Whimsical Wednesday #25

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday!

The day for your googled giggle to help you over the hump that is Wednesday
and get you sliding down the slope to the weekend.

The cooling effects of watermelon.

Read this in a magazine and just had to share...

(copied entirely)

Viewpoint:

Drinking vs drudgery
"People are always trying to convince us to drink less. Think of the children, they say.
Think of the liver. The money. The embarrassment of walking into stationary objects.
Yet even as broken blood vessels riddle the cheeks of the nation, on we drink.
Until now. In breakthrough research, Deakin University has made a horrifying discovery:
drinking cuts into housework time. Yes, I know, it's one of those razor-sharp truths that will
pierce the heart of the stoutest imbibers of stout. Think of all the cleaning time you've been
missing out on. Next time you head to the pub for a post-footy beer, remember: you could be
home doing the dishes."
Tory Shepherd, The Punch

This made me laugh quite a lot!

Sunday Selections #71

It's Sunday Selections time again!

Time to search out some of those photos that you took way back when, (or just last week), and meant to show off, but didn't.

This idea was brought to us by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock and the rules are very simple.
1. Post your photos under the Sunday Selections title.
2. Link back to Kim somewhere in your post.
3. Go to Frog ponds Rock and add your name to the linky list.
4. Leave Kim a comment, because she loves comments as much as the rest of us.

This week I have a few photos of a local reserve, more a park really, and very pretty too.
It's the same reserve that has the "metal art" thingy I featured last week, but I haven't been back  there to see if I could get more information about it.

Situated on a corner, across from a shopping centre. That building you see is very near the main road and has the "metal art" sculpture in front of it.

The far end, well away from the shopping centre and the main road, features a small playground, with a few park benches around for mums to sit and watch the kids play.

One end of the wisteria arbor, shaded by a jacaranda tree.

The other end of the arbor. You can see there are steps at both ends and in the middle too, with bench seats at either end. A nice shady place to sit out of the sun, but watch out for bees when the vine is flowering. I don't mind bees, because I'm not allergic to the stings.

There is a small building at the far end, which looks like it might be a toilet block. I'll have to check on that next time I go there. So far I've only walked past the park.

This is the other far corner of the park, opposite the little playground area and well away from the main road. I believe the park entrance is on that small street.
It's a very neatly kept little reserve, I've never seen any trash blowing around, no discarded bottles or fast food wrappers.

older shoppers beware

I'm watching A Current Affair as I type this and they've just done a story on older shoppers being taken advantage of when shopping.

An older, grey haired actress was sent into various stores to inquire about buying particular items.
A television - the woman stated she lived in a unit, was on a pension, so didn't want anything huge, just a basic TV to watch dvds.
The salesman gave her a pretty hard sell, trying to get her to buy a $1700 package deal, including a top of the range blu-ray dvd player.

Same store, younger male customer, (actor) asking to buy a basic small TV to watch dvds on, was shown a TV costing just under $600. And nothing else.

Same older grey haired woman "buying" a vacuum cleaner. Again stating that she lived in a unit, yet the saleswoman gave a demonstration of a very expensive (over $700) vacuum cleaner, insisting that this was what she needed to "get a really good clean".

Younger male customer was shown a basic $269 vacuum cleaner and told that was all he really needed.

Back with the grey haired woman again, this time wanting a computer. At the checkout desk she was strongly urged to buy several add-ons; anti-virus software, extended warranty, a bag to carry it in if she wanted to take it out....(to dinner?),  if she wanted a mouse that was another extra cost.

The young male customer was shown a simple laptop and the salesman said for basic use that's all you need, it will work just fine without all the added extras.

One last example, the older woman wanted a basic mobile phone to make calls and texts, nothing more, yet was shown a phone that cost a lot and did everything but wash your dishes.

The younger male, asking for a phone for his grandma to make calls and texts, nothing more,  was shown something much cheaper and simpler.

So there you have it, older shoppers are thought to be unaware, not know what they want or need and taken advantage of. The final scene showed the older woman sitting on a chair in a place that sells cosmetics of some kind while a saleswoman (unheard), is clearly trying to convince her that she needs......well whatever is more expensive I suppose.
Beware of these tactics, if you are unsure of exactly what you need, have a younger family member do some research, then do your shopping knowing exactly what you need and how much you should be paying for it.

A different interviewee remarked on camera that just because you're older and have grey hair, that doen't mean you're stupid.
I agree.

Happy Birthday Sapphire

My friend Kath who writes at Blurb From The Burbs, has been entrancing me with her stories of life and family for years now.

I discovered blogs when I read a link in a column called "Net Adventures", in my local newspaper, The Advertiser, one Saturday.
I'd just recenly got a new computer and was looking for websites that might interest me.

From the very first day, Kath had me hooked. I spent a few weeks scrolling through her archives (she probably thought she'd picked up a stalker), and finally worked out how to leave comments.
(Through the comment box, I learned how to link to other blogs, and we all know the rest of that story, I'm sure).

Anyway, through reading Kath's posts for so long, I feel I've come to know her, LC, her husband, and their wonderful daughter, Sapphire, quite well.

Today is Sapphire's birthday.

Sapphire, this is for you.

Happy Birthday!!


and here's one to share with all your friends......

to you, from Adelaide, Australia.

Whimsical Wednesday #24

Welcome back to Whimsical Wednesday!

The day to get a googled giggle to help you over the "hump" that is Wednesday.

An eggplant!

Did you laugh?
You're welcome.

Sunday Selections #70

It's Sunday Selections time again!

Time to post photos that you've never posted before. Or maybe you have , but think they deserve another viewing.
This idea comes to us from Kim of Frog Ponds Rock,http://frogpondsrock.blogspot.com/ who takes many, many photos, as we all do, and wanted to show them off. Particularly her fantastic moons and sunsets.

A once a week meme seemed like a good idea, so Sunday Selections was born and anyone at all vcan join in.

This week, I'm featuring three pieces of art that I photographed recently on my wanderings.

Metal Art

These window screens are much prettier than the usual bars or grids.

The Slide. This was in our Rundle Mall last summer. I'm not sure if it is still there, maybe it has been moved on. I forgot to photograph the plaque that was on the plinth.

This interesting piece is in a local reserve close to my home. I have no idea what it represents, there doesn't appear to be any signs indicating who made it or what it is.


To join in with Sunday Selections, simply post photos of your choice under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then hop on over to the Frog Ponds and add your name to the linky list before leaving Kim a comment.
How easy is that?!

I always wanted to be a tea lady

I'm sure we've all seen tea ladies in old movies and TV series.

They'd go around in office buildings with their wheeled trolley that had a giant urn of hot water, many cups and saucers, a selection of biscuits or small cakes, along with jars of sugar, coffee and teabags.
A covered jug of cold milk was on there too.
In much earlier days, there'd be a huge pot of tea, because teabags hadn't yet been invented.

In TV shows, these ladies were usually plump, curly-haired and always happy.
They'd go from office to office, hearing snippets of phone conversations and gossip, as they dispensed morning and afternoon teas.
They got to know all the workers,  from upper management down to the lowliest newbie and usually knew everybody's family history and their secrets too.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, around she'd go again, collecting the now empty cups and sandwich or cake wrappers.

In between the rounds she'd be in the kitchen washing up, wiping down, refilling tea and sugar containers, refilling the urn ready to boil for the next round.

There'd be a lunch room too, where the staff would gather for the longer lunch break, eating at groups of tables, with one table set aside to hold the newly boiled urn of water for the teas and coffees.
Maybe there'd be a tin of biscuits there, a plate of cakes......

I remember one show where the tea lady would take orders for  lunches when she brought around the morning teas and she would nip on down to the nearest deli/takeaway and put in the orders which were then delivered to the lunch room in time for lunch.
Sandwiches, pies and pasties, vanilla slices, kitchener buns, even cups of hot soup in the winters.

I always thought that would be the most fantastic job and I really wanted to do it.

But tea ladies were phased out in favour of impersonal vending machines, where staffers would drop in their coins, push a few buttons and get hot (or lukewarm) generic coffee, or a cup of hot water to dangle a teabag in.
A similar vending machine dispensed wrapped biscuits or cake slices, some had sandwiches prepared god-knows-when, nothing tasting as fresh as before....

Even the pre-ordered lunch deliveries soon disappeared, with staff members dashing down to the deli/takeaway themselves during their morning tea break, ordering their lunch, then dashing down again at lunch time to pick it up.

The staff lunch rooms remained, but without the tea lady to keep things tidied and clean.

People now leave spills, crumbs, wrappers, hastily (or not at all) rinsed dishes and cups in or on the sink, with perhaps different departments "rostered" to do a quick cleanup.

I personally think this is most unsatisfactory, as they clearly don't have the time to spare to do a proper job and their hearts just aren't in it.

"We're more important, we don't ave time for this, we shouldn't have to be cleaning up a kitchen of other people's messes."

If only there was a tea lady, someone who enjoyed this type of work......

that'd be alright

"If everybody everywhere
Had a lighter load to bear,
And a little bigger piece of the pie;
We'd be living us a pretty good life,
And that'd be alright."

Part of a song by country singer Alan Jackson.

With all these new payments being made by the government, cash for schoolkids, a few dollars for pensioners etc to offset the carbon tax and so on, it would seem that we're all getting
a little bigger piece of the pie, but I'm betting that little bigger piece will be eaten up by other costs just as quickly as the smaller piece of pie that we now have.
So are we really going to be any better off?

Whimsical Wednesday #23

Here for your weekly "hump day" giggle is this googled image.

Assaulted peanut.

Such a shame when even a peanut cannot freely walk the streets.......

Sunday Selections #69

It's Sunday Selections time again!
Time to post photos that have been languishing away in your old, (older, oldest), files.
(or use new photos, we really don't mind)

This idea comes to us from Kim at Frog Ponds Rock, who realised one day that she had many, many photos stored that never, ever get seen.
Kim wanted to share her pictures, so thought up this once a week meme, called it Sunday Selections, and it's been going strong for over a year now.
Yay Kim!

I often choose a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week my theme is....

BLUES

Blue skies reflected in  the windows which have blue panels between the floors and blue shades on the northern side.

Reflected blue skies make the buildings appear to be very white.

A different building, still blue, but made aqua by the window shades.

More blue windows, coloured by the heavens.

Now for something different, but still blue....

Blue pots.
Shiny, blue glazed ceramic pots. Aren't they gorgeous?
And the blue is mirrored in some of the petunias hanging above them.

"I see skies of blue, clouds of white,
The bright precious day, ....." Louis Armstrong.

To join in with us, post photos of your choice, (you don't need a theme), under the Sunday Selections title, then hop on over to Frog Ponds Rock, add your name to Kim's linky list and then leave her a comment.

easier than I thought

I'm finding it surprisingly easy to stay away from the internet.
I've checked my email a couple of times, I've read a few blogs and left comments.
But really, my heart's just not in it.
The enthusiasm, the fun....it's gone.

Trying to find something to write about is a chore now, where before this I would just put down whatever popped into my head.
If a lot was in my head, I'd get them all sorted out and scheduled and just check in everyday to read the comments, (or see the lack of comments).
Then read everyone else on my list.

I haven't yet worked out the scheduling problem with this new dashboard page, so I've given up on scheduling for now, since I can't think of things to write about anyway.

I'm sure the enthusiasm will return, but in the meantime, I'm watching dvds, reading real books, I've done a couple of dozen code cracker puzzles, (Ilove those), and I've been sleeping.

Get home from work...take a nap.
Finish dinner, clean up the dishes, do a puzzle....go to bed. And read a book until I sleep.
Yesterday was my Friday off and I didn't even have a dentist appointment to go to.
(That's next Friday....)

I woke early, while it was still dark, thought about turning on the computer, but changed my mind and followed my old habit of coffee and a book in bed until I fell back to sleep.
Pottered around all morning, had a nap after lunch, pottered around all afternoon, mostly reading, then turned on the computer after dinner. After only a couple of hours, I'd had enough, turned it off again and went to bed, where I fell asleep almost immediately.

This morning I woke early again, went out to buy the paper as soon as the shop was open, sat down and actually read it instead of just skimming headlines and doing the crossword puzzle, then I had another nap.

I'm not sure if I should be worried about all this sleeping.
I'll give it a couple of weeks and then reassess.
(If I start falling asleep or wanting to be asleep at work that would be a problem).

Perhaps I've just been pushing myself too hard these past few months and my body has said "enough".

Whimsical Wednesday

Welcome to Whimsical Wednesday #22

Next Sunday, 13th,  it is Mother's Day here in Australia, so I chose something relevant to the occasion.

Happy Mother's Day, to chook from eggy.

As always, these images are not my own, they've been googled

and I thank those persons who put them "out there".

a short explanation as to why I will be on line much less for a while

Bus stops.
That's it.
That's the explanation.
Because I treasure each and every one of my internet friendships, I shall elaborate.

I spend an inordinate amount of time at bus stops now.
Getting to work takes two buses, both of which I have to wait for, because they don't pull up automatically at the snap of my fingers.
Getting home again takes two buses, both of which....well, read the above sentence.
And with winter, the bus schedules frequently run late with more people using the bus and rain slowing down traffic etc.

It's quite tiring, so by the time I get home, (after hours of scanning, lifting and bagging giant economy sized everything), I crash on the couch and wake up at dinner time some nights.

Another reason is the iffy connections I have now.
There are two time windows during which connecting to the internet is reasonably quick and trouble free.
Evenings between 7pm and 10pm, which doesn't work so well as I have to be in bed by 10pm when working the next day.
Mornings from 2am, (when I'm asleep) to 7am when I'm following my morning get to work routine.

To get around this I've been getting up much earlier than I need to, just to get a post done and published, and a couple of other blogs read and commented on.
(If I lose track of time, I really have to rush to get my bus, which throws off my whole day).
Other times I'll stay up later than I should, reading and answering emails and catching up on blogs, sometimes preparing a post for publishing the next morning. Which means I'm tired in the morning....

For a while I was preparing a week of posts or at least a couple of days and scheduling them to post on days and dates at times chosen by me.
This no longer works.
I don't know what's going on with Blogger, but scheduled posts do not appear on the day or at the time I've chosen, so I've given up on doing it. For now.
(Let's not mention the new (improved??) dashboard page which is much, much, slower to operate especially if I'm loading photographs.)

With these two time consuming reasons, plus time actually working, I find myself with little time to do other things properly. Housework for me is just maintaining the standard, so that's pretty much under control, except I haven't washed my floors in months.....
I have books I want to read, movies I want to see, on my Fridays off I have appointments that need to be kept, which again involves waiting around at bus stops!
Cooking and shopping also need to be done, and then there's the blogs I haven't managed to catch up on during the week..........there's sleep too, I find myself nodding off over the keyboard, on the bus, after reading less than a chapter of a real book.

All of this when I am increasingly more tired and in more pain, ( the later shift I now do is much harder work than the early mornings I used to do), and all I want to do is stay in bed and sleep.
And sleep and sleep....

I need to continue working, so something has to change.
Mondays to Thursdays I go to work, Fridays I often have appointments, mostly dental, sometimes medical, and if the weather is fine, I'll do the washing so that things have 3 days to dry.

Saturdays after the shopping is done, has been and will continue to be my main internet time.
This is when I used to prepare posts, load photos and schedule everything.
(I'll log on during the week, if I'm not too tired, but mostly it will be to read blogs and leave comments).

There'll be no more "click on a page, rush and wash some dishes, read the page, rush and dry those dishes" and so on. I'm stretching myself too thin that way.
I'm going back to "pick a job, get it done, log on if there's time".

I've realised the internet has taken over and I need my time back.

Ha Ha, the "short explanation" has become an essay!

Sunday Selections # 68

You all know the usual blurb by now, so I'll skip that bit because I've got stuff in the oven.....

But look!! I remembered to put up the button Kim made for us!
And the important part is to link back to Kim at Frog Ponds Rock.

This weeks photo's are of a bird skeleton that I found in one of the garden beds here while wandering around them last Easter.

head and neck

feet and feathers, a few ribs

part of the shoulders and wing I think

a close up of the beak.

I'm positive a cat didn't kill this bird as a cat would have eaten the whole thing apart from beak and claws, so I wondered briefly how the bird had died.  
Then I moved on and found something happier to look at.....

these cute little welcoming frogs.

the pulaski

I'm currently reading one of Nora Roberts' newer books, Chasing Fire.

Here is part of the blurb from the back cover:-

Rowan Tripp is addicted to danger. Ever since she turned eighteen, Rowan has been a "smoke jumper",  fighting back the ferocious forest fires that sweep through the Montana mountains each year.

Once past the first chapter, the story became quite riveting and I didn't like having to put it down and go to work.
I read over breakfast, on the bus, before my shift started, on the bus on the way home.

Well, that's not new, it's what I always do.
But some books are easier to put down than others.....

Back to the point of this post...the Pulaski.
Throughout the story, mention is made of something called The Pulaski, a firefighting tool that I had never heard of.
Halfway through chapter 25, I finally decided to google pulaski and see what came up.....

and here it is.

Information from Wikipedia says:- the tool combines an axe and an adze in one head, similar to that of a cutter mattock. The Pulaki is a versatile tool for constructing firebreaks as it can be used  to both dig soil and chop wood.

Fire fighting is not something I would ever do, I'm not that brave, but I certainly do appreciate those who do to keep me safe.

The characters in this book jump out of light aircraft, landing right in the thick of the blazing action and get to work digging firebreaks, cutting down trees and dead wood that might further fuel the fire, pumping water on the flames and stamping out spot fires started by sparks.
Wow!

Just WOW!!

this could be the last of the roses

For this season I mean.
I noticed a few blooms on the bushes near my front door, so went out to cut them for my kitchen.

Beautiful aren't they? I love the yellows and oranges that remind me of sunrises and sunsets.

But two days later?

That half open bud was already full blown. Top heavy and drooping downwards. I had to get down on my knees and aim upward for this shot. But it was worth it, don't you think?

The white one...which began as a bud tinged beautifully with pink,

was faded and overblown, ready to drop the petals, yet still holding on to them.

But the red......already fading when I cut the bloom,

the red was gone.

As I moved the bottle to top up the water, the petals fell.

 

Soon, the bushes will be empty of blooms.

They're ready for pruning now.

 

I have no idea how to do this properly, but I'll do some trimming (and hope that I don't kill them off), maybe over the years, they'll become less straggly and more bushy.

 

I have a bag of rose food, another of blood and bone, and in the spring I'll sprinkle a bit of both around each bush and I'll watch for aphids too.

The other thing to watch for is thrips, those tiny, tiny black wrigglers that infest the blooms....how the heck do I get rid of those?

 

Gardening websites, here I come.

A kitchen tip

How to peel a hard-boiled egg successfully.

First, hard-boil your eggs and allow to cool.

Tap the bottom of your egg firmly on your bench or chopping board, so the shell is well cracked.

Next, tap the tip of your egg in the same manner, ensuring it becomes well cracked.

Then lay your egg on its side and firmly roll it back and forth,

until the shell is well cracked all over.

Now the shell should peel away easily, without taking any chunks out of the egg.

I was reminded of this method after reading about it on another site (I think it was Delores at mybabyjohn).
I learned this from my mum and have been doing it all my life.

Whimsical Wednesday

Welcome to Whimsical Wednesday # 21

Googled images of things guaranteed to make you smile,

To help you get over "hump" day.......baby hotdogs!

NBN

The National Broadband Network.

I've been reading about this in the papers and hearing about it on the news.
So I knew it was coming and got a bit excited.

I read a list of locations where the work had already begun, where it was scheduled for the next three years, where it was scheduled for the next decade.  Hmmm.

Included was a list of Adelaide suburbs that were getting the broadband network and when.
I'd thought it was going everywhere.
But no!  No no no!
Some suburbs are not only not getting it soon, but missing out altogether!
Mine included!

Yes, you read that right.
Fullarton, and immediate surrounding suburbs are not getting this National Broadband Network.

Bad enough that I'm now in a location with iffy coverage, but to learn there will be no improvement, not even in a decade.....well....to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement!
I'm crushed.

I wonder what the criteria was, to be included in the rollout?
The number of businesses in the area?
Did they survey the number of computers in the area?
The general age of the population?
There are quite a few oldies here, but that doesn't mean we aren't connected.