Defiance

I have just watched the movie Defiance. I would like to say that I will never complain about my lot again! I know I will of course; it's human nature, but if you can stand violence, I can recommend this movie, based on a true story of defiance by Russian Jews during WW2. Sad and shocking, it is also in a strange way uplifting as it shows what a determined human spirit can do. Please God none of us in Australia will have to endure what they did. My thoughts are with the millions in the world who are enduring the horror of war, and in the words of Julian Lennon..."salt water wells in my eyes".

I kneel before you...not!

Well like all my good intentions about keeping a diary, journal/blog, this has gone like an uncaged parrot left in a room with an open window.

I have such an ordinary life that maybe I should write about that and then something exciting will happen.

I have just moved house and so I have been busy with settling in and apart from:
bad weather
phone and broadband connection problems
doors that won't lock
doors that won't unlock
and debates over parking places
my life has continued pretty much as normal except I have
a torn cartilage in my right knee that is giving me hell.

Tomorrow I might start putting a daily post on FB that is boring and see how many replies I get; as I get none when I put on something witty, profound,inscrutable.

Details of my new abode ….& the directions to get there.

Currently, I am living at in Corina Plc. Kingston.

On Friday the 28th August I will be moving to Village Drive, Kingston a total of 1.5 kms away.

This move, I’m hoping, will be the last until that final big move when I get to spend forever in an even smaller box or jar, or fish’s belly (just in case I die at sea)!

The Google people did not see fit to go down the street where I will be, but just stuck to the main thoroughfare when taking the street view pics (which thoroughfare I might add, has a speed limit of 20kms- for any hoons that intend to visit…don’t bother)

It is a smaller unit than I have been used to but because there is an age limit as to who can live there (you have to be 50+) I am willing to live in a smaller place for the peace and quiet. I don’t expect to hear any rock 'n roll at 3am Also it is further from the highway than I am currently living, so the traffic noise is less too.

I have had to down-size a good deal and that will be a test of endurance, to see if I can survive with less. However, on cleaning out my shed in preparation for moving, I have discovered things that I had forgotten I owned – so I don’t think it will be too hard.

In Corina Place, I am at the back and I have a bigger back yard and more privacy, but the tenant that has the front unit is a dirty, noisy, unthinking rude…oh don’t get me started! Let’s just say in the winter I get wet knees just getting the mail, as she never mows the nature strip.
It is because of her that I am moving in the first place,

o The view from the end of the street (current address) is across to one of the shopping centres in Kingston and is a particularly noisy area as it has a Maccas, KFC, Dominoes pizza, 2 video stores, a car wash, Repco, pet warehouse and various other shops. During the day, lots of coming and going but after they all close, it is the play ground for the hoons to do wheelies in the car park. I feel sorry for those people who own houses close by and will never be able to sell (or at least get a good price )

o Head south along the Channel Highway a short distance ( ¾ km) Redwood Road is on the left. This fairly long road joins Channel Highway to Algona Rd in Blackmans Bay.

o Turn left at Redwood and travel up the road until you reach a roundabout (½ km) where you have to go right …but go left first of course to go right!

o Now you are in the entrance to Redwood Village...you'll notice the 20kms sign.
Travel down this road about maybe 150 metres until you see a sign that says
Argyle Drive.

o This street is where the driving entrance to my new place will be. There is only car parking space for one other car besides mine. So, if you intend to visit in pairs …car pool please.
Only joking as there is gutter parking too. But I don’t think many people do it as it looks so untidy!!

o Now, if I had a picture, you'd see an old white car…not mine of course,is parked near my spot. This is a bit of a bomb that belongs to an old man nearby. But my car will be enjoying the space next to his. I hope they get along as I’m not sure my car will like to be parked next to riff raff…Oh forgot , I work at the university –she’s used to riff raff…the kind that drive expensive 4x4s and feel free to scrape and ding less expensive smaller cars because they can. (bottom dwelling, scum sucking, one celled bacterium!!!)

o I digress …Now as I said, there is no exact pic of my place as Google earth did not go down this street, where they would have got a good view But: there is an aerial view of the roof and the car parking spot. Exciting isn’t it. I hope you can contain yourself.
I haven't put it here. Not silly! Don't want uninvited guests with crowbars and balaclavas do I?

o Now… you know how to get there.
Of course you have to find your own way to Kingston…you’re not totally stupid, I hope.


o All visitors welcome,(without the aforementioned crowbars and balaclavas) but ring first as I have such a busy life and I wouldn’t want to miss you after you have made the effort to find me.
But…leave it until mid September unless you are prepared to help me lift boxes.

The End

Long time no see

Well it has been a while since I posted here as I have not had any truly amazing things to report. But, even though I am not into the cute photos as such I thought that the ones on this site were once in a lifetime occurances. Enjoy! and this one too :0

You see this lighter...

Just in case you thought that you could not be deceived...



This is only a drawing!!

Who would have thought it possible?

Has anyone seen Paul McCartney?

Heather Mills eat your heart out!

"Speedie" the Tortoise gett'n down.

This is what happens to "sticky beaks" ... Pelican with new beak

And thereby hangs a tail...Dolphin with new tail

Some people have too much talent.

This is a cake...believe it or not!

You can take this job and shove it...!

High powered daredevil defies death!

here

Amazing!

Nothing I could say about this video would do it justice. I definitely have not seen anything as amazing as this before.
click here

...AND THE WINNER IS!

One of my earliest posts was about the World Beard Championships to be held in Alaska.
Well they have been contested and here are the winners. Enjoy!
click

Travelling Pretty

Well I never thought I'd see the day but I have!
Normally, although Tasmania doesn't experience the traffic chaos that other capital cities do, we still have our share at peak hour, especially in Hobart. I live about 18kms from the city and travel each morning on a two lane highway called the Southern Outlet. Its speed limit is 100kmsp.h.and there are two types of drivers -fast and slow;(actually there are far more than that but that's another story!) Normally it takes me about 20 mins to travel the distance from work to home as long as there are no accidents (which there usually are at least once a week. Even on a good run there can be delays if there is a bus, truck, learner/Pplater that holds people up. Tasmanian's are notorious for not letting other cars merge and so getting into the fast lane can be impossible if you are stuck in the slow one.
Well... today it was clear all the way and it took me 7 minutes to travel the distance. Why? Because it is school holidays. Given that there are several schools and a high school in the town I live in, as well as a regular and school bus service (not to mention that most kids live within walking distance of the schools) the traffic is always hugely lighter during holidays. Which means that parents are travelling the highway to take their little dears into the city to the larger private schools and...they are all driving gas guzzling 4wds and hogging the roads and...! Must stop before I get delayed road rage which I currently don't have for the first time for the past 10 years. Yaheee!

You have mail!

I have been using email for about 13 years now-ever since it really became a way of communication at work. We use it for everything from small and unimportant things like memos, appointments and news to procedural changes and other important knowledge based needs. Sometimes we even use it to send those awful jokes and make lunch dates with colleagues. There is no real restriction on use except for the normal curties or harrassment issues etc. We are, infact, encouraged to use it as much as possible (as well as other technologies that are available to us) so as to be as familiar as possible with the modern world of the student.
I would guess I would receive 100 or so emails a day and so I have it open and check it all the time.
We also have a corporate email address to look at frequently so that we can answer students queries.

So what am I leading to...well with all this constant contact with email I have never (until late today) been in my email and actually SEEN a new email pop into the inbox. Although delivery is usually very fast (I have had colleagues tell me that they are literally sending me something NOW and received it seconds later), but I have never seen it pop in. And even if the person sitting next to me sends me something, the email has to travel by way of Launceston (220kms away : if not around the world) before I get it!
It was just like seeing the time tick over on a digital clock...you know it happens but you rarely see it happen.
Aint technology wonderful!!!

I've never heard of...

The UK radio station BBC4 has a programme that is called "I've never seen Star Wars" The basic concept is to take well known public figures (not just celebrities) and get them to 'do' 3 or 4 things they have never done before.
So, there is the very ladylike polititian who goes to a boxing match or learns judo;
and the boxer who learns flower arranging or listens to Beethoven's 5th...you get the picture.
They do something that is out of their comfort zone or would never occur to them to do normally.
It is very entertaining and surprising that quite often the person loves the activity and agrees they would do it again.

Now take that idea and apply it to me. There are more things that I have not done than I have done (although, I have done some interesting things) but one of the things I realised was, that I didn't think I had ever listened to a U2 song. Given the length of time they have been around, their world wide popularity and high profile in the 'Bob Geldof arena' I couldn't believe that I didn't know one single song title. I supposed that I had heard their songs and just didn't know it. I do have a wide taste when it comes to music and I listen to all types (although I have favourites of course) So you would think that I couldn't have missed every single one.

So I did a search for all their music (remember I work in a library and besides the internet...)and nothing from just the titles rang a bell. So, I thought I'll just have to play them and maybe the first few notes I hear will jog my memory. It usually does. Even though I can't sing I have the ability to remember song lyrics very easily and recognise a piece of music from the first few notes. So, I thought...piece of cake. But No! Not one word or note was familiar. I also realised that I only knew the name of the lead singer Bono because of his connection with Geldof and because he has the same name a Sonny (although Sonny's was real and this one's is a nickname-read that somewhere.) I don't know the other members names or even how many there are.

So the up-shot is I have now listened to the first 2 minutes or so of all the U2 songs published, for the first and last time, as I did not like any of them. Maybe that's why I haven't heard them before...they are just not me. Strange as I can't stand Slim Dusty songs and I know all the words to " I love to have a beer with Duncan" and the "Pub with no beer!"

Ballet...definitely not for beginners

I am a big fan of ballet. I find the other forms of dance less engrossing but I appreciate the talent and stamina needed to perform and when it dazzles, any performance is worthy of applause.

The following video that someone sent me today staggered me and I just have to post it here.
Not only is it ballet but it's a version of Swan Lake (one of my favourites not just for the dance but for the music as well which transports me each time I hear it).
Enjoy!

Click here

Just a time waster really!

Click here

Some Muvers do 'ave 'em!

Well as some of you may know I work in a library. NOT a nice quiet library filled with dusty books and anally retentive librarians who spend their day reading, putting books on shelves and saying shhhhsh!
Anyone who has been in the library of a busy university will know that I am not exaggerating when I say it is not unlike the supermarket (without the piped music).
Each day something happens that surprises us or annoys us and someone is alway feeling stressed dealing with lazy students who want us to do the work for them.
That was my new experience today.
After 13 years and many difficult to answer, stupid, obscure questions I had one today that I still have no idea about.

A student (overseas and male-probably from a culture that expects women to wait on the men hand and foot) asked me to find him books to support his essay topic.
He had good English but a difficult accent and it took me a while to understand what he even wanted.
He had already written his essay (which I might add was his second attempt) without reading a single book or journal pertaining to his subject (politics).
He now wanted book titles that he could reference that would support his essay. He wasn't going to read them just say he had. He thought that having some of the words in the title that he had in the essay question was all he would need and that his lecturer wouldn't notice.

I spent 45 minutes with him and he never said please or thank you once, even though he left with 2 books and an article to read. At least I convinced him he would need to do a bit of reading to get through.

Some people are rude, some are lovely, some are overwhelmingly grateful and some think we owe them something. All in all the day is never boring and there is always someone saying those immortal word..."well I've never seen that before"

The world is an amazing place

Click here

Hair today gone tomorrow

Apparently there is a Beard and Moustache Championship held bi annually. This year it's in Alaska and it is only 22 days away.
Here is a link to the website with some very amazing pics.

Click here

Folding for you.

Today was a quiet but busy day and I feel pleasantly tired. Nothing happened that I have not seen or experienced before except for finding the following website with the most amazing origami. Enjoy!

Click here

I give myself a hand.

Today I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis (particularly in the hands, back and knees). I have had an xray (no that is not the new experience for the day) that was conclusive evidence of the diagnosis and I have to wear a brace on both hands to support the joints in my thumbs (which are particularly painful). My new experience was seeing the inside of my own hands for the first time. When I looked at the pictures they looked normal to me and I thought that the doctor must have been mistaken. But when the physio saw them she declared they were quite bad and agreed that I would be in a lot of discomfort as the thumb joints on both hands have deteriorated quite badly. The cartilage is gone so I am grinding bone against bone and the bone joint has actually reduced in size.
It was amazing, once I knew what I was looking at, how obvious it was and fascinating too.
So... there you have it. How "handy" xrays are and they are just the tip of technology!

P.S. I still cannot see a baby in a scan though!

Day one...quite so far...no surprises yet.

Today I decided to start a blog listing things I see or experience that I have never seen or experienced before. By some standards I am old so there might not be much I haven't seen or done and then there may be a lot of things...who knows!.

So far today has been quiet and nothing has happened.

I will list a couple of good web sites here that I visited for the 1st time, to kick things off.

Click here

and here