Well, I've put a site meter on and it turns out I'm not quite alone. (Almost, but hey I'm only new :)
So, my question is, where are you from? Tell me where you're from and what floats your boat :) If you drop by, leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.
By the way, check out the world map function on sitemeter.com. Very funky indeed.
So, hello I say. Ciao. Arrividerci. G'day. Hi. Aloha.
Last night I'd accidently taken the mobile phone from work home with me. No big deal. It doesn't really get used during the day. It's just a back up if someone is alone in front offce and has to go elsewhere. So there was no rush to return.
C and I had some free time this morning so I thought, bugger it, I'll show her around. She's been out a couple of times to pick me up or drop me of if one of our cars was at the mechanic, or something like that. But I hadn't yet taken her around, shown her the rooms, that kind of thing. so that's what we did.
We took the scenic route out there, dropped the phone off, had a coffee and went for a wander around the hotel. Then we had a wander around the winery next door. Very pleasant morning, may I say. I work in a very nice area.
Then on the way home, we got in an accident!
It's okay, no one was hurt. A three car fender bender, no less! We were at the front, faultless might I add. We were shunted from behind by one car, then that car was hit from behind by another.
Fun for all the family! Still, the panel beater did a really good job last time this happened, so at least we know it's all going to be fine in that regard. And as I say, no one was hurt, so all is well there, too.
I'll keep you posted!
My last surviving grandparent is my mother's dad. My Pop. He's 91 and these days calls a local high care aged care facility home.
Pop has been one of my best friends over the years and a genuinely positive role model in my life. Always encouraging. Always believing in my potential, even during those horror adolescent years when even I couldn't see it, let alone others.
Among other influences, his spruiking of the benefits of a military life were probably the reason I served in the Reserve as a younger man. Might've gone full time, too, if I hadn't developed Epilepsy. One year, while marching with my unit in the Anzac Day parade here in Melbourne, he and my sister were on the side of the road. I'd seen them from a distance, but once we got closer I couldn't turn my head to see them beside me, although we were only feet apart.
Pop made some comment like "looking good lads" or something similar. Despite my best efforts to keep a straight face, a slight curl at the side of my mouth gave me away. My sister said "he heard you!". To which he replied, "Of course he heard, sweetchick, they're not deaf!".
He taught me chess. I'll never forget his smart arse remarks whenever I'd try to watch tv and play at the same time. Of course, my concentration would be shot and he'd roll over the top of me!
Up until he was about 85 I really thought he'd be cracking the ton.* He was spritely, energetic and full of life. But that year, 2000, was the one that took the wind out of him. Over a twelve month period he lost his ability to walk without a frame, some cognitive function, his wife of 62 years and as a result of all that, naturally his confidence, too.
These days its pretty much a day by day proposition. I don't visit him as much as I'd like and it saddens me greatly. I used to be able to say I had no time which, notwithstanding that old "you can always make time" truism, was pretty much true. I was deeply engaged with an activity of which Pop was enormously proud. I got kudos for that and it kind of got me off the hook a bit. But that time has passed now. That activity is over and my work hours are now very civilised indeed, I must say!
There's something uncomfortable about visiting him. I'd like to think it's not just personal awkwardness at the environment he's in, or boredom at the lack of conversation. I'd like to think I'm a better grandson or, for that matter, a better person than that. But honestly I can't rule it out.
The thing that gets me, is that I think he notices the awkwardness, too. I believe he can see from the way I look at him, or talk to him, or whatever that he isn't the same Pop anymore. I think he feels hurt by that. And I think that's why I don't like going.
But what if I'm wrong? What if he can't see what I credit him with seeing and would he just love to see me, even without conversation. Or maybe he does feel the hurt but would still rather see me. I don't know what to do. I've spent enough time with him over the years that I won't have any regrets about these last few, but it still hurts. It's like dealing with the grief before the death.
*reach 100 years of age, in case that bit of jargon is not familiar to you :)
Well, fuck-a-doodle-doo!
Microsoft's IE7 will finally include tabbed browsing! They'll probably plug it like it's revolutionary technology, too, no doubt.
Is there anyone other than the most basic plug-and-play end-user who is still using IE? Steered clear of it for years, personally. I was the one using Netscape. Even though I got laughed at a lot and Netscape were counting their total users on two hands. (Well, maybe they were counting in binary, but that still would've been enough, I gather!) It was a bit resource intensive, a bit slow and occasionally unstable, but it was still better than IE.
I used to try the Mozilla stuff way back when, but I think it was just API's and stuff. I could never manage to get a GUI browser going from their gear. But then Firefox came along and I'll never use anything else! Best featured, most stable browser I've ever used. If you're not already, try it out here.
Trust Channel Seven to take a perfectly painful, sensitive matter and exploit it for profit. After all, it is their reason for existence these days!
This Saturday night they're replaying that movie about the whole affair. I think it's called Perfect Town, Perfect Murder, or maybe it's the other way around.
Pretty tacky, eh! And a little counter productive, I would've thought, given the current confession, given that from what I recall of the movie it rather leaves open the suggestion that the parents did it.
Which leaves me wondering if maybe they're editorialising a bit. Making a subtle statement that they don't believe Mr Karr's version of events. I haven't been paying a lot of attention to their news lately, but the ads at least have been spruiking stories of Mr Karr's alegedly menatally ill past.
Guess we'll have to wait and see where they go with that. In the meantime, please don't reward their cynicism with ratings by watching it! Ta!
These are my cats. The moggy is Nutbag. The ginger Tom is Bosco.
Well, that's their formal names. More often than not they get "Furball The Orange" and "Pusscat The Grey". Or sometimes Mr and Mrs Magilla-catty. I think this last one very clever indeed :) Please laugh politely at the very least :)
Here's another one of Bosco. I think I might post this at Cats In Sinks. Whatta ya think?
I've a couple that might crack it for a run at Cute Overload, too. Another time, perhaps.
We just found the Sledgehammer video clip, the Peter Gabriel song, on Limewire. I always liked his stuff. Is it true he died? I thought he did, but what do I know :)
C had suggested that those crazy arse videos of his were the early work of one Nick Park, or Wallace and Gromit fame. I'd never heard such a thing, but that doesn't mean anything and her instinct on such trivialities is usually pretty reliable.
Sure enough, I was watching the video just now and I reckon she's right. I'm having difficulty getting a screen capture up, but there are these little clay dodge 'em cars at one point and their little mouths are classic Aardman mouths! A couple of other scenes look very much like that kind of stereotypical, almost satirical English loungeroom that the W&G has down pat.
If I can get caps up, i'll do it. But in the meantime, I'm calling it for the affirmative. Nick Park did the Gabriel videos! Very cool :)
I'm not going to kid you. Or myself for that matter. I have a considerable number of bad habits. I bite my nails. I'd really like to stop, but, you know, it's a habit, right? I know, very soft option.
Now my neice has started. She's five and a bit. I don't think it's been seriously suggested that she's copying me, although we do have a close relationship. We haven't seen all that much of each other lately and my sister would not feel any compuncion at all in laying it right on the table in front of me if she believed it were true. (C has had a shot, but it's more philosophical - and part teasing - than actually blaming me.)
So anyway, I thought I'd try a little pact with the girl. You know the kind of thing. Taking advantage of the trust she has in me to make a pinky promise something she'd have to stick to. (Of course, so would I. The irony is not lost!)
You know what she said?
"Maybe when I'm older. Like six, or seven."
I shit you not. Cheeky little bugger!
I like Matt Price.
Generally, journalists don't float my boat at all. My view of that profession is that the content should speak for itself. All I ask of the writer is to keep it neutral and keep it moving. From that starting point I'll then make my own assessment of their impartiality and readability.
Mostly they fail on at least one of those crtiera. Some are coming from a particular standpoint, which would be cool, by the way, if they weren't trying to make out they're not. Others are just plain dull. It's rare to find someone entertaining to read and paradoxically, I know, someone whose writing is so unobtrusive that I can hardly tell they're there.
His writing style is conversational, which is my personal preference. Most of the time his coloumns sound to me just like transcripts from The Insiders! Anyway, I've just read this one and felt like saying I like his work :)
I don't know if it's the template I'm using, or the blog editor or what's going on, but something is removing the second space I'm putting in after a full stop. This is very annoying! There. See what I mean.
You'll find me something of a grammatical snob. I was never the greatest student in the world. In fact, I was bloody ordinary as my VCE score of 232 out of a possible 410 will attest. But for some reason I could always spell reasonably well. Perhaps it's not too late to become a proof reader... that'd be cool, except for that whole turning-your-fun-into-work problem, but I'd be willing to take the chance.
In the meantime, no wisecracks about not leaving two spaces after a full stop! It's not my fault ;)
I'm not sure how I feel about these "dissenters" in the ranks of the Liberal party.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with the sentiment. This government's treatment of refugees is nothing short of appalling.
But where have they been before now? I know there's been a lot of public backtracking. I'm paraphrasing very broadly here, but we're hearing a lot of "I've always been opposed to" and "I'm very outspoken in caucus" from rather a few coalition backbenchers. But we've never seen this kind of open defiance of the little rodent. So where exactly have they been?
Its no coincidence that this public soul searching amongst government MP's has begun since they took control of the Senate. Previously they've been able to sit back, minding their careers, safe in the knowledge that others will protect the Australian people from the worst of their collective will.
Now that the others have been eviscerated, these people are forced to take a stand. Bruce Baird said in parliament this week that he expected to die politically for this stand. I hope he does. Not for the stand he's taking now, but for never having done so before.
There will be those who might argue that these folk have been vocal in their opposition to their government's policies, but simply saying it isn't enough. Words are just hollow, unless you've got the guts to cross the floor. And abstention is the cowards way out.
This group made some noise about a year ago and achieved some mitigation of the policies in question. But nowhere near enough. We can assume from their aquiescence to Howard's concessions that they are happy with their win and therefore with the government's current position.
I'm not. Neither are many others. Their day will come.
Thank God that appalling dross is off the air. And completely wiped from the face of the planet, too! Even this link doesn't work anymore!
This one was plagued from word one, I reckon. And rightly so. It really is the most distasteful concept. And there was another one of those professionals behaving badly! Who was that "relationship counsellor"? How dare she call herself that in this context. If a single person came to her looking to solve her loneliness issues, would her professional advice be to go on a television show? Of course not. Anyway, the argument against Dr Phil goes equally for this unconscionable character!
Not for nothing, the rest of the panel was little better. Anything involving the incredibly ordinary Matt Hardy is pushing it up hill to begin with. Jo Stanley, I must say, I find entertaining and a bit of a spunk. Maybe she has a thing for carrying untalented Matt's, given her day job. But even her talents couldn't save this stinkbomb.
Am I the only one who noticed the very early teaser ads for "Rene Is Getting Married". Maybe Rene saw the writing on the wall and wisely scarpered.
Anyway, I've given this steaming pile enough of my precious key strokes. I'm glad it's gone. It restores a certain amount of my faith in the viewing public, that this - for now, at least - is a line we're not willing to cross. Phew!
Today is a rather odd sort of a day for C and I. Today was the due date for the pregnancy we lost at about six weeks or so.
Of course six weeks doesn't sound far in. And it isn't really. Most folk are only just starting to think "hmm, I'm a little bit late" by then. But you see ours was IVF, so we knew about it from day one. There was a time I'd have really liked to believe that it is worse to miscarry an IVF pregnancy than a regular one. After all, for us it just means another costly few months of emotional roller coasters and painful procedures. Whereas for those without such issues, they just get to jump back in the sack, right?
Of course, that's not right. Actually it's very wrong and hurtful of me to even think it. My sincere apologies to anyone reading this who has miscarried a naturally concieved pregnancy. Your experience could not possibly be any less painful than ours.
More on IVF as we get closer to our next treatment cycle. But I wanted to tell you about one bonus that normal folks don't get. It's the really cool baby photos! We've disposed of the photos of the zygotes that haven't gone forward, but I've seen them all at the eight cell stage. It's the most amazing sight. I can't wait for the successful one. I'm gunna be flashing around zygote pictures. Eat my dust, fertile people! All you have are those mundane eight-week ultrasounds :P
Well, okay, they're pretty funky too :)
Geez, I'm ready to be a dad!!
Well, if she is, its cos I made her that way :)
We have two cats. One we adopted together about six months ago. The other I got as a kitten when I bought my unit almost eight years ago. (It wasn't until just before C came along that a friend pointed out that I was single, living alone with a cat. We comtemplated trying to pull with the old, "my friend thinks he's gay and wants you to save him" line, but mercifully, we thought better of it!)
I think she was happy alone with me. She gave all the signs... lots of sitting on my lap purring, lots of sleeping beside me at night. That kind of thing. Lately her life has changed considerably and it wasn't her choice and she probably lacks the reasoning skills to make sense of it.
Firstly, this other person came along and took her side of the bed. Took her all of five minutes to accept her. C is definitely a cat person, so no real dramas there.
Then we got the other cat. A ginger tomcat, who wasn't neutered I might add. Although she's basically an indoors cat, my little girl has got out once or twice over the years, so I can't say for sure she was "inexperienced", but she certainly isn't now! I hadn't actually heard cats having sex before. The noise woke me up and I knew it was the cats so I went looking for them and there they were :)
Not too long after that we got the boy cut and it stopped almost immediately. Which begs the question, is she mad that I brought brought this male upon her, or that I took it away? :)
You know what, I get really jacked off by professionals lending the credibility of their professional roles to something they wouldn't consider doing in that professional role.
"Dr" Phil McGraw is a case in point.
He may very well be a excellent medical professional for all I know. I've never experienced his work in that role. It may very well be that his badgering style of "what are you thinking" counselling is even appropriate in a lot of cases. God knows, if I was a counsellor, it'd probably be my approach!
But do you think even for a second that he would take a client into the foyeur of his office or to the show stage in the local shopping centre and counsel them in full public view? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. A serious medical professional would never do such a thing.
So am I the only one who thinks that he shouldn't be allowed to effectively advertise his professional credentials in an exercise that he'd probably get struck off for if he did it for real? By all means produce a show of this type. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I can see the appeal and from the little I have seen and from what C tells me, I gather he raises some decent issues.
Just don't call yourself a Doctor while you're doing it! Cos in that moment, you aint, buster!
