30 August, 2006

yay!

I'm now on annual leave for just over a week - woohoo!

I solemnly promise to sleep-in several times, to see a movie or two, do some beading, blog about some very random stuff, catch up with friends and generally do nothin' much at all.

As you can probably tell, J can't get time off so we're not going away or anything.

29 August, 2006

driving home today...

I'm stopped at traffic lights listening to the radio. Over the radio I can hear the beat of some very loud music right next to me. I figure it's some hoon in his hotted up car with his 'doof doof' music, loud enough for all to hear. So, I casually glance over at the car (I didn't want to make eye contact).

Wha?? The car is a white station wagon with the logo for a local plumbing centre on the door. Huh?

I steal another glance and there's a grey haired guy grooving to the music...

Intrigued now, I muted my radio to listen to the music. It's some wurlitzer organ version of the Animals' House of the Rising Sun.

Ooh-kay then...

24 August, 2006

Kids can be funny

I'm still chuckling about Chickie's reaction to something, from the other day.

Chickie has been totally resistant to cheese for as long as I can remember. I think he tasted it once and then refused to have anything to do with it after that. He's eaten it in stuff, but by itself, well put it this way - superman's reaction to kryptonite is a mild dislike, in comparison.

So anyway, his dad made himself a cheese sandwich on the weekend and Chickie decided he'd have a bite. Then he decided he'd have the whole sandwich, thank you very much! Since then cheese has changed from kryptonite to the most delectable ambrosia in the universe. Chickie now has to have it everyday.

I was driving him home from childcare the other day and cheese was on his mind, I guess, because he asked how it was made. I started to answer 'well, you know milk comes from cows, and what they d...' I didn't get much further because this startled 'WHAAAAA!?!?' came from the back seat. I repeated 'milk comes from cows' and he just said 'that's a bit strange' (in a very disbelieving voice). I had to try very hard to not burst out laughing.

Now, it's not like he hasn't heard this from us before. Not to mention that he has several books with that very statement in them. I guess it just didn't register clearly with him until now. I wonder where he thought it came from?

I never did get to tell him how cheese is made either...

20 August, 2006

Spending lots of money!

I've been on a bit of a spending spree this weekend. The weather's been great here so I finally succumbed to the shops' displays of new clothing. I bought myself two pairs of capri pants and a crinkly type shirt - the sort you twist up to dry and don't iron (heh, that's my type of shirt!).

I also bought a new pda. My old Palm Tungsten E is about 3 years old and it's been great. I use it a lot. Unfortunately it's developed a high pitched hum/buzz when turned on, the screen is losing sensitivity and, this week, I've noticed the button to turn it on is dodgy, taking quite a few presses to actually get it to turn on. I figured I'd better sync it and upgrade.

So, I did a bit of thinking about what I wanted in a pda, did a bit of research and came up with... the Palm Tungsten E2. Yep, pretty much the same thing as before. I bought it, it's just what I want. I'm happy.

I can't help but wonder if this means I'm a bit resistant to change, though. Not only have I just bought the newer version of the pda I've had for the past three years, but I did the same thing a few months back with our microwave (ours was on the way out, we had a look around and settled on one in the right price range with all the features we wanted, got it home and it's the same model as our old one - just updated).

I know I don't welcome major change, but perhaps I'm a little more entrenched in my ways than I thought.

19 August, 2006

Updated links

I've updated my links again because some very nice people have linked back to me. Thank you very much for the links everyone! Make sure you check out their blogs.

If you have a link to my blog and I don't have yours here, please let me know.

18 August, 2006

misdirected emails

Robin over at the Internet Institute for the Easily Amused has an amusing post about a misdirected email. Email is such a handy thing but can go oh so wrong if you're not paying attention.

I have many email addresses and one of them happens to be a very common name. As you might imagine, I get many emails sent to me by accident. Usually it's because the person with the similar email address gives it out incorrectly.

Some of the emails include boring stuff, like 'will you pick up Steven on the weekend?' and 'Joe, are you going to be at soccer on the weekend?' or I'll get a gazillion test emails 'just to see if this works'.

Others are more amusing. One was from someone who did uniform orders and was corresponding with someone about mistakes made in a school order. The first couple itemised the mistakes the employees were making, the last sounded like the poor writer was about to have a nervous breakdown. Not surprisingly since the mistakes in the school's order were pretty major. Sounds like the company sent uniforms in a range of sizes, including a large number of women's size 22, 24 and 26 (for those outside Australia those sizes are very very large). Then there were hats in sizes that were equivalent to a 1 year old and 2 year old's head size. To top it all off the embroidery was done in the wrong colours!

I think the most amusing misdirected email though, was the person who did an online IQ test. The results came back as:

Hello Joe (name changed to protect the identity)

Your age adjusted IQ score is 98 and the average score is 100.

Your IQ score is the result of a formula based on the number of
questions answered correctly on the test. This score has been further
adjusted to account for the differences in capabilities among various
age groups. Your percentile score means that you scored higher than 45%
of the people who took this same test.


Your Grade:Lower Average

Total number of questions:30
Questions answered:27
Questions not answered:3
Questions answered correctly:13
Questions answered incorrectly:17
Percentage correct answers:43%

Surprise, surprise - the other thing he got wrong, was his email address.

You know, I often wonder if he even realised that he'd given the wrong email address and was just sitting there anxiously awaiting the results that would reveal his brilliant IQ.

15 August, 2006

No decision required.

I rang the lady about the jewellery course and apparently they didn't get the numbers - so no class this term.

I'll wait and see what happens next term.

decisions, decisions

I'm tossing up whether to go to jewellery class again this term. I did enjoy it but last term I felt like sometimes it was a waste of my money.

About half the class was entirely new and the people who'd done the term before (including me) felt that we couldn't get the teacher's attention enough to get on with what we were working on. I understood that the new people needed a lot of initial instruction, but the things we were working on used new techniques too. I didn't get my project finished and I would like to finish it off, but is it worth the money if it's just going to be the same as last time?

The other thing they've done is move the class to a different TAFE campus. Now it will take me twice as long to get there.

Ah, I don't know. I'm kinda leaning towards not going this term and perhaps go next term instead. I have to make up my mind today though.

11 August, 2006

I'm 'chucking a sickie' today...

at my manager's suggestion. I did ask for a day's annual leave but he said it was easier to just have a day out of my sick leave than to have last minute annual leave approved. I haven't used much of my sick leave so I'm fine with that.

The reason for it, is that I went home with a migraine last Friday and since then, I've had a mild continuous headache. It just won't go away. I think it's more a tension headache though, since it has that feeling of a tight band around my head. I'm hoping that with a couple of days relaxing it might just leave me alone. Particularly since I have today all to myself.

I thought, if the weather was nice, I might take a nice stroll around the neighbourhood. Unfortunately it looks like it might rain (and it's been so sunny all week!), so I'll skip that, I think. I might go visit a friend who is pregnant and on bedrest (she's in danger of giving birth very prematurely). I have another massage booked this afternoon. I also plan to get off the computer after this (and stay off for the day). So hopefully a relaxing day will fix my head.

Any other suggestions for relaxing welcomed!

08 August, 2006

Census

Census night tonight in Australia and jeez the questions are nosy!

They want to know all sorts of things besides the usual how many people in the house, what religion are you all, are you working type of stuff. Things like, did you look for work in the last week, how did you get to work today, how much time did you spend on housework, did you look after any children this week.

The ads say it's to help plan the services required for the future (hospitals, transportation etc). Umm... so where does the housework amount come into things?

I wonder how many people will lie in this form? Particularly given that last time there were a surprising percentage of jedi knights living in Australia. Interestingly though, apparently Australia has one of the highest census counts in the world, well according to channel 10's news anyway - they reckon the last census covered 98% of our population.

Governments are so damned nosy...

06 August, 2006

Signs of things to come?

Normally Chickie is an early riser. Way too early for J and I. I wonder though if that will last when he's a teenager.

He has this little alarm clock since he's very interested in learning to tell the time at the moment. Anyway he must have switched the alarm on at some stage. He's been in bed for about half an hour or so (so probably not yet into his deepest sleep, I'd imagine) and the alarm went off. It's not hugely loud but I could hear it with his door almost shut (I just couldn't figure out where it was coming from).

I went in there and, at a quick glance, he looked to be fast asleep. I was surprised he hadn't woken up. I turned off the alarm and double checked him and nearly laughed out loud. He was fast asleep - with his hands over his ears!

Oh, these teenage years are going to be fun. Good thing I have 9 years to prepare!

Domesticity

It's a glorious sunday afternoon. Sunny with a slight breeze, around 18 degrees (about 64 for those who use Fahrenheit) and this weather is making everyone feel that spring is coming soon.

Yesterday was similar and it was quite funny to go shopping and people watch. We sat down at our local Yiros place (we often share a yiros on a plate before doing the grocery shopping) and watched as people wandered by. The lovely temperatures meant a very wide range of clothing. I saw one lady bundled up in a thick coat with fluffy hood, then another with a short denim skirt and shoestring top. Neither was really the best dress for the day, if you ask me.

Spring is definitely coming. Both J and I are feeling the urge to spring-clean. J's been clearing out the shed so we can actually use it as a proper workshop and I've been madly washing clothes (to take advantage of the sunshine), sweeping, mopping and vaccuming. I've got all the windows open wide, with all the usual sunny sunday sounds coming in. Lawnmowers in several yards, kids riding their bikes up and down the street and the birds singing at the tops of their voices. Domestic bliss...

All a bit traditional, I guess. Mind you, I'd much rather do the mopping and washing etc than clear out the shed - way, way less cobwebs to deal with!

04 August, 2006

Updated my links

I've been meaning to do it for ages and now I've finally done it. Please check out the links over on the left hand side. There are a lot of interesting people out there.

03 August, 2006

Dear dieters

How do you keep your cravings in check?

I have type 2 diabetes, so I need to eat a balanced diet, eat healthy, eat small portions often, leave the junkfood alone... blah, blah, blah

What do you do when you just don't feel satisfied?

I'm in a mood tonight, I think. I'm not hungry but I'm not feeling satisfied by what I'm eating. I'm a bit sick of healthy food tonight too. Fed up to here (picture me with my hand waving around eye level) with vegetables. What I feel like is a pack of plain potato Tasty Jacks or paprika flavoured Pringles (it's probably a good thing they don't make these anymore, I think - I loved them!). By the way, the reviewer on both those links didn't really think much of either of these items - but they're my favourites anyway.

So, I'm obsessing over food tonight. Feeling in crunchy, salty kind of mood. An 'mmmmm.... potatoes' kinda mood. I've had to make do with a handful of salted cashew nuts. Again yummy, but not exactly what I'm craving.

I'm sure I never thought this much about food - well, junk food - before I was diagnosed with diabetes. I ate it sure - but obsess, nah...

What to do about the cravings then huh?

01 August, 2006

Big Bother.. er Big Brother is over for another season

And Jamie has won. I have to admit I didn't watch the finale, but I did hear an interesting tidbit/soundbyte this afternoon.

A bit of background - Jamie and another housemate Katie got very close (even had a mock wedding apparently) though she was evicted several weeks ago. Things were supposedly all still on even though, they've been separated for weeks.

On the radio I heard about how Katie ran up to Jamie and said something like 'We're rich!'. I thought that was a bit presumptive. I mean, they've had a very short relationship - in a weird situation that may not stand up to the pressures of day to day normality. Why would she assume that she's getting half? Sure Jamie might want to share the prize winnings, but that's his choice.

I think Rove said it best. The housemates were all on his show tonight - except John and Ashley who were removed after the turkey-slap incident. One of the housemates mentioned he was disappointed they weren't included and Rove said he would have had them there but he wasn't allowed. The housemates said that he could have them on next week and Rove said that by next week no one will care.

Hate to say it guys - I reckon it's true!