Jockometer

"If men are wearing threadbare jocks — or worse, undies with holes — the nation is in real trouble, according to a growing number of economists who say the condition of men's underwear is a valuable fiscal indicator."

Well, I am not sure if men's underpants get daggier (hope not!!) and women indulge in lipsticks as the finances grow tighter...but I guess there would be some down to earth indicators which would tell us we have tightened our belts. It's not all bad. We are sharing recipes. We are sharing our sewing and knitting skills. We have patterns out and we are looking at what the best food bargains are. In a way it has made us a bit more homely and that might not be a bad thing. Home made relishes seem to be the go and we are looking for nice bread. It just means we are being far more careful when we buy and the word is getting out really fast about companies which don't give you value for money and goods which are below par.

Bing

"GOOGLE'S ultimate rival, Microsoft, is taking on the giant search engine company with a $100 million service that will be called "Bing"."

Will people bing like they Google?  Half of Google's success is that it easily made its way into the language and lifestyle. It became very easy to Google and googling became synonymous with  searching. Google has since taken a lot of the net over and it's in the interests of growth and development of the net to have a decent rival. As soon as their is technological monopoly the whole thing bottlenecks into a sludge . The net needs competition and diversity. So I can't see myself binging but maybe there'll be a different linguistic use for bing. Truth is..I use yahoo. I just do. I rarely go to google and not because I disapprove. I just prefer to catch what is on the yahoo front page before I search.

Stony Hill to be bulldozed

"US wine giant Constellation Wines, which picked up the vineyard when it bought BRL Hardys in 2003, has sold the historic site to a major home builder, with the settlement soon to be finalised."

Not their history. Not their heritage. They bought it, they are developing it for money. At some stage we will wake up to ourselves...but money talks, heh? It's the site of our first commercial vineyard but who cares? Adealide is just going to be boxes on what was once beautiful land. This is how it happens.

The curse of the road blocks

"Four lanes of traffic from the city were funnelled into a single lane and diverted on to the opposite carriageway to allow for resurfacing work."

Doesn't matter where you drive...you are being funnelled into a one lane traffic crawl. Down South it's on the Victor Harbour Road and the Lonsdale Freeway to make way for the desalination plant. We all thought it would be on the other side of the hill...but no, yet another hill in Adelaide is being destroyed. We are saddened by the way our land is just being turned into housing , roads and things to improve our life style. No hills, no sheep, no birds, no green. Just built up boxes and roads. This is not why we were living in Adelaide. It always had a rural feel with all the advantages of a city.  So now there are more cars. Roads have to be built and changed. So now we are suffering the very things we have been able to live without. The traffic just builds up. The drivers get cranky. Some get really pushy and stupid. On driver yesterday refused to move out of the way of an ambulance with the sirens going. The rest of us shifted in the line up to make way on Goodwood Road. Time means life in an ambulance but the red P plate sedan thought it was all about them. They responded to nothing. Not the tooting from the ambulance, not the paramedics trying to wave their arms. I hope the person in the back of the ambulance is okay. We are frustrated by the stupid traffic build ups...but most of us have our values intact. If we wanted traffic inconveniences we'd be living somewhere else.

Excluded children

"At school, Sam said, he could never find a teacher who listened. Now he has four caseworkers."

This is a very high maintenance, labour intensive child. The programme to help children who are constantly excluded from school in Britain, appears to be working, but we need to get in their earlier. Socialisation and independence are taught at a much earlier age. The cost of some children by the time they are at high school is exorbitant. We'll keep looking after them but we need to believe more in early intervention.

Newspapers

Newspapers have ridden a crest for years and now they are at a cross roads. My own personal opinion is they are suffering because we have lost literacy skills. You have to have a capacity to read and an appreciation of it to want to get a newspaper. Then they have fallen foul of this news package which is the same year in , year out and it is basically negative, destructive, unwholesome and disturbing. People are avoiding that . No one wants to read the same vile stories and the same pattern of behaviour in a different venue. We know the scenarios. So newspapers are rarely contributing to what sustains us as humans...creativity, imagination and hope. The balance is gone. Should they charge for online content I don't think it will improve anything because you come back to those issues which stop readers reading...assuming you have people who can read. Solving the newspaper problem is bigger than reformatting or regrouping newspapers. It's a fundamental societal shift which needs addressing.

Bad Drivers

"The numbers (of reports) are steadily increasing, which reflects that the general public now have had enough of bad drivers," he said.

It is not so much the bad drivers. It is the insane ones. Most of us manage the bad drivers and on a given day we might be a bad driver because of what is going on in our lives. It is the lethal weapons on wheels we have had enough of. The tail gaters, the ones who race , push you through , who roar and hoon.  Down a suburban street these people are really dangerous. They don't care. They just do not care. Then there are the randoms who will break rules just to go wherever they want to go. They are dangerous. The rules are about some sense of stability on roads. Then there are the real accidents. The ones no one can help. So we have made a distinction. We are trying to stop the deliberate harm and damage by those who write their own rules and then we become the victims of it. So yes, we have had enough.

Cyber bullying

This article on cyber bullying is more than interesting because of the comments it has drawn. It would appear teachers are the ones who need protecting. The comments are very clear in what form the bullying takes place for teachers. So is their a software programme to monitor that because there will soon be a tool to help parents monitor cyber bullying and mobile phone activity. Technology appears to have brought us a lot of things which just take away from good relationships and manageable ones. Technology can fritter a lot of time and energy which might be put into more meaningful and productive activities. Bullying is something we need to work on as a society and appropriate use of technology is part of that. A lot of us are drawn into destructive pathways because they are permitted and available. It's a game of uproar foisted upon us like the loud mobile phone users on public transport. Sometimes we are just worn away by working on the issues which technology has thrust upon us. Is it better or worse now?

Young lives

We are all deeply saddened and moved by the sudden loss of young life. Our hearts are with the parents trying to deal with the loss of their children at such a young age. We are more aware. More alert. More compassionate. We are closing together and trying to support those who must be inconsolable. The impact is tangible. We have become less tolerant of unnecessary and deliberate unpleasantness from those who plan to harm the young one way or another and we are less tolerant of the young ones who have no consideration for others. The ones we have lost have been great losses to us and we are aware of this. I do not know how those parents are coping. We are thinking of them a lot . Accidental losses are so hard to accept...we are trying to work on those which can be prevented.

Swine Flu

We know it's serious. Doesn't stop me from thinking that they (whoever they are) are determined we are going to suffer from some kind of animal flu. Horse flu, avian flu...swine flu. Has a pig ever had it? Can't get rid of  this image of little piglets running down my nose if I get it...and coughing up little piglets. This farm orientation for viruses has not gone unnoticed. Have to cope somehow.

RunPee.com

"Every movie has a few minutes you can miss and not be lost when you sit back down. No more guessing when to run and pee!" the site says.

What a great idea! You can't say we are not using technology to its best advantage when we are sharing information which will greatly improve our quality of life! Beats form filling. Social networking is about supporting each other.

Adelaide's in the dark

We all woke up this morning to very dark and wet. Not something which is usual in Adelaide. We do light very well , even in winter. So we were all a bit surprised to be putting on lights and fires so early after such a glorious autumn day yesterday where we got out and about and some good gardening done. Adelaide is at least green. We are still repairing drought damage, but we have had some beautiful days...and now we are into European winter ...dark , dark , dark. What's all that about. It means we have had a beautifully cosy Sunday with fine food and good books and DVDs. It means we have gasbagged on teh phone...but everyone has commented on the darkness of today. Wet and dark?! Maybe we are no longer getting the glare off the South Pole!

Misplaced sense of self importance

"The staff, the medical staff and the crew have been very vigilant in the way they've managed this situation.

"Assessing the information we had to hand, we felt that the actions were prudent and taking a cautionary approach and warranted in this circumstance."

Well, yes, the passengers might have been put out by the health authorities and ship taking precautions to ensure that passengers were not going to be leaving the ship with swine flu. Sometimes people are better being safe than sorry because boats and planes are great breeding grounds. If people got angry because they missed connecting transportation then they need to take a deep breath and  realise that it is not all about them. I am growing a bit tired of people who consider themselves so important that the health , welfare and well being of others is of no import. It is never good when you get held up...but infection of this nature is something we all need to be vigilant about.

Adelaide Trams

"The Sunday Mail understands the Government is close to sealing a deal to import up to six trams from Madrid to run on the City-to-Bay tramline. The French-made Alstom Citadis trams are scheduled to be in service by December."

Well, let's hope they are here by December. We are sick of the squashed and intolerable conditions on the trams. We hate those lovely new trams being spoiled by hideous advertising painted all over them and we are tired of waiting for a tram which can fit us in. We'd use the trams, but we need something civilised and functional. I'd like to think the new trams will help out. DON"T PAINT ALL OVER THEM!!!

Swine flu hits Adelaide

"Teachers will minimise disruptions by emailing work to students."

Two schools have closed because children from the same family have contracted swine flu and experts need to investigate further. All sensible precautions. It is important to keep level headed and to manage it and thank heavens for technology. It's great the teachers have gone online to keep the classes and work going. It means we can manage the interruptions and inconvenience with the minimum of fuss. Panicking and going off half cocked will not help. It also means we might have the chance to trail some online delivery of materials because at some stage, with the rate of absenteeism being reported we need to provide an alternative to those students who think they don't need to go to school...and then the parents will be responsible for their education while the schools carry on without all that added extra of tracking and documenting those who aren't interested. It is surprising we have got the swine flu here so fast, but I guess that's what happens in a world which travels a lot. We need constant reminders of symptoms and the best course of action because people here are conscious of not fussing over something when others need our already strained services. So some sensible direction will help us to contain this virus. Creating a fearfest, on the other hand, is irresponsible.

Household drill saves boy

But Dr Carson told reporters: "It's not a personal achievement, it is just a part of the job." 

What a modest doctor. The boy was able to come out of hospital on his 13th birthday because he was surrounded by caring, alert, thinking adults who trusted each other and worked as a sensible team in the boy's best interests. It is a remarkable story of how to use your brains, how to use technology and how to co operate and use everything you have so save a little boy.  The parents and medical staff were remarkably level headed.

Product Activation

Tell me about it. It is even worse when you load new when there is a trial version on the computer and hard when you find out after you bought it that the RAM requirements are not what you have. Software has become a complete and utter pain. Who is the owner. I buy it and the software and the company do as they please.

Brain Drain

"The newspaper said Google officials were reluctant to share details of the formula, which is still being tested, but it had already identified employees "who felt underused, a key complaint among those who contemplate leaving".

It also says in this article that the Google people who leave feel like that they cannot make the same impact as the company matures.. Algorithm or not, they have probably identified to real problems with work these days. people cannot make an impact in any kind of a creative way because they are flat to the floor boards and they are constantly having to fill out documentation and accountability forms. It is mind numbing. If you are in a job because you love what the job is and find you are no more than a clerk or clerical assistant, then yes, you feel thwarted and troubled. People like to contribute and they like to mix and mingle. Data and forms drive us these days because it is convenient. We are run by software, software forms and software limitations. People are far more ingenious , flexible and creative.  Being slaves to data input and form filling is probably killing a lot of us.The balance is up the creek.

21/5 Thank you to whoever messed with the spelling. That hasn't happened in a while. Best way to nobble someone is to stuff the spelling up so they look like an idiot. This was fine when I posted it. I have just recorrected it ...as I had to a while ago when things were coming up incorrectly spelt when I came back to my blog. Oddly enough, it never happens when I do not blog.

Chocolate Pandas

"The small chocolate squares are on sale from today,  with the Giant Panda chocolate to follow later in the year through Haigh’s 12 stores in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. "

While we are waiting or the real pandas and the BIG chocolate pandas...we can eat the small ones!! This whole panda thing has got us going in such a nice way. We are so excited they are coming. The news has shown us footage which has just melted us. We can't wait but we also know it's a big responsibility. The Haighs-Zoo partnership is the way to go. It gives us something unique. It provides us with something we are delighted to be a part of and it is fund raising at the same time. That is how you do it!

Sunshine Downunder

"The Federal Government says it wants to create the largest solar energy project in the world."


So now it is looking for the world's largest bottom.

Solar Project

Say Hallo to Alice

"Alice allows students to immediately see how their animation programs run, enabling them to easily understand the relationship between the programming statements and the behavior of objects in their animation."

If I had little kids...I'd be letting them get used to this. It's clever, understanderble and a good way to get children to take on some good e-learning skills when they use a computer. I am going to download it and play with it myself!! There are introductory videos on the site so that you can see what Alice is all about.

Managing the finances

I heard our property prices are holding good in SA, but there are an awful lot of people moving. You see removal vans all the moment. I'd like to think it's becasue people are downsizing and rethinking their mortgages and not because they canno longer afford their mortgages. I guess the trends will show up soon.

School Attendance

"Students congregating in malls, fast-food restaurants and outside cinemas across the city this week told the Sunday Mail they regularly ditched school but had no fear of getting caught. And if they are, the threat of detention or their parents being contacted does little to deter them."

School is a routine and teaches the routines necessary for  a working life. If all people have to say is it's easy to wag, we don't like school...then we have a future workforce which is unemployable.  How useful will someone be if they are used to calling the shots, coming and going to work  as they please and are basically letting others do the productive work for them...and then claiming the financial rewards. Other countries will be clapping their hands with glee because their students are employable on an international market. If students are not at school then they need to accept what happens next. No one has the luxury of that choice without losing out financially. It's easy not to go to work too!!

Disaster Risk

"Climate change, environmental degradation and badly planned urban development more likely to affect populations around the world."

No surprises there. No one is listening to us though. The pollies are busy with their polly speak. The financiers are busy counting their money. We keep talking, experts keep coming up with the information. Those of  at the coal face manage...but those who could act and make changes are still deaf.

Jury Duty

"I do know I have the right to due process and a speedy trial," he said. "I've had neither. It's not right."

This man in the USA was gaoled for 83 days for not doing his jury duty. What are the penalties here? I know we have to have random composition for juries to try and ensure lack of bias. I remember my Mum was called for jury duty when she was in her 60s. She was frightened at first and then it turned out really well because she became very interested in the process and what was going on. My Mum, though, might well have followed through on her fear and just not gone. Would she have been put in gaol? A grandma. A lady who was in the Army and who had been a mother and then grandmother? I realise we are caught because unless there were serious consequences a lot of people would not do jury duty and then the preservation of justice would be at risk. But gaol? For nearly 3 months? No rights? No recourse? No options? At least when we had conscription we had the possibilty of conscientious objection. They cannot undo that man's time in gaol and that is awful. If he is just a normal citizen like my Mum was...it is awful.

E-Waste

"Now environmentalists and businesses are joining forces to try to pressure state and federal governments to develop a national strategy to deal with the problem."

I have been on about this for ages. No one will collect e-waste or they charge for too much for it. We have managed mobile phones and companies like Dell are taking responsibility for their laptops but we have monitors, printers, keyboards, microwaves...and heaven knows what else. We need it to be collected or people will just plain dump it anywhere. We have lots of stuff and the world moved us on so quickly and has reaped handsome rewards...now help us get rid of the obsolete and quickly! It should not be taking this long.

Local bread

"The 800-store chain said it was forced to use imports because no local food manufacturer could supply it."

So what was all that stuff we have been eating for a couple of centuries? How on earth did we manage before imports? I literally do not buy into this pish posh. Local bread made from our ingredients has been available forever and tastes brilliant. Carbon, people. Jobs, people.

We are fat!

"The damning data was collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which measured the height, weight, hips and waists of 22,000 people for the 2007-08 National Health Survey. "

Nearly two thirds of  Australians are classified overweight. Men and older people are using up more space than usual. It's not good and yet that advert, where we see the young man turn into a fatter version of himself as he grows older rings true. You see that advert everywhere...men who looked like they were healthy and fit just getting fat. Is it our food? Our lifestyle? What is it? We used to be pretty healthy. Manufactured food? We need to get to the bottom of this. In spite of this damning news I have seen a lot more people out walking. I think we need to think this through because it may well be our mad working hours, the big mortgages and the financial situation. We need to get facts and then develop a plan. We could all sit here and say it is this and this and this...but we need to work it out so we can do something about it.

FMX

I have just seen Tom and Charles Pagès on the French news.I wish they had that footage on YouTube. Absolutely unbelievably awesome!  I have no interest in motocross or anything like that, but this FMX makes you realise why our young guys are bored witless! These young men are just so fearless, athletic, technical and amazing. Shopping Malls and the trappings of the suburb would be dulling them to death. They need challenges like this because they are just so good. On a big screen or in real life it would be so exciting. Turn the sound off...the music is horrible!

Orangutan escapes from enclosure

"It was amazing how he did it, because he actually got a branch, pulled it over the electric fence and then got over," he said.

This young boy saw something awe inspiring on Mothers' Day at the Adelaide zoo..Karta escaping!  She's not silly...but apparently she wanted to get back again. The zoo seems to have managed it really well. This article gives a lot more detail and that beautiful picture. What a Mother's Day!

New Age Slavery

It looks good on paper. You sign up for what seems to be a reasonable working week and then the cold hard facts hit. We have work place conditions and lifestyles around work which are horrid. I saw footage last week of workers protesting at the turn of the last century to get an 8 hour working day. On paper we have reasonable hours .In real life not so. Our jobs have blown out with email and Office. We now are responsible for our own paperwork and accountability....as well as the so called job. Then we have to multitask because absences which are short or long term are not necessarily replaced.So we pick up the slack. Then there are the compulsory meetings which can run into several and the spending of a lot longer amounts of time on the phone ...in between doing what our job is supposed to be. Complain? Never. You are called hostile and aggressive and you are told to see things more positively. Then there are the 5am starts for a lot of people. No public transport. So in Adelaide you are excluded from many jobs if you cannot drive or you no longer wish to pollute the planet and choose to use public transport. So you put up with the looks of disbelief and the treatment of being somehow impaired. If you are not attached to a car you must be defective. Okay, the 5am starts with a finish , say , around 2pm. Sounds good. Then you look at how that works if you live, say at Seaford and you work at Marion. About a 30 min drive. Leave home at 4.15am to get to work by 4.45..maybe leave  at 4.10 just to make sure. And so what time are you getting up? 3.30  you could push it to 3.45am. You leave work at 2 ish and get home at 3...maybe..depends whether you have to shop, bank, go to the dentist's...oh, now the kids are coming out of school. You cannot leave them to look after themselves. So then you have to do dinner, wash, be interested in sport and HW and then go to bed with the kids or be too tired. No adult life for you, my girl. We want the shops open at 6 because we feel hard done by if they are not. I think the workers are totaly ripped off. It's not what I want to wish on anyone else.

Happy Mothers' Day

Wireman, Deb. 27roses.jpg. 10-8-04. Pics4Learning. 9 May 2009

I am having a lovely Mothers' Day. I miss my own mother but I am thinking of her. I have started with coffee and croissants and have Me and Mr, Johnson by Eric Clapton to listen to now. He was born for that. It is just brilliant.

Bar room brawls

"Police say the pair was fighting in Camp Street when the 22-year-old fell to the ground, hitting his head."

The 22 year old is fighting for his life. This one is in Ballarat but it could be anywhere in Australia. We have  a lethal mix of caffeine loaded drinks and alcohol, alcohol mixing , drugs and drugs and alcohol. The mixes are the problem. Then young ones are often at the gym or have been doing martial arts training so when they lsoe it, they can really do a lot of damage. An adrenalin generation because you can Facebook, tweet or YouTube it or it's the talk of the town, so the social rewards are quite high unless it goes horribly wrong and this one might. In Adelaide we have had a shift in emphasis in recent times. For a while there we were avoiding the trouble spots, staying home and depriving ourselves of the great venues we have to spend a Friday or Saturday evening. We were going without our social life because the brawls were taking over. Well, we worked out there are more of us than there are of them. The police and venue owners have come onside and there is a far more confidant approach in dealing with the bar room and street brawlers. We do not get in the line of fire but we are out in our hundreds on a Friday and Saturday night enjoying the food and venues pub and club owners have worked very hard to provide us with. What I admire is their capacity to keep working through the issues until they got through to us. Doesn't matter which suburb. The brawlers come from everywhere and perform everywhere but we are not going to let them get away with it anymore. So we go to the local. The police may r may not be at the front bar...but the dining areas are packed. You really have to book these days and the menus and food are just impressive...so onward and upward and may the brawlers pass out....somewhere else.

Pet Pupz

A half a million Facebook users per month can't be wrong. Pet Pupz is gaining in popularity on Facebook and has companion apps Cute Catz and Happy Horses. The Puppy one has really taken off. A lot of people don't actually want to be involved in games but they do want diverting and interesting apps which suit them. For long enough the gaming world and gaming machines have been far too narrow minded, limited and totally inflexible in their offerings and approach. I have blogged about this exclusion before. Game makers and gaming machines have been set up with a remarkably limited headset. Computers are not like that at all. They are really flexible and can do so much. Pet Pupz is a good example of something which suits another type of computer user. A lot of people, like me ,are happy to go and see their v-puppy, put it through training and competitions, care for it,see their friends' puppies or other people's puppies. It is just a relaxing thing to do, but there are challenges along the way and some puppies end up being your nemesis!! Some people get right into it and compete for all the awards and badges in a big way. Some people are very charitiable and a lot more people are gaining confidance with the scene builder. There are some really good scenes some people have created for their puppies. The success, I think, is because the owners of Pet Pupz are working with their community. They are listening, they are gently creating more innovation and they are encouraging people to be bolder without pushing.

New York Flyover

Mr Caldera, a former Army secretary, took responsibility for the Air Force flyover that sparked panic in New York on April 27.

In Adelaide we were all aghast at the stupidity and cruelty of this act. I am sure more than one person is responsible for this nasty scenario. There are no excuses. We were horrified. Not a single person along the way thought to stop it. Not one. Not even the pilot. Why not? It is not excusable or explainable and sacrificing one person over this will not make it any better. It was insane ,vindictive and cruel and I hope the people of New York felt the the level of care and concern we had here in Adelaide on that day. New York probably doesn't even think we would care....well, now they know.

Q

A COUPLE in Sweden has appealed to the country's supreme court in their fight to name their baby boy "Q".

Some children need to be protected form their parents and even if this is upheld then a child ought to have the right to rescind a name from the time they think about it and it ought to be a straight forward process for the child. Some children are lumbered for life and it is never a choice when it comes to your blood relations.

Car crashes in times of crisis

"The behavioural studies I have looked at have said that during periods of crisis, financial crisis people can actually operate in a irrational manner," he said.

So we raise the premiums in times of financial crisis so that we can cover the cost of car crashes because there is evidence people oerate irrational when times are tough? Have we thought of raising awareness? Hve we thought of lighting the way so people can see their way through the tougher times? Have we thought of taking the pressure off?  I am not sure who is irrational here but we need to think calmly and clearly.

SANDS Australia

My friend's son and his wife have just had a still born baby. The pain and trauma for all concerned are both evident and profoundly touching. I have had friends who have had miscarriages and I have friends who have lost their children. Not of this is easy to think about or deal with. What is clear is you cannot leave these people out their on their own because you find it too upsetting. Organisations such as SANDS quietly operate around these sad circumstances to bring relief and a way for us all to deal with this. Hospital staff are also becoming aware of how much the human touch will help people through a life changing event such as this. It's a body blow for everyone and those who have taken the hit and those who know just have to rally and hold each other together. My friend is such so upset by losing his grandson. He is , at least, a man who talks and so you get to know what this means for everyone concerned. He was talking about the hospital staff and I am blogging this because maybe the hospital staff are unclear as to how much they have done and how much they have helped. They gathered everyone to support the Mum and new Dad. It has torn into their hearts but the thing which is helping him and the bereaved parents is the fact they were all together...and then he was talking about a little teddy they all got. He said it was just a little teddy with something nice written from someone. He has put it in a place of honour and he looks at it and the little teddy is helping him...because he and the grandma  and the other grandparents have a big job ahead of them to keep the young ones going. He is so deeply moved by how much the hospital staff cared and how well they manage these sorts of things...and the little teddy is there to remind him all is not lost.

Surviving the Financial Crisis

We aren't really expecting anyone to bail us out of the mess. They created the mess. It was set up and the market has been falling like a pack of cards. What goes up , must come down. So we have been thinking. Some are worrying because it is starting to bite. What we need are remedies and ways of thinking. Most of us are looking at downsizing. We have had too much. We have been too spoiled. In reality , we can do without. We have too many things. We are actually taking the time to enjoy those things instead of going on yet more feeding frenzies at the shops. We have been sharing ideas about managing, about revamping, refurbishing and using "older" things. As you know I have set my old laptop up on Linux. It has been fun and I am learning a lot. There is more to life than money. We have been talking to each other and ringing each other agin. We have time for people. Some firms are bringing in part time work. This is worrying for those who have taken on big mortgages but others are looking at it as a chance of finally getting out of the rat race. Slowing down. Being more peaceful. The experts who got us into this mess are not going to get us out because they have been very poor at managing finance and community matters. So , slowly, we are waking up and yes, the sun rises every morning and we go to work with a sense of purpose. For as long as we keep talking and sharing we shall get there but will we learn from all of this? I hope so.

Whooping Cough

Know about it and look after yourself and the community. It is horrible. Just horrible. Whooping cough is something we had got rid of. It is not so easy to deal with now. We have had it doing the rounds before and it was tough. My daughter got it when she was in year 8 and I was horrified because I had had her immunised. The immunisation didn't stop her from getting it but of the children her age getting it , she recuperated the fastest and had no relapse like the others. She was coughing a lot. It seemed like flu, but she just kept coughing and then she breathed in...and could not breathe out. As a mother I was terrified. I had to keep my head and tell her to breathe out. Breathe out! It is important to get the right medicines. It is also important to know you become less prone to it as you are older so you might carry it and not be aware really that you have whooping cough. There is no point in panicking. Get the facts out. Get the treatments out. Get the management plans in place because no one needs a child with whooping cough. Not one adult in contact with her got it and we were all tested. Our immunizations were a lot older than hers.

Inspired website

This is inspirational and again, so very clever:

Town of Cochrane Mural Mosaic

Innovative Online Advertising

This site is just so clever:

HEMA

You Tube Baby Delivery

"A MAN delivered his baby son by following clips on YouTube after his wife went into labour early."

Marc Stevens managed to deliver his new little baby while his wife was obviously in labour and there were 3 other little children for him to look after in the house. He has to be given gold stars and plus points for his capacity to manage a real crisis and for having some excellent problem solving skills. His navy training probably gave him the edge so he could keep his mind clear and find some suitable procedures to cope with all of this. As a Gen Y he went straight to Google and got some YouTube clips to help him. This is just a fantastic story and I should like to hear that they are all doing well. What a great Dad.

Police Rescue Burglar

"Numerous attempts were made to rescue the man, eventually requiring a fire truck with a large ladder and a Polair helicopter to illuminate the rooftop. The man was finally retrieved at 4.50am."

You have to laugh. He obviously wasn't fit enough for his daft mission. Straight into the hands of the police!

Safe Driving

"We are targeting those recalcitrant drink drivers who have little or no regard for the wider community, let alone their own safety," said Road Safety Minister Michael O'Brien.

It's been an issue on all our minds this week. The wet weather has brought about some dumb moves in cars and then we have talked about he drink drivers. I went through an alcohol testing station Saturday evening over Easter. The police are always surprised I have no reading. I am always surprised about the number of people who do U - turns or slope off down side streets. In that sense it's not fair and that was part of our conversation. The ones who get picked up through the breathalyser stations are at least complying in one sense, but there is quite a group which is still not thinking very sensibly. Drinking and driving just do not mix. Needless to say I have always been the designated driver and that has never particularly worried me unless someone expects me to leave later than I want to. You can manage it. You can think. The mentality of trying to get away with it ought to be long dead.

Amphetamine labs

"POLICE have busted a suspected amphetamine lab in Mawson Lakes, arresting a 33-year-old man."

They are probably everywhere because the police seem to uncover them or they just blow up and then the street is in chaos until it is all cleaned up. Pretty serious. Easy money, I guess but it is creating a lot of pain. I am not sure what the drug of choice is at the moment but I am concerned about how many yellowish skin people we have walking around. We are used to the scrawny ones with their white faces , their hunted look and their hands stuffed in their pockets as they walk around. It's sad. This is something we didn't have that we now have and the only way to beat it is to work out why people would do this to themselves and then why people would damage others to make big bucks. Humans can be very horrible. No one is going to dob in a dealer. It's too dangerous. But there must be a way of noticing these labs.

Open Cut Mining

"Despite Mr Garrett's anti-uranium disposition before entering Federal Parliament, Mr Dalla Valle says he is confident that BHP will get a fair hearing."

Instead of the Greens saying one thing and the mines saying the other , a year is plenty of time to get scientists, ecologists, environmentalists and others with a creditable set of credentials to look at this whole open cut mining situation. We all know how much money talks. That open cut mine is worth a fortune which is why they went for open cut mining in the first place and have then created a great gaping hole in our state which just makes money. It's already doing environmental damage. If the changes create more then the position bargaining between the Greens and the mines will not bring that to light. It needs to be looked at in a very rational, detatched way. Open cut mines are not noted for their kindness to  the environment. Mines are not nature friendly.

Adelaide Autumn

Today was a glorious autumn day in Adelaide. The weddings in the southern park lands and St. Francis winery could not have had a better day. It was interesting not a drop of water was running in the moat around the winery even though we have had heavy downpours this week. It has been cold and wet and yet the sun today was just lovely. Everyone was out with their dogs, their jogging, their walking, their lolling in the sunshine. People were happy and healthy. A lot fo people were heading to the best foodie strips to eat or purchase some good quality food. We are spoiled for choice at he moment and in town there are some great ideas for salads and warm winter meals. We seem to be swinging between the two. We are quite clear about being healthy too so everything is vitamin and mineral rich and fresh. We are very keen on fresh. Goats' cheese has made a big entrance onto our tables. We are all loving it and using it a lot. We didn't used to like it much but the goats cheese and marinated feta are just walking out the shops at the moment. The cold weather has sent us running for pasta and nice grain bread or crusty white bread. Summer salads went on a bit too long so the colder weather had made us want to eat well but those things with a lot of flavour...and winter salads are really great with fish or bits of cheese!

The Happy Macbooker

I am getting happier with the MacBook I have to use. I did go into Windows twice this week on it because it dual boots into Windows and for some reason I do not like Windows on the MacBook. I have been more than happy to use it on my other computers. The MacBook has taken time to get to know. Since I have been working with Ubuntu I can see the similarities between the former and UNIX. I have been running the MacBook in French and that is easy to do. Ridiculously easy. Having done that the Mac downloads French versions of apps when it can find them. It just automatically goes there...so my Firefox is French, Thunderbird is, it goes to the French interface of Blogger etc etc. Given I am in an English speaking country and the other apps are in English that is great to keep me multilingual. Fantastic use of technology to support skills development and maintenance. I have sorted out the file stuff, I think. That's what really throws you when you come onto a Mac. The file system seems to convoluted and you have to be quite clear about getting the lists and columns and then it is very straight forward. I still think Windows wins hands down on file management. Then I just love tinkering with Terminal. I have done a few things now, learnt quite a few commands and changed the look of a few things in Terminal. Hate the name.  There has been a lot to get my head around but I get it now and so might make faster progress. I have noticed, like Ubuntu I have had some helpful little apps turn up on my dock...like text editors. I have fixed the stupid green enlarge window button which didn't do a thing. What were they thinking?! There is a free app which fixes that so the window enlarges properly and my other favourite little addition is still DeskCover which I have had to put on the desktop because it won't just stay as a feature. So I have to start it at the beginning of each session. That might be me, who knows?