Resolutions

I didn’t make any resolutions last year because I was in such a bad place I couldn’t see the point. At that point in my life I was having issues even seeing myself seeing the year out.

Clearly I’m in a better place this year (despite still being broke) that I have decided to make some resolutions that stand a chance of being seen through.

1. Exercise more.
I’ve been fairly sedentary in 2011. My clothes are shrinking and that isn’t a good thing. SO I hoping to walk more and maybe start swimming again.

2. Photograph more
With three photography gigs for others in 2011, I figure four or more in 2012 will see my record improved. I’m going to offer my services in order to improve my portfolio.


3. Go out and see people
I’ve been out rarely in 2011, so I intend to attend more pub gigs, dine out a little more and go to more cultural events.

4. Pay down my debts
In an attempt to make my goal of working from home come true…I will be ploughing cash into my debts. At least 10% more than each monthly payment is required.

5. Write more
While I really enjoy writing I find it’s often the first thing that goes when other ‘bright shiny objects’ divert my attention. In 2011 I have written just over 110 entries andthat averages out at one every three days. I’m going to aim for once every two days (on average) and that’s about 240 entries. These entries may be in the form of articles, opinion pieces and reviews, plus, in the news round-ups.

I think that will do me for the year. I like to be busy, but any more and I’d have no time for actually doing any of them.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year and that it a great year for you all.

(Anonymous, even though you’re trolling my comments, you have a good 2012 too, it may give you something better to do)

2011: Au revoir

I’m thankful for few things in 2011.

It’s been an all round shitty year that started with nearly eight weeks of unemployment with a scattering of tour bus trips. While these trips keep the wolf from the door, the black dog crept in through the side door and stayed around for the year. I’m still in the process of vacating him, but at least I’ve moved him stuff out onto the lawn.

Cara. A white dog. She came into my life in mid February and while she was supposed to be a temporary tenant, the little thing got under my skin and become a fully fledged member of the family when I officially adopted her in April. Who knew a one-eyed Chihuahua would have such a big character and influence on my life for the positive.

I learnt how to bake bread and wrote a book of recipes in memory of Muv

I expanded my experience in the photography of events. I worked at the Jurassic Lounge evenings at the Australian Museum and I got to take pictures at a music festival of a prominent Australian artist. These have been unpaid gigs, but very must who you know, rather that what. To those who’s. Thanks :-)

I commenced studying for a Certificate IV in Celebrancy in an attempt to take control of my life and working hours. I’m hoping to get out of the office environment in the next couple of years, so I’m grateful that I’ve been able to identify in myself, despite the need to repay debt, the need for more time at home.

Employment has been fairly consistent since early in the year. There was the mail order place, the construction firm, the government dept and the electricity provider. A bevy of varied contracts, that have offered me a variety of experiences, both good and bad, and a few good friends.

Thank you to my friends for being there when I needed you and still being there when I needed you to give me space (you know who you are, so I won’t name names).

All in all, 2011, I shall not be sad to see you go, but I shall remember the few things that have been good.

Goodbye 2011…bring on 2012, it can only get better.

Never...

'Never a good deed goes unpunished'

In 1980, Clare Booth Luce, wrote those words in the book 'The Book of Laws'. What do you think caused her to have such a pessimistic outlook on life? She was voted into Congress in the 40s, a pretty good achievement in those times. She was the editor of Vogue and Vanity Fair in the 30s. She was 84 when she passed away in 1987.

A pharmacist quoted her at me today. After she'd sold me anti fungal cream to apply to the ringworm that has sprouted on my left side.

A few weeks I fostered some cats. They would have surely died if I hadn't have done this. The only problem is they brought fungal disease into the house. I've been treating them with shampoo washes, iodine cream and regular hoovering (those that know me will know this is the hardest of the treatments). It takes time to get rid of it and it has a two week incubation period.

This is it for me. I'm done, all tapped out. Once this intake is gone I'm never helping again unless it's throwing money at a problem.

Not-so-much-help desk

IT guys are generally considered to be smart.  They will often have the words, geek, nerd, or egg head banded about next to their names.  So you can imagine my surprise when I met one who was clearly smart, but acted in a dumb way.

Yesterday my laptop screen went wibbley.  In that it pixalited and the overriding colour changed to pink.  I’m not a big fan of pink, but it was the fuzziness that was caused the problem.  It made it difficult to read anything on the screen.  So I called the ‘Service Desk’ after performing a couple of standard first line support tests.  I rebooted it twice and tried resetting the display.

The local Onsite guy came to see me.  Apart from being kinda hot, he was useful. He accepted that I had done the first line stuff and went straight to having a look at the guts.  Turns out the cable between the guts and screen was damaged, so I had to take it away and see the ‘Acer’ guy, but in the meantime I needed to be given a monitor so I could do some work.

Today I’m working out of a different office.  When I got in this morning I had to call James (name changed to protect the idiot) to get a workstation on my desk.  I rag him, gave him directions to my desk, twice, and waited.  At 10.30 he turned up with a monitor.  He plugged it all in and when I suggested that it may be hard to see the screen if I needed to have the laptop in front of me.

‘So you need a keyboard?’  He asked.

‘Yes, please. That and a mouse would be most helpful.’

Half an hour later he turned up with a keyboard.  I’m still waiting for the mouse and it’s gone 1pm.

I’m having to use the track-pad.  I’ve got back ache now.

People are strange

The weather is somewhat inclement at the moment for the time of year. This is having a negative effect on the population of Sydney and surrounds. The storm drains are flowing like winterbournes and the temperature gage is barely touching 20 degrees Celsius. With only two weeks to Christmas everyone expects to be sweating in light chiffons, not snuggling into overcoats.

Last night I was woken by heavy rainfall on the roof and three cats and a dog trying to hide under the covers when the thunder rocked the house at 3am. I woke this morning in no mood to play the commuter game. But a meeting in the city at 10am meant I to, and win.

I find myself hyper observant when I'm tired and testy. I notice small thing that wouldn't normally confuse or annoy, today, I'm in uber form. I'd win the gold if observance of human oddity was an Olympic sport.

Why did the woman squeeze herself into the second of two seats when a three seater remained unoccupied?

Why did the three seater remain unoccupied until every other seat in the carriage was taken?

When two people did sit in the unoccupied seats, why did the guy who was clearly not travelling with the girl sit so close to her?

Why did the guy stand next to the spare seat looking at it like it had the lurgy?

This seat was just in front of me. When I had boarded the train the seat I was sat on and lurgy seat had formed a sixer until I flipped the back. There was nothing wrong with the seat, it was clean, there were nothing nasty on the floor and there wasn't even any marker pen graffiti tags on the seat back. It was an inoffensive seat, just waiting to be squished by damp bottoms (from the rain, wow you're disgusting!).

Being of a curious and questioning nature this behaviour led me to hypothesise why people would behave in such a way. I would have liked to have put together a brief survey called 'why are you avoiding that seat', but I don't think it would have been well received. For forty minutes to tossed over various reasons in my head and I finally came up with this theory.

Here's my theory.

People are weird and we'll never be able to guess at what makes them tick because most of the time they don't know why they do things.

End of theory. Damn, another PhD idea blown out the water.


A storm drain in full flood

Helping who

I may have written about this before, if so and you can remember it, sorry. For everyone else, something new :-)

I'm a sucker. I try to do my bit by being a good person and helping those in need. Whether it be buying the homeless lunch, or looking after animals in need.

My latest helping hand has been extended to four cats. Three kittens and a mum. They are lovely and energetic, but last week they were all diagnosed with cat flu and one of them had ringworm. I was sent away with antibiotics for the flu, twice daily treatments and cream for the ring worm. I have been dutifully administering the treatments.

Today, I took one of the kittens to a vet clinic for rehoming. They couldn't take him because he has now too has ringworm. I was told by the vet the all the cats have to shampooed to kill the ringworm. Not just once either, but three times, a week apart. The cream I was given is of no use and I've been wasting my time. In the mean time she has more than likely infected the other cats and me too.


Giles and Willow, cute but infested

Once again I get royally f**ked for trying to help out. The two affected kittens have to be segregated for the others and treated, the others have to shampooed, 'just in case'.

I've ben told by people (you know who you are) not to help. Why won't I learn? Do I call the rescue organisation and tell them to collect the foster cats, so I then only have to deal with my animals. Look after my own family first and myself? I'm torn into the good vs bad person cycle again.

I had a good day yesterday, I was feeling upbeat, despite my calve muscle still hurting from last weekends activities, I felt like doing things. After today news I feel like taking to my bed again.

But before I do that I have to wrestle at least five cats and dress the ensuing lacerations on my arms and body.

Cinderella Story

I realized something the other day when I was talking to a friend in the UK over Skype.

I'm lonely and the black dog is waiting in the back garden, just waiting for his chance to get inside; a crack in the door, an open window.

There has been a sequence of events that have led me to this conclusion.

The first being; the embracement of the animal welfare movement. While I've always been pro-animal rights, I've not felt strongly enough about anything to get involved, to march or protest. Once I'd got involved I met some lovely people with a healthy need to help our four legged friends, others with a not so healthy need to help bordering on obsessive. This led my Facebook wall being inundated with invitations, calls to foster, videos that made me ball my eyes out and mild abuse for sharing and consequently, not sharing. I culled my friends list.

Not before the Millie incident though.

I came to the conclusion from that, that one small dog with very few needs (except snuggles) is all I need and can handle on the canine front. Going out to work five day a week leaves little room for a dog with separation anxiety issues.

Knowing this, I found I could help dogs find homes by taking pictures for the rescue groups, but this meant going to the pound. And they don't just have dogs at the pound.

I find myself poopy scooping for five cats at the moment. I fostered four, adopted one. because I went to the pound. Don't get me wrong I'm glad to do my bit to help these creatures find worthy homes but I now know, I acknowledge, I did it because I'm lonely and I was looking to fill that void in my heart.

I’m lacking the companionship that comes with being in a relationship. While a little nookie would be nice, it’s the other more mundane activities that it would nice to share. Digging the garden, having someone hold the ladder while i change the light bulbs, going to the movies, wandering around, going for a drive or sharing a meal. The simple everyday things.

Most of my friends are loved up, in relationships with kids. The one person I’d dearly love to spend that quality everyday time with lives on a different continent and shows no signs of moving back to Australia anytime soon. I’ve been hanging out for that to happen for a couple of years now, unable to move on due the feelings I have. Deep feelings that go to the very core of me. The other day I felt those feelings lessen. I’m not sure what was said, what’s been done or not done that has caused this, but the heart strings are being tugged just a little less.

I’ve tried to date over that time in an attempt not to wait, but I always find myself looking across the table, looking at my date and thinking, ‘but you’re not Mr. Right’. I had thought I’d found Mr Right, but maybe I was wrong. I find dating hard as most of my friends are attached and rarely go out, internet dating has proved to be a bust (do I smell, even online) and I find as soon as Aussie men find out I’m well educated and reasonably successful in my chosen field they run as far as their tatty trainers will carry them.

Maybe I have found Mr. Right, but the human desire for companionship is getting the better of me. Driving me forward after not seeing him for nearly a year. Driving me into the arms of another (when I find another). But would it be unfair to the other? I’ve never found anyone that fills the shoes of Mr. Right in quite the same way. They just don’t fit.

This is my dilemma. I’m lonely beyond belief but I find myself snuggling at home amongst the furkids hoping that one day, my prince will turn up and slip his foot into a perfect fitting shoe.

Dallas Flight

This is a very nasty accident. It's a tragedy that should never have happened and I really hope she recovers with her sight intact.

But I curious. Why has this made the front page of the newspaper in Australia?

Is it because she's a model/beauty? If it had been me, would it have been reported? Just wondering.

Viral Veronica

There is a debate today in the paper about whether the recipe for a bird flu virus should be published. This flu has a 60% mortality rate and spreads in the air as easily as the common cold. While, based on recent shock stories of a growing world population and the problem that will cause, it would seem killing off 4.2 billion people seems like a good idea, the thing that concerns me most is in the second line of the story.

‘The question gripping scientists after virologists said they had developed a bird flu virus’

The key word here is developed. The buggers made this killer bug...what were they thinking!?

Littering

I picked up an empty can, off the street, the other day after seeing three people kick it. It was crumpled and torn and only a few feet away from a rubbish bin. It seemed the sensible thing to do although one woman was heard to exclaim, ‘Eww...that’s dirty!’

It brought to mind two recent interactions.

The first was with a snooty lady in a dog park. I was there with Cara and Millie. Cara being the massive trouble maker that she is was off the lead and following behind Millie, who was on lead, and I. About half way across the pack I noticed that Cara had stopped to go to the loo, so I slowed my pace but kept walking, with the intention of cleaning it up once she was done. A large woman was walking towards me, smoking a cigarette but without a dog, and as she got closer, she inhaled deeply and asked in a very terse tone, ‘Are you aware that your dog is doing a poop?’ Yes, I kid you not, she used the word ‘poop’.

‘Yes, I am’.

‘Are. You. Going. To. Clean. It. Up?’

‘Yes, I am’. I nodded and smiled as I spoke.

‘Then why aren’t you watching?’ Another massive inhale saw a third of the cigarette length turn to ash.

‘Do you like to be watched while you have a poo?’ It seemed a fair question, I know I don’t and I know Cara doesn’t. She gets performance anxiety and tries to walk away from it. It doesn’t work and you end up with a trail of bunny balls. Millie didn’t care who watched, she was quite proud of the massive piles she produced.

The woman took exception at my question, and huffed and puffed away from me, her arms beating the air, no doubt imagining it was me. Then she threw her cigarette butt to the ground before stomping on it. I pulled a small blue bag from my pocket and scooped up the tiny dropping Cara had deposited.

She didn’t hear my say. ‘Are you going to pick up that piece of litter that can take up to ten years to break down, whereas this tiny poo will be gone in about three days if I left it?’.

The second conversation was with the fruit seller guy outside my office in the city. I don’t know how we got away from bruised cherries, and how to squeeze peaches in just the right way, to rubbish, but he said to me, ‘if every person picked up just one piece of litter a day, can you imagine how quickly the streets would be clear?’

I’m not completely innocent of dropping litter, but I will say that I try never to drop something that will not decompose or been take by nature. I had it drummed into me by Muv from a very young age, Don’t litter. I’ll happily chuck an apple core into the bushes, although I mostly eat them down to the woody bit anyway. I’ll pour excess fluid onto the grass or into the gutter and I had no hesitation throwing New Moon out of the car window (it’s paper, it’ll mulch, it’s half-way there already), but plastics go in the pocket or bag until I find a bin. I’ll often turn down bags when shopping, which confuses check-out folks, because putting items in a bag is part of the training.

There have been anti-littering campaigns, signs and fines all around the world for decades. No matter what the powers that be do or say, people are essentially a lazy bunch that expects someone else to clean up after them; ever been in a cinema or theatre after the performance has ended, a sports arena at the end of the game, a picnic ground at the end of the day? Take that packet, drinks carton, pie case and pop it in the bin on the way out. At the very least put it next to the bin as I saw happening after a Rugby Tri Nations game in South Africa. The bins were full, so rather than leaving bottles on walls, by flag poles, smashed on the ground, etc., they made it easy to clean up by gathering it all in one place. Of course, they could have as easily taken it home.

Please don’t litter, but don’t judge those who you think are, you may just find you’re just as guilty in their eyes. Littering is a dirty issue and only we can fix it by taking our rubbish home with us.


An example of littering in Lagos, Nigeria