Picture this ...

And just when you thought you had seen it all - here's Angle Grinder Man - who uses his power tool to un-wheel lock cars in the UK. Well, that's what he was doing last year - I've not seen any recent reports on him.
But the key thing about AGM is that I have worked out how to post pics on this site! (The blogger help page works!)

Common knowledge

Are there things that we assume everyone knows? Knowledge that all of us have picked up somewhere along the way. I have realised in the last little while that there are two pieces of this knowledge that had escaped me.
The first is about canaries. When discussing a colleague who had been gassed and robbed while staying at a hotel, the conversation turned to methods of gas detection. Specifically, we talked about canaries and how they had been taken down into mines. The miners knew dangerous gas was about when the canary fell off the perch. We all know that. But what I didn't know was that the canary died. It didn't regain consciousness. There was no happy flapping of wings; no jumping back up on the perch; no chance to save mankind again ... just miners looking for a replacement canary.
The second tidbit of universal knowledge to escape me was about whales. On The Simpsons last night, Grandpa Simpson drove his car into an aquarium and as the water escaped, it left a whale crumpled and gasping on the car bonnet. But why would the whale be gasping (forget for a moment that we're discussing an animated sit-com) ... because whales breathe air. So I mentioned this to a friend at lunch today and she gave me the "everyone knows that" look. And then when she realised I didn't (know), she gave me a short lesson in physics - out of the water, whales are unable to withstand the pressure, and gravity has its way. I guess that's the same as saying their weight crushes their chest (?) and they suffocate even though they have air to breathe. That's why there's such a rush to get them back into the water.
I'm hoping there are also known answers to some of my other questions:
• Why do Crime Scene Investigators do everything by torchlight?
• Why do sandwiches taste differently depending on how they are cut?
• Do you continue to tan after you're dead?

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

More television. Would it be harder to be a contestant or the significant other of a contestant waiting as they try to decide which of four sometimes equally plausible options is correct. And how nerve-wracking would it be trying to get the fastest finger question right and in the fastest time? Would you be overtaken by nerves? How sweaty would your palms be? And how disappointed would you be if you got it wrong? Or right? Do some people feel like bailing out when they are chosen? How difficult would it be to remember your own name under the glare of the lights and the focus of the cameras let alone trying to dredge up an obscure fact to answer the question.

Thoughts on Television

Some of the familiar television series will be finishing this year - Sex and the City; Friends; and probably some local Australian shows as well! Do Australian shows survive as long as off-shore imports? How many in recent history have lasted as many seasons as Survivor or Buffy or the aforementioned shows - leaving out current affairs or non-drama content. Gone are the halcyon days of Prisoner, although Neighbours and Home & Away are still gracing our small screens. But are daily soaps in the same league as weekly sit-coms or dramas? Will they continue on regardless, not dependent on a stable stable of characters. Are the writing and/or production values inferior?

Mondo Thingo

A new program started last night on the ABC (one of our free-to-air national broadcasters) - Mondo Thingo. It seems to be a grab-bag of various items of varying degrees of interest - for example nicotini (tobacco flavoured vodka) and a "cheat lesson" on everything you wanted to know about Sofia Coppola (Director of "Lost in Translation" - her second feature film).
One of the more intriguing reports was about doggie dancing aka freestyle canine obedience. Owners dance with their dogs (more line dancing than up close and personal cheek to cheek). If you're interested in trying it with your dog, be prepared to put in some time and effort. It apparently takes 42 days - which incidentally is about twice as long as it takes humans to learn new tricks! And just in case you think you can blame your canine colleague for not remembering the steps, as they said on the segment: the dog never does anything wrong - it's always you. Wonder if it would work as a form of exercise for Em, our diabetic cat. Mondo Thingo has a website.

Gas leak

A suspected gas leak in Sydney's underground rail network caused commuter chaos last week. The City Circle rail stations were closed early that afternoon as emergency services personnel sought to pinpoint the source of the leak.
The network was opened just after evening peak hour but the cause of the leak remains unknown.
I was impressed with the patience of the public and the professionalism of the public transport staff.

What's in a name?

I had a thought before, perhaps a good one, but I lost it. I find that fairly frustrating. Sometimes they come back, more often, they don't. I did remember this one though. It was about ordering a coffee and when they ask for your name - what name do you give? Do you say a name that you're fairly sure none of the other 17 people in the queue have? When asked today I wanted to say Nemo, or Elmo, or perhaps Fabio (okay so I recently saw "Finding Nemo").

And if you’ve ever been to Just Cuts and had to wait and come back 30 minutes after putting your name down and you know your name is still way down on the list … have you ever thought of claiming the next name they call? Yes, I’m Ivan or Christine or Jackie. Especially if you’re the only one there and it’s a shame to let Ivan or Christine or Jackie’s appointment go to waste.

Time flies

Funny how it takes next to no time to get very busy. And is it really a week since my last post here? Once upon a time I thought time seemed to be speeding up as I grew older. There is no "seems to'' about it. It's almost February already; in a blink of an eye, a whole month has all but disappeared! But that's because it has been busy.

Chinese New Year

We missed this year's festivities for Chinese New Year. We did seen a lion dance last weekend but that was from a distance and I don't think it really counted. It's the Year of the Monkey. I'm not sure of its significance in Chinese astrology but I'm hoping it means we're in for a bit more "fun" than in recent previous years.
We've been lucky enough to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong twice. Now there's a city which knows how to decorate! Skyscrapers and other buildings are literally festooned with neon for the New Year. It is a triumph in exterior illumination! A word of caution if you ever find yourself there for Chinese New Year. It is traditionally time for visiting and if you are venturing back into the territory through a Customs check point, take a couple of books to read because you'll have a long wait. It will be one of the longest, most patient and orderly queues you would ever have been in!

Dream times

I am having a recurring nightmare ... or it could just be a dream ... or it could be a message from my unconscious. It would be good if I could remember the details. There might be a clue there. All I know at the moment is there are two scenarios - each with the same dilemma. One is at work, the other is at home. At work it concerns a three-level clearance - or something like that. I have to "do" something but I can't remember what it is. At home, it is about the alarm and, again, I do not know what I am supposed to do. In both cases, my lack of action has an immediate ripple effect - and it is not good. The dream has worken me up 3 times now, each time I've had it - and I've been so confused by it that I have actually gotten out of bed to "check". The not-knowing what I'm supposedly checking is increasingly frustrating. I suppose I could just ask my unconscious (or is it sub-conscious, I always get them confused) to shed some light on the issues. Sounds like a good idea for the night after next - I'm still a bit tired for last night!

More on ears and prints

Judge frees man convicted of murder by earprint. This is a story from Ananova (have to love this source of news - quirkie and otherwise!). A man convicted of murder, by his earprint, was freed by a judge after spending nearly seven years in jail for a crime he did not commit. In 1998, he was found guilty of smothering a woman. Evidence included that he had allegedly left a unique earprint as he listened at a window before breaking in. The retrial found him "not guilty".

A job well done

It is a while since I have felt this excited about work. It is Friday afternoon and I have just put the finishing touches on, and emailed, a quite complex document. It outlines the scope, and seeks to clarify particulars, of a web project I am assisting with. While I have worked on many projects, and written many documents, they have not come together like this before. I feel as if it's "a job well done"!

Finger prints

Finger printing. Who cleans up afterwards? A car turned up on the street outside our house at one point. I didn't take much notice of it; cars come and go. And there was nothing remarkable about it except it looked a little grubby. I was out in the front yard not long after and someone asked if it was mine, and did I want to sell it since it had been stolen. I puzzled over that for days. How did he know it had been stolen? I finally worked it out - the dark areas on the bonnet and above the doors were grubby because they hadn't been cleaned since the car was stolen, returned and dusted for prints. Why do they call it "dusting" for prints ... the stuff sticks like glue and doesn't dust off.
The whole concept of identifying people by their fingerprints is amazing. Did anyone laugh at the person who came up with the idea of taking impressions of people's fingers - because they were all unique. Did they know that eventually computer programs would be used to compare hundreds in the blink of an eye. The concept of a unique identifier was first applied to ears. These also leave a unique impression - quite apart from any other impression ears may otherwise make eg which sometimes cause people to be called "wingnut". They used to call ears "lugs", hence lugsholes, back in the 19th Century (which seems a very long time ago now).
But back to how difficult fingerprint powder residue is to remove. The supermarket doesn't sell a special product for this - although a commercial version could be available for those companies specialising in crime scene clean-up. That must be a gruesome undertaking.

Blogging

I read an article in the New York Times earlier this week on blogging. It referred to a site - www.livejournal.com - among others and I went along for a look. It was stunning. It allows you to see the site's most recent posts - an easy window into other people's lives, psyches and opinions - and there is no shortage of those. Some of the posts had photos/images and fickle person that I am, I considered changing my blog provider - just for a moment! I've yet to visit the other sites mentioned in the article. Perhaps on the weekend.

New Year's Resolutions (NYR)

What hope do most of us have in keeping our NYRs, especially if we do not appreciate that it takes 21 days (although some say it's six weeks) to make or break a habit.
Others suggest a more organised and systematic approach to NYR goal setting. Write it down; make it bite-sized; make it achievable; set a date; and put a rewards system in place.
A friend of mine wrote "Have you made any new years resolutions? I forgot to - oh well - I'll just try to live a good life instead of a significantly improved one!" Okay to that.

Hmmm. Christmas.

We had an interesting time this year - which I have relegated to yesterday already. On the upside, my partner and I were once again able to exchange "the Xmas letter". This is not the "boast-it note" which some families broadcast to all an sundry but rather a concrete memory of our year and our hopes, plans and aspirations for ourselves, each other and our partnership for the coming year. It is a tradition we've had in place for most of our almost 14 years together - and while other rituals have come and gone, we are pleased this one remains, and grows.

Peanuts

It is too long since I have partaken of Charles M Schulz's Peanuts gang. This afternoon there is sports, sports and more sports on most of the free-to-air television and channel surfing has brought me to Charlie Brown and the kite-eating tree. Moments before the tree gobbled up the kite, CB had managed to get his kite in the air, soaring magnificiently, and then it just went and exploded. As Lucy commented "that's the first time I've seen that happen". Peppermint Patty is now talking to that kid with the big nose that lives with CB - Snoopy. What a great group of characters and what a fantastic view of life.

Insulin Regime

The feline insulin era is now well and truly underway. Em is taking it fairly well, given that if she wanted to, she would be able to tear flesh from our limbs as we administered the shots. Mind you, she is less co-operative some days than others, but that's okay in the grand scheme of things.
We've also changed blood testing methods. We're now doing blood collection via ear pricks. We downloaded instructions from the internet - complete with pictures - and it is slowly getting easier ... on both of us. I don't think I have heard Em growl as much in the 11 years we've had her as in the last fortnight.
The other part of having a diabetic cat is how to explain to your other cat that you're not really ignoring them, and the attention the diabetic cat is getting is attention the other one really does not want.

Feline Diabetes

One of our cats was diagnosed with feline diabetes this week. Her treatment starts Monday - diet and insulin injections. Not unlike humans really. My partner and I have both been taught how to do the injections, and I have also learned how to take blood so I can do regular checks of her blood sugar levels. It was this or urine testing, both of which give accurate readings. Do animals feel pain the same way we do? And will the cat who will cheerfully pincher you with her claws (and then hiss a warning) when you accidentally brush against her in bed, take kindly to this latest invasion of her personal space and lifestyle. We shall see.

Parental Visit

When we visited the Gold Coast in August, my partner and I had discussed catching up with my parents who are based in Toowoomba. Time constraints (and lack of a car) meant the 2.5 hour drive to Toowoomba was not an option. Cheap airfares meant we could make a flying visit to them later in the year, and lateral thinking meant we could get them to visit us - and my NSW-based brothers and their families. That was last week. It was good to see them and spend time with them doing touristy things, in our beautiful Harbour city, and just hanging out.