well. He has made some appearances by video over the Easter period but he hasn't been conducting services - including the Stations of the Cross. According to a church-going friend, one of the higher figures in the clergy here in Australia has suggested that the Pope is dying. The Pope certainly has had a trial of it in recent years, especially as the Parkinsons Disease has taken a stronger grip on him.
The Dan Brown book I am reading is set around a Papal conclave - where the cardinals set out to elect a new Pope after the previous one dies in his sleep from a stroke. Hopefully this won't be as prophetic as the book I started reading just after Boxing Day - Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" which featured a tsunami (although, admittedly, the one in the book was man-made and not the result of an earthquake off the coast of Indonesian).

Daylight Savings

lt's that time of year again - when we gain an hour as we put our clocks back and bid adieu to daylight savings for another year. It's just after 7.30pm and it seems like it should really be bedtime - but I have to stay awake for hours yet! Which presents a wonderful opportunity to be doing "stuff" - including blogging!
The big question is whether I did manage to save any daylight this year. Unfortunately no. But I did learn something about daylight savings. It was apparently introduced during the War years in a European country - a way of increasing war-time production without increasing costs - with daylight savings the factories could work an hour longer into the evening without having to turn lights on. Who would have thought that daylight savings would be based on a practicality? Of course, the odd practicality of daylight savings is that our cats can't tell time and there was a little insistent furry paw waking me up at 4am (yesterday's 5am and their usual feeding time).

The camera never lies

Isn’t it amazing that even though they say the camera never lies, that’s wrong. When the actor who played Elaine in “Seinfeld” was pregnant, she never appeared so on camera. They always photographed her sitting down, or from the waist up, or from an angle which wouldn’t show that she was pregnant. I’m watching a program at the moment where an actor is obviously pregnant (some months and definitely bulging) but has made the decision not to tell anyone, and in every shot she is wearing a duffel coat. No-one seems to notice that she is pregnant – not even her partner of many years (from whom she has recently become estranged). Ah … television.

Easter Break

The Australian television networks have apparently decided that the Easter Break should be 3 weeks long this year. They have taken most of the new run programs off for the duration of the real Easter as well as school holidays. Thank goodness that I have enough tapes of programs not yet viewed to see me over the hiatus. Plus some offshore television that has made its way to my computer (thanks TK!). Of course, there’s always books as well. I’m reading one of Dan Brown’s prequels to “The Da Vinci Code” at the moment – and it occurs to me that it could be formulaic. I say that because 100 pages in it feels fairly familiar. Professor expert on little-known religious cult is called in to help with symbols found at murder scene; murdered man has daughter; off they go to save the world. But I’m forging forward with it – to see if Professor Langdon and friend can save the world from the Illumanati and the anti-matter!

Chickens?

Calvin Klein's QVB (George Street, Sydney) shopfront window features 3 manniquins. One is headless. The other 2 have chicken heads - complete with red combs. I do not know why.

Twin Flip

Sydney's annual Royal Easter Show starts today and will run for the next 10 days. We're planning to go with Sooz's Mum on Easter Monday. This is one of the days they will have the Grand Parade with the animals. There are 12,000 of them at the Show this year and sometimes it seems like they only have the naughtiest in the Parade. It's fun to watch the bulls having their fringes coiffed for showing too.

Unfortunately George the sheep, 21, and billed as the oldest in Australia and who is celebrating his birthday today at Warren NSW, isn't going to the show!
But the show's about more than animals. There's arts, crafts, the agricultural exhibits, fresh produce, the Tiny Teddy mobile biscuit oven, and commercial exhibitors. And sideshow alley and the rides. There are four new ones this year including the Twin Flip, which is supposed to be the scariest! What amazing jobs they must be - to think up rides, design and test-drive them.

And let's not forget the other exciting show feature ... showbags.
I'm not sure what showbags we'll be aiming for this year but I'm fairly confident that they won't include the fake buttocks with G-string. I don't know how I could ever have thought that showbags were not value for money!
The big question about showbags this time: Are there any good liquorice ones?" And hopefully there will be - because it's a long time between shows!

"Old Ducks" - Indeed?!!?

'These old ducks are gardeners' said the radio commentator as they discussed the television show 'Rosemary and Thyme'. What's this about 'old duck'? Felicity Kendall is not and could never be 'an old duck'. Granted, a few years have passed since she was that adorable young woman on "The Good Life", but not that many!

Time Flies

Here’s my new watch - from the Museum of Modern Art. What a beauty!
Reading clockwise, the hieroglyphs on this watch translate to "Time Flies."
And some more info: The Egyptians used the hieroglyphic script for nearly 3500 years, from about 3100 b.c. until the end of the third century a.d. Some hieroglyphs were simplified images or pictures, called ideograms, which were symbols for the objects they looked like. For example, a wavy line meant "water." The Egyptians also used hieroglyphs phonetically, stringing together the sound of the symbols without their original meaning. An equivalent in English would be to spell "belief" with pictures of a bee and a leaf. It is possible to construct riddles using hieroglyphs in this manner. Because English and ancient Egyptian are not from the same language family, some sounds used by the Egyptians do not exist in our alphabet, and some of our sounds do not exist in Egyptian.
The watch is stainless steel with a copper dial, and is water resistant to 100 feet (30m).

A new demographic

Today is a milestone birthday for me - one which leaves me distressed and disturbed - a bit like my 30th. You know the ones - the ones you can't just let slip by. You don't actually dread them but you do give them more thought than most.
And the reason for this? It's pretty simple. It's because I've gone up to the next demographic. You know. In surveys, when they ask your age - and there's a number of ranges to select from - like 36-44. Well, I'm now in the next one. I cannot pretend that the years are not creeping past - or that there is still so much that I want to do.
But if I hadn't had a birthday - then I wouldn't have been surprised by Sooz's gift. It was so amazing. I hadn't told her that my previous watch had died the day before my birthday - yet here was my birthday present - a really cool watch that is quirky yet functional - just as soon as I can tell what time it is when the big hand is on the face and the little hand is on the legs (he he).
The other thing I love about birthdays is how hard it is to write today's date. So used to writing our birth-date are we, that it's hard to write 15/3/2005 rather than 15/3/XXXX - where XXXX stands for the actual year of birth.
Oh - and another l liked about this birthday - Krispy Kreme's Doughnuts birthday voucher. Thanks KKD.

Words apart

What's the difference between jealousy and possessiveness? Sooz and I were discussing this the other day and, still unsure, I have consulted the dictionary on my Palm (PDA) - SlovoEd 4.14, content by Princeton University. Sure enough, it has definitions for both.

possessive
Adj
1) (all) desirous of owning
2) (all) having or showing a desire to control or dominate
3) (pert) (grammar) serving to express or indicate possession
Synonyms: genitive

jealous
Adj
1) (all) showing extreme cupidity
Synonyms: covetous; envious; green
2) (all) suspicious or unduly suspicious or fearful of being displaced by a rival
Synonyms: green-eyed; overjealous

Cupidity - what's that? Something to do with the little fellow with the diapers and archery equipment? Apparently nothing quite as romantic ... not that some people would see jealousy as being the slightest bit romantic either.

cupidity
Noun
(attribute) extreme greed for material wealth
Synonyms: avarice; avariciousness; covetousness

So - jealous or possessive? Neither is a good look.
And the difference between jealousy and envy? Sooz reckons that in jealousy you preserve the good of your 'loved one' (making the other party the 'baddie'); with envy you want to destroy what the other person has.
Neither is a good but crimes of passion inspired by jealousy seem to be less reviled than a cold premeditated envy-driven homicide!

Off-line

Toni (my Sony Vaio computer) is unwell and has gone to the Service Centre for fixing. Maybe they can get him to power on.
I am missing it and have had to change my morning schedule to exclude email checking and news downloading (there has never been time to surf!). On the bright side, the time I save by not being on the computer is well spent on the exercise bike.

Customer Service

People are always quick to criticise public transport. Only this week there was a story in the Sydney media about the Rail spending $1 million plus on taxi fares for their staff - for a variety of reasons including, supposedly, that public transport was too unreliable.
We've had our own experience with public transport this week. Get ready to hear a guernsey! Boarding the bus on the way home on Monday, Sooz put her new-that-day weekly ticket into the ticket reader on the bus. The reader ate it - and despite the driver's best efforts, it wouldn't give it up. He took Sooz's name and address and said he'd be in touch. Fine, we thought, that's the last we've seen of that.
And it was, until a couple of hours later when a gentleman arrived at the flat with Suzanne's ticket. "Just show it to the driver" he cautioned "if you put it back in a reader, it'll just get stuck again" and with that he was off into the night.
Thanks City Buses. You rock.

Blogging by email

How many ways can I add to thee? Let me count the ways ...
This may be a slightly dramatic way of checking if I am still able to post to this blog via email! I know it will send okay - but will it be received well? Will there be unexpected (and ungainly) line breaks - and is there a way to avoid them? More research may be needed!

More on Palm V

... and Claudine if you're still tuned in - thanks for the stylus! That's what we're using with the V. Cheers.

Want one of these?

Looking for a bit of consumer excitement on the internet? Take a visit to www.woot.com and see what they're offering today - because they won't have it tomorrow. One product per day and each for one day only (unless it's offered again at a later date - but there's no guarantee of that) - that's their business. And remember - their day is American (not sure which time zone) so don't get caught out. So what do they carry - electronics/gadgets mostly - a drill today, a coffee-thermosy set yesterday. And what does WOOT stand for? I couldn't see an explanation of the acronym during my quick visit to the site but I have an idea. Want one of these?

Palm V

How amazing it is to take a step backwards with technology. I am writing this (or trying to - I am out of practice with this particular form of grafitti input!) on a Palm V which is a couple of OS versions ago. I want to see how well this unit works and if it's worth passing on - even though it has only 2MB of memory! 2MB - wow, that was all the memory my first Palm had - and it quickly became apparent that more (much more!) was needed! My launcher (like a desktop) alone is over 1MB these days. But this still works and if you were just after tracking diary, tasks and contacts, and having some reference material and a couple of simple games on hand, this would do nicely!

A clear message

The Daily Telegraph today carries the story of Newcastle-based Albert Cutter - a GP locum - who has had "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" tattooed across his chest. The 80-year-old's story has generated a lot of comment on the US-based internet site for emergency service workers, www.emsvillage.com.
But what happens should a medical emergency which required resuscitation happened in a non-English speaking country? How clearly would the tattoo express his wishes?
The story also mentioned another person who has had the tattoo - except in Frances Pollack's case, hers was set around a heart with a line through it.

Happy Anniversary

It's our anniversary today (March 7) - 15 years. Some times it seems like we've been together forever (I can't imagine not being with Sooz) and at others it's like no time at all. Thanks Sooz ... and here's to the next 15 - for a start!

Catch up posts

I have been blogging - just not posting ... so here are some I prepared earlier.

1/3/05
Blue Star Children. This is the topic of interest at the moment. The Blue Stars are apparently well-known but a quick internet search did not prove fruitful - until Sooz suggested I try Blue Star Energy instead. That worked and I've downloaded some information to read.
So why are the Blue Stars of interest? (I thought it was ''children", but I was wrong.) We were talking with a friend in Queensland the other day and he mentioned them. It struck a chord - I was sure I'd read about blue something or others - the product of aliens many years ago - not sure if they had left thelr predecessors on earth, or mated with humans to start the Blue Stars. Were the aliens from a Blue Star? What are the identifying features of Blue Stars? More to follow.

1/3/05
How many people out there freely volunteer their time and energy to help out others? And what motivates them to do it? We have a friend who is a "Justice of the Peace" and is currently personing a booth at a major shopping centre for two hours a week. People can come and get her to witness them signing legal and other documents. It's a great service - I know in Sydney you can never find a JP when you need one - and they can be quite useful. (And no, I don't understand exactly what the role of the JP is in our modern society - I'll have to ask.)


19/2/05
"If it's a giant whale, or a pirate ship, or a giant school of dolphins - okay - but if it's just rocks ..." so said Sooz as I implored her yet again (!) to look out the plane window at the passing scenery. We were lucky enough to be flying on a clear day, with good visibility and some stunning Australian coastline below us. But it was just a bit of a stretch with the aircraft we had to allow Sooz to easily take a look - but it's okay - because I took a heap of photos!

10/2/05
Has a frozen chicken landed on your house? If so, let Sydney's Daily Telegraph know. They are following the story of 2 frozen chickens that have landed on roofs of houses in the same Newcastle neighbourhood over the last couple of weeks. Latest theory (aka supposition) is that it may be someone with a gigantic rubber band/slingshot firing them skyward to see how high they will go. I'm interested to know how you would calculate the height.

Home from the holidays ...

... or we soon will be. At another airport - Coolangatta this time - and the night is gathering outside as we wait for our aircraft to arrive to take us back to our lives in Sydney. It has been a grand holiday - much learned, and much to think about. And here's a little taste to whet your appetite ... stingrays at SeaWorld's Shark Bay and some views.

On holidays ...

(Written 20 February ... finally posted 5 March)
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here only a little over 24 hours. We are at apartments on the Gold Coast, on the 16th (next to top) floor – and I am typing this as I look over the shadows lengthening on the beach below us, as the sun sets over the Hinterland behind us. The surf is pounding the beach and there are people, lots of people, walking, wading, swimming, fishing, paddling their way along the kilometres of sand stretching north and south.

We walked part of the beach ourselves this morning. Just after 5 – just after we’d watched the sun rise from the ocean and start the new day. Of course, we weren’t the only ones out – there were lots of people enjoying the best this strip of coastline has to offer. And at least one of the businesses knows this is holiday territory and that there will be early risers – so at 6, when we reached the “shops” there was at least one coffee shop open and already serving.

I can remember the first time I came to the Gold Coast. I was only young – and asked the question about the Gold that was used on the beaches here. I’m not sure if I asked if you could take it home or not. I do remember that we arrived in the middle of the night – and for the first time I heard the roar of the surf. I had no idea where it was – and I’m sure I thought it was just across the road. Of course, when morning came, even though my aunt and uncle lived on The Esplanade, the surf wasn’t just “right across the road” as I’d imagined. But it wasn’t far away. (That house was sold, torn down and the site became a motel many years ago now.)

... and that was it. I had expected to write much during my holidays but this was not to be.

The Wonders of Wireless

I am writing this blog in a cafe at Sydney's Domestic Airport - waiting to board the plane that will take us for our two week holiday to Queensland's Gold Coast. I will also post this blog from the airport - as I am connected to the internet via a Telstra wireless "hotspot". I cannot get over the marvels of the technologies that make this possible! How amazing to sit here, a coffee (and Krispy Kreme Doughnut) by my side - finally catching up on some blogging on my laptop - knowing it will not sit on the Palm for a week while I get around to posting.
We have the digital camera with us and am hoping to get some piccies to post along the way. It's all good.

Vale Bev

I haven’t had enough experience with death and grief. I suppose nothing can prepare you for it, or for people’s reactions. Especially as we live in a society where the emphasis is very much on life and living and death is not usually a topic for polite conversation. I’m not sure it is as “taboo” as in previous years though.
Bev, one of my aunts died on Saturday evening. (real name Beverley but we all called her Bev – and I think she had a nickname her siblings used to call her when she was a kid, but I can’t remember what it was ). Bev is the first of the aunts on Dad’s side to go. (I’m not sure about the ones on Mum’s side because we aren’t really in touch with that side of the family – a long story.) Bev was one of 8 kids – Les, Bev, John (Dad), Ellen, Margaret, Evon, Robert (Teddy) and Judy. I can’t imagine how the others are feeling today. They are a close family – and over the years they have coped with the sudden death of their father through heart attack, and an extended hospitalization of their mother (Nana) with dementia, watching her waste away until she finally went to her maker. Nana was the glue, the heart of that family, and with her gone, the family gatherings move to Bev’s. We went to Christmas at her place a couple of years ago. It was a familiar scene. A table groaning with food, people outside playing cricket, blokes out the back with a few beers, and women having another cuppa (tea). And talking. And laughing. The family knows how to laugh, and to have a good time. I once told my partner that I thought they knew the secret of life – it was about working to live. It was about being part of this family that was there when you needed it, where if anyone saw a toddler needing changing, or to have their face wiped, several sets of arms would be reaching out to do it. Didn’t matter whose it was – because in a way, if you belonged to any of them – first, second or third generation, you were communal, one of the clan. It didn’t matter if they hadn’t seen you for weeks or months or years. You were family and because of that there was always, and would always be, common ground. And the same went for your partner.
Which is why it is so sad to know that one of the building blocks in the family won’t be there when next we visit.
I’m not sure the brothers and sisters healed after Nana’s death. I’m not sure how they will heal following Bev’s death. It’s probably too soon to even think about that or how the ache when they remember Bev may get a little less as time goes on.
Bev had not had a good trot healthwise. She’d had heart problems and diabetes and, by all accounts, wasn’t a good patient. Some years ago she had been scheduled to have a quadruple (?) bypass, but the doctors decided there was not enough healthy tissue to make it feasible. She did have a valve or something implanted though, and she’d talk about how it kept her awake some nights because it was so noisy - especially on quiet Toowoomba nights (and they all are!). I was just thinking about her lying there in the darkness, listening, in her big green house, and remembered that she may have not always been lucky in love, but she had the luck to win a share of $100,000 enough years ago that that was a decent amount of money, and certainly a fair-sized whack on a mortgage.
My elder brother phoned last night to see if I'd heard the news and to say that he'd 'shared a drink' with Bev during the afternoon. And he'd remembered/realised what a caring, fun person she was.
I've been remembering her too - the stories of the skeleton and kittens, the UFOs, the marmalade cat, Lorna Doone (the book), cracker nights, long sessions around the kitchen table with pot after pot of tea, Christmasitis, and visits in hospital (''I can't give up salt - it doesn't taste the same".)
Bev's funeral is on Thursday afternoon. I've heard that 6 white doves will be released as part of the ceremony - one for each of her six children (two deceased). Although people say that parents should not outlive their children - I wonder if a reunion in the next realm (if such a thing exists) eases the pain of the loss at all?

Nemo

My niece and nephew gave us a goldfish for Christmas. We had thought about calling him Nemo (even though he wasn’t a clown fish), then decided on a combination of their and their parents’ names (first two initials) WaKiJaMa (as in Whacky Jama). But then, we started calling him Nemo anyway, so that stuck.
Nemo came complete with weed, water, food and an acrylic bowl which could be fixed to the wall, thus keeping him out of the way of our two cats – unless they found a way to phwup phwup phwup (with suction cups on their paws) their way up the wall.
On the one and a half hour drive back to Sydney from my brother’s place, we determined that we wouldn’t get attached to Nemo. But that wasn’t possible. Especially when he swam over and looked up at you at feeding time.
So we took our new drill out and drilled him to the wall – well, his bowl. (Note to self: start with the smaller drill bits next time!)
Life went on. We incorporated Nemo’s schedule into our own, feeding him in the afternoon, cleaning out his bowl regularly, saying hello as we walked past. It should have been a good life for him – and maybe it was – but it was short. Too short. We found him floating upside down in his bowl earlier this week. Not quite sure what happened except that he had seemed perfectly well the night before at feeding time. He had eaten, as always, with much gusto. And there hadn’t been a peep out of him during the night.
So, even though, as the Encyclopedia Encarta advises that Gold Fish can live to be 40 years old, after only a month, Nemo is no more.

Countdown

We are on the countdown to holidays. And now it's only three weeks until we board our flight to Queensland's Gold Coast for two weeks at apartments at Burleigh Heads. We are taking the opportunity to catch up with friends and family by having people to stay with us at the apartment. We booked a 2 bedroom apartment for this reason. My Mum and Dad will come down from Toowoomba for Week One. My sister and her family will also come down for a few days - staying in a unit they have booked in the same complex. It's possible that an aunt and her husband my also be joining us.
Week Two we'll be joined by friends who live on the Gold Coast but who have a bevy of animals which require tending. They can pop out to their property to do that while still enjoying a beach holiday.