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"