Monday, October 31, 2011

Favourite Photos Time - October!

This month, I took some great photos... and I can't wait to share them with you all!  There are some that have been seen on Facebook and 365 Project.  For those who are not on either of those, I thought it's only fair to put them here.






October's Something Different!

Well!  This month was certainly full of wonderful and interesting surprises.  The first was the engagement of my brother to his girlfriend of around four years, Katrina.  He popped the Big Question over in Cambodia while the floods were on and Riley was with them!  But Kat phoned me on my 38th birthday and told me!  I was totally stoked about it; a little more excited about their news than what I received for my birthday... which was an Elna 1000 sewing machine.  Now, years ago - when I was in high school - I learned to sew on one of the older models and learned to follow a pattern.  However that was yonks ago and I never thought I'd get in front of one again... so Mum and Dad thought it was a good present to get me on my birthday just before I turned 40.  I kinda turned my nose up at the machine on the day (and was more than a little upset at it that night) but then I thought about what I could do with it... and it turned to be an arty-farty thing; then it all came back to me, the learnings and teachings from Seven Hills College.

I went to my 20 Year Class Reunion on 15th, and found that I didn't know a single person for about an hour or so... but they all knew me!  I really didn't need a name tag as lots of people came up to me smiling asking how the hell I was and that I looked great!  I really didn't recognise any of them as they had changed so much.  I found out that one of guys from my Care Group had died around a year and half ago when he went deep sea fishing by himself; and only the boat came back without him.  It made the news and seeing his last name was such a common name, I didn't think it was him; but it was.  I arrived home around 11:30pm... such a great night; and it took me a few days to recover.
In recent weeks, I began adding some of my tried and true vegetarian recipes onto my blog for you all to try out.  I thought it would be a good thing for you all have go at.  Thus far, I've put up two; with more to come.

In the last few weeks, we've had birthdays upon birthdays.  First was mine - I turned 38 - then two weeks later, Gabe turned 40 (along with his best mate, Mitchell born on the same day).  And only days after Gabe's birthday, Riley - my niece - turned 12!  We had a great day with her class coming to Gabe's and Kat's house for the day to celebrate.  What a great afternoon that was.  And despite the overcast day, the kids had an absolute ball enjoying themselves with everything going well.  Us adults also enjoyed ourselves too.
Not long after Riley's birthday, I got sick.  I had sinus on that day; but then it turned really nasty and I suddenly acquired a cough and ended up at the doctors before the following Wednesday.
While I was recovering from my sinus infection, some loppers came by, knocked on my door and asked if they could remove my back fence to pull the trees through while they lopped the back neighbour's trees.  I said yeah... then realised what they were doing and tried to talk my neighbour out of getting rid of the trees completely - so did the loppers.  But we didn't get far and the trees were cut down and the stumps were ground out too.  What a waste... well, they'll figure out how hot their place will get this Summer.
Then, last Friday, Dad had his farewell from Powerlink.  He had a massive morning tea with the people he worked with and family and lots of his friends showed up.  He had worked there for 42 years and he was amazed at how much things had changed over that time.  I took a lot of photos and will post them up on Facebook soon.
This brings me to tonight.  It was Halloween tonight; and talk about quiet!  I had carved a perfectly good pumpkin, did up the house, put a scary skull on the front door and dressed up just for this occasion and nobody showed up - and I had some kick-arse lolly bags ready for kids; and some other stuff in case I had more kids than the bags I had readied.  However, none arrived and I closed up the front door before 'Supernatural' started... oh well, there's always next year I guess.  
I'm hoping it'll be totally different by that time; different kids, different area that I'm hoping to be living in and I hope to have a job by that time as well.  Anyway, I hope you had an eventful month - one worth remembering.  Until my next post 

Big Storm!

Late last night, Brisbane, Logan City and the Gold Coast were struck by a line of storms.  At first, I found I had missed out my beloved television series 'No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' so I thought to tape it; as I had been talking to some friends on the phone who had just arrived home from the UK (and they were stuck from the Qantas grounding too so had run a few hours late).  I'm just relieved they made it home through one of the other carriers. 
Anyway, I unplugged the computer from the wall as well as the modem, then turned off the television, VCR and HD box at the wall and unplugged those too - as well as unplugging the antenna.  I found that once the drain outside looked like it was handling things well, there wasn't anything else for me to do but to go to bed.
However, with the storm worsening, I found that I was searching for my reading lamp and waterproof torch just in case the lights went out.  There was so much lightning it was amazing!  I wrote a little long-hand about a story idea I had, but some arthritis that had been playing up in my left hand didn't allow for me to write for long.  So, I set up my reading lamp on my book and I spent the next hour or so reading about 1 1/2 chapters of 'The Lady of the Rivers' which I received for my birthday from my Birthday Buddy on Bookcrossing.  I was really getting into it by around 10:30pm when the landline phone rang and Dad was on the other end asking me if the drain was working well.  I mean, why call me in the middle of a violent thunderstorm with all the lightning around - when it was the most dangerous to be on the phone - and ask me that?  I know he wanted to know, but I could have told him this morning about it and not have the danger of having the phone lines struck my lightning from either end.  After all the years my parents had taught me to keep off the phone lines during thunderstorms, that it's the most dangerous time of all to be on the phone - or on a computer or online - Dad breaks that rule just to ask me a question about the drain.  It would have been safer to SMS me.
Well!  During that storm, we received a huge downpour and so much lightning, it was very exciting to watch it from my bed.  I almost put my book down just to go to the window to watch the whole storm.  But once the whole storm cell moved out to sea, taking the noise and lightning with it, I found it cooled off enough to go straight to sleep; and it was almost midnight.  Just as I drifted off, I heard sirens echoing off into the distance; and I hoped and prayed nobody was seriously hurt too badly out there during the storm.
However, this morning, when I heard the news, there was a car accident at Marsden (not far from me) where a carload of people ran into a phone pole.  The driver died from his injuries, however his passengers don't have life-threatening injuries.  The accident occurred during the height of the storm.  This makes me wonder why they were out in that kind of weather.
Brisbane's weather is becoming more volatile as the years pass.  I remember when I was young, we had some pretty hairy storms that would be the type that would hit and miss places; and I wondered if - when they disappeared - they'd return.  And now, they've returned, I have the memories of the old storms returning; like the one that hit us when I was around 12 years old.  Dad was out west and had to brought home quickly.  I remember how horrible that was; when I looked out the French Doors of the living room to the front verandah, I couldn't see the front steps; it was just a horrible white vacuum of wind.  And the noise was unbelievable!  I haven't heard anything like it since.  And even though that storm only went for around 40 minutes or so, it seem to last forever.  There was so much noise and so much to do while it was going on that I don't remember it leaving.  I do remember finding myself in my parent's bedroom praying for it to spare our house; and you know, our roof wasn't taken.  But the pins that held the tin roof on were very loose and had to be replaced.  Well, until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Busy Times Ahead

This week is going to be such a busy one I'm not going to have much time on here.  Seriously.  Today may be the only day I'll be here - or Thursday - and that'll be it until Saturday or Friday morning before I go running off to a job centre.
Today, I'm sitting here and my hands a still smelling of the pumpkin I carved an hour or so ago and I'm tired as hell.  It must be the overcast weather that's making me feel very tired; but I'm okay otherwise.  I've had this pumpkin sitting on top of the fridge since Wednesday waiting for me to carve it; and today, I got in and carved it.  I do love carving these pumpkins as they are so soft-skinned to carve; and they are so much fun to play with.  The smell of the gunk inside isn't all that exciting, but once you get through that and toss that out, you're okay.  
Last night, I prepared the lolly-bags; and only did up six, seeing I only get six kids that show up.  Fortunately, that's all the bags I had.  Just in case I more show, I'll have other lollies for other kids in a separate container and give them a handful of wrapped lollies and some noise-makers (it's better than nothing and me saying I don't have anything).  
This week is going to busy after All Hallow's Eve; a not because of the three day festival of the dead.  But, there's Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday where Mum, Dad, Uncle Allan and I are off to the Entertainment Centre at Logan City for a luncheon and to see the race.  I usually make a bet or two at the TAB before going to these things; and win big!  
Then, on Wednesday, Mum and I are off to the Epilepsy Symposium in the city (one of two that are on next month) where we learn more about the brain.  This time, we'll be learning about the private life of the human brain... very interesting stuff.  Lunch is included and we'll be there for the whole day; home by dusk.  
Thursday is my day of rest; where - if it's not raining, I'll get in and do my laundry and do a few things around the house and not get too frustrated about things.  But I know I'll be getting another early night; especially seeing there's nothing on that night on the television.  Then, on Friday afternoon, I have a job hunting day at CRS at Springwood.  It ought to be good and interesting at the same time.  
By Saturday, I'm sure I won't want to know anything about what's going on outside as I'll be too stuffed to do anything but sleep.  And if it's pouring rain, that'll be even better!  So, that's the plan for the week:  get a lot of sleep, early nights and try to eat well enough to keep the cold I caught last week away from me for good.  Sounds good?  Thought so.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remembered I'm always here.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Dad's Farewell from Work

Today, we got away early and drove to his Powerlink at Virginia to attend Dad's farewell morning tea.  On the way there, we picked up Aunty Helen and arrived there before everyone else did so that Dad could organise everything right.  He wanted to make sure that everything he had asked for was there and he had a few things - last minute details - that had to be taken care of before the morning tea began.
At around 9:55am, the room off the canteen was empty of people - except us - but by around 10:10am, the place was packed!  You could hardly move!  I had my camera, so did an employee (I missed her name) and Dad's boss was there out the front making a lovely speech about him with a Powerpoint presentation about Dad's career at Powerlink.   Mum was given a bouquet of flowers and Dad was given a few pressies and then we were told that the room had to be used for a meeting; so we had to pack up and leave by 11am!  Woah, talk about cutting it short!  And to make it more unusual, Mum and Dad were given all the food to take home... this included cheeses, biscuits, fruit and other goodies.  Well, we stuck around and had some coffee from a coffee trolley out in the carpark (which put out some pretty nice coffee) and then we all went to the Virginia Golf Club for some more food.  And I have to say, it was the most hideous food I had ever eaten.  Now, I ordered the Vegetarian Lasagne and what I was given looked very much like a veggie bake that I could make at home with Lasagne sheets put between and Colby Cheese on top.  How gross can you get!  It was tasteless and disgusting and I don't know how they could sell it to the public.  And damn me that the stuff repeated on me all bloody afternoon!  I didn't eat anything to do with cheese tonight... just a light egg salad sandwich - home made of course.
So, there you have it... Dad's last day at work.  It was an usual day - weather wise - but a great one with his friends and family all there to see him be farewelled from a place of work that he's known for the last 42 years.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Big Changes to the Landscape

Since the last time I wrote, there's been big changes around here.  The drain next to my place has been fixed up - and with a storm brewing today, it's yet to be tested out - I bought Little Miss Stevie some new Wild Millet (which she loves and the back neighbour (Luke) and his landlord got the two remaining trees chopped down in his yard.  Now, the place looks exactly like it did when I moved in nine years ago!  
Yesterday, when the loppers arrived, they didn't know if I was home, so knocked on the door and asked if they could take the branches through my yard as Luke doesn't have access to his yard (which is pretty crappy in that complex).  I said yes, but I also pointed out to him that once the trees are gone that there'd be absolutely no privacy between us; and his house would become an absolute hotbox in Summer too.  But he didn't seem too phased by this and still wanted the trees out due to them dropping 'too many leaves' and he got sick of cleaning them up.  The loppers and I didn't think that wasn't a good idea especially seeing how nice the tree was, seeing it was in no danger of falling down and also he was doing it just because he didn't like cleaning up after the tree.  One of the guys said that a lot of people do this and then regret it later on; all I could do was shake my head and sigh as I've seen this kind of thing before but it's a matter of them realising what they've done wrong through trial and error when they find they want shade, but don't have any.
When the tree guys pulled the fence off, they were amazed at how badly rotten the fence was as they picked it up.
The guy who chopped down the main tree was agile and careful about how he climbed around the branches.  And the rest of the team did their jobs as he cut down the tree and they took the branches out to keep the ground clear for him.  Then, came the stump-grinder.  This piece of machinery isn't the most attractive thing in the world, but it's impressive... and does a great job.  However, I do wish Luke hadn't gotten the trees taken out... it's going to be a long hot Summer and his house is going to be a hotbox because he won't have the shade from the trees that were there.
Once the job was finished, the guys did cleaned up my carport, collected together anything leftover from it and put the fence back - and my side gate - and tidied up nicely.  They were amazed still how they managed to get the fence to stay together.  During the job, some of them said that the fence was the worse they've come across and it's a wonder it hasn't fallen down.  I said that it's a Body Corporate thing for them to work on and has nothing to do with me or anyone who owns the units; and some of the guys winced knowing that it's something dreadful I've had to live with for a long time.
I supplied the workers with bottles of water as they were drinking from my garden tap (and I haven't used that in over a year; who knows what's inside that tap?  I don't and I didn't wish for them to get sick).  So, I tipped out the water from the bottles and refilled them with fresh water from the kitchen tap for them to drink and they were grateful. 
Before long, they were finished and the fence was back up and I had scored myself a couple of Agapanthus; one's about to flower and there are a few that are juvenile.  So, once everything was back in place, I potted the big one and looked around for homes for the smaller ones; unsuccessfully.
Today, I went out shopping, picked up some new millet for Little Miss Stevie and found a lovely green halter-neck dress for myself.  Then, I found that Woolworths (and Coles) are playing the money game on the Halloween pumpkins by not putting a flat price on them; instead they're charging us $3.98 per kilo!  What a bloody rip-off!  So, depending on the size you get - and weight - you must pay by the stupid kilo?  What money-grabbing politicians they've turned into!  I bought an average-sized one thanks to the help of somebody who knew maths in the fruit'n'veggie section (that's another thing they don't think about - people who don't have a clue about maths!  Good on them for ripping us off too!).
Well, after, I paid for my veggies and other stuff around the ridges, I walked to Logan Central Plaza with my weighed down trolley and took it slow... I had to as it was so heavy.  That darn pumpkin had to make it in one piece; and I wasn't going to leave it behind all because it was too heavy - or break it either.
I did get all my other shopping done; however I had to have my blue trolley in my shopping trolley because I just couldn't drag it around Coles with me for that half hour.  I did try to ask the lady at the door to see if she could mind my blue trolley but she said she was on a break within 10 minutes; but when I returned about half an hour later, she hadn't moved.  Hate it when people say one thing and do another.  Well, I ended up being able to buy all that I needed in this fortnight's shopping; and I'm thankful.  Little Miss Stevie also got a taste of a new treat too:  Wild Millet... two different types.  And she loves them!  I'm so glad it doesn't take much to please my little bird!  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Feeling Off Colour

After having all year of a good clean bill of health and not catching a single cold or flu, it finally caught up with me.  I caught something in Spring!  Last week, I was feeling run down at around Monday; sneezing all day.  Then, by Wednesday, I was tired and feeling lethargic and sick in the guts.  But it was my older brother's 40th Birthday; and I didn't want to miss it!  So, I went to his birthday dinner and had the cheesecake afterwards - which was something I really should have given a miss; but I didn't want to be rude.
Then, on the weekend it was Riley's 12th Birthday; and I just couldn't miss that!  My sinus' were reeking havoc all day!  But then, so was everyone else's... so I wasn't alone.  By that night, I was beginning to lose my voice as Dad drove me home.  He noticed I was beginning to sound nasally and my voice was losing its usual tone too.  
During Saturday night was when it all took place!  I had a fever... it wasn't anything bad, I kept on waking up hot - yet freezing cold - and yet physically I was roasting but not sweating.  So, at around 1am, I went to the kitchen where I had left out a packet of Panadol for myself (just in case this very thing happened that night so I didn't have to go digging around for it in my fevered condition later), took 2 and went back to bed - after I reset the HD box (as it had screwed up at midnight).  By around 3am, the fever broke and I slept soundly until the alarm went off and I woke sweating like you wouldn't believe and absolutely starving.  After I turned off the alarm at the right times and took my meds, I thought a nice little snooze until around 8am would do me wonders; so I did (seeing the complex was very quiet on that morning).  I woke at 9am from a nice pleasant snooze!  I felt as though I had missed out on the morning!  But I felt better for it as I readied myself for the morning.
But yesterday, I spent most of my day stuffing around online, reading the paper and painting.  It wasn't much of a day really.  I just wanted to chill out and let myself rest after almost a month of running around socialising almost every single weekend.
Today, I made an appointment early at the doctors and went to get myself there on time.  Alison was really good.  She prescribed Klasid; something I've had before (but not too often as I don't get this sick very often) and I took some when I arrived at Mum and Dad's place and ate something when was dropped off home soon after.  Tonight, I had another one with dinner.  They make my meds a little stronger, but they'll kill off the bugs while they do.  I'll just make sure to care for myself while I'm taking them.  Seeing I don't sleep well, I'll have to make do with how I do sleep, and eat as well as I can (and seeing I'm scoffing down a lot of food - especially seeing I do that a lot when I'm sick - I'm sure I won't starve!).  So, wish me luck in getting rid of this bug before Christmas; as last year, it took me around 4 months to rid myself of the cough alone!  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Saturday, October 22, 2011

My Niece's 12th Birthday Party!

Today, is my niece's 12th Birthday!  Riley Parker-Malyon has a great party with all her classmates attending and us as well.  I went all out and bought her an artists sketch case for all her art gear this week and then wrapped it in some lovely purple paper - as I know it's one of her many favourite colours - and took it along with me to the party.
When Mum and I arrived, it seemed the neighbourhood was on its biggest chuck-out we've seen!  And as we came around the block, I spotted a nice coffee table that was just sitting out on the footpath looking lovely and commented that I should to and have a look at it.  Well, about 20 minutes after I arrived, I did and I ended up nabbing it and taking it back to Gabe's place to keep until we left.



Well!  Riley was there ready to greet guests and she saw me with a big, gaily-wrapped gift and I said she could open it straight away.  She ripped it open and loved it!  She adored it that I also included a hand-made book baggie as well - to carry her four books that she's currently reading and she can't wait to store her art stuff in the box!  She thought it was very cool.  When we had some time in her room, I told her that my art box I bought cost me around $85 but her was an absolute bargain and cost a lot less and was just as well-made; and these boxes should last her a good long time (unless it gets crushed or something else bad happens to it).  She grinned as she ran her hands over it saying she loved it - and its smell!  She loves the smell of new things... she just does.  And I don't blame her, so do I.  We went out into the living room where soon after, the first of her guests arrived.




It was a great afternoon of food, games, laughter and fun.  Gabe kept the kids going first with Tug-of-War and they all loved it, swapping from end to end, changing over kids from each end until they had the right mix, then they played the game; and it ended in hilarity with them all on the ground!  
Next was the Chocolate Game.  Now, I hadn't played this one since I was very young - and neither had some of the kids - but they had fun pulling on a tutu and a fuzzy hat with horns whenever they rolled a 6 on the dice and then trying to eat the block of chocolate small block by small block with a knife and fork... I got plenty of photos of the fights over that plate!
And then there was sword-fights with bamboo stalks - one of Riley's ideas... which was funny to see the kids run around fighting each other with them.  Some of the boys put on Star Wars type voices and the girls danced around smacking the sticks around until they broke.  The next game was a Treasure Hunt.  And seeing Riley's birthday is so close to Halloween, Katrina thought it would be good to include this holiday in her birthday.  We split into pairs and had to run around and find 6 items hidden around the garden.  Unfortunately, one of the kids went home, so I took part in being one of the pairs and we went around looking for the 6 things we needed.  Oh!  Talk about fun!  My partner slipped over on the front lawn and fell on her butt laughing her head off before we even found a treasure; and then once we found 5 of them, we were stuck for the last one until I found the whistle on the trailer around the side.  I let her keep all the things we found as she was one of the guests; and she was there to have fun.  

Then, Riley opened her pressies from her friends and Mum and Dad.  She received some lovely things including gift vouchers and money and then she received a new camera and a laptop from her Mum!  How cool is that!  She was so amazed!  Not long after that, it was time for cake - and not just any cake - it was time for Bee-sting.  Now, it's been tough to find a good, well-made Bee-sting which doesn't taste like and look like cardboard.  So, my Mum bought 3 and added some freshly whipped cream to it and - voila! - we tasted the old-fashioned taste of an original Bee-sting!  Why bakeries won't do them up like this anymore is beyond me!  
Well, we jumped rope with the tug-of-war rope and had fun, then we played this Tibetan game that Gabe found on the net.  It's where you need two chairs, two people, two cones (big enough to fit over the face, but you can still see out the end) and two bricks.  Then, when you the people wearing the cones, you have to get them to moved their own bricks - with their feet - to the chair across from them.  Now, it's harder than it looks and it is definitely one of the funniest things I've ever seen!  The kids loved it and they had play-offs and finals of it too.  Talk about funny.
We jumped-rope again and played H.E.L.P where you had to do a certain thing when the rope stopped on a certain letter (H - high rope. E - eyes closed. L - Lullaby. P - Pepper).  Well, it was great!  Gabe and I turned the rope until our arms hurt and Dad filmed it all.  The kids were getting worn out and they were having fun too.
Pretty soon, it was heading toward 5pm or so, and some of the parents dropped around to pick up their kids.  One of the chickens was picked up and cuddled - and it didn't seem to care as it settled under the crook of one of the girls' arms and they all patted the brown chicken (including me as I've been trying to pat this one for a while and it's been running away from me).  A few of them were scared of this brown beauty until they found out how nice and soft she was and she didn't bite either.  Then, Riley was nursing her for a bit too.
Soon after, it began to rain a little; and the kids came inside while I pulled in the chairs from the yard.  Mum and Dad said it was time for us to leave.  Dad had packed the coffee table into the back of his car and he offered to drive me home.  After we left, we chatted about all kinds of things; mainly television shows and how bad they were getting.  Then, my voice began to lag really badly on me (and it still is).  I don't think I'll have a voice tomorrow... so it'll be off to the doctors for me on Monday!  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.  

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Busy Busy Day

I woke this morning and found that I had my one and only day to myself to do any housework that needed doing.  So, I was up at around 7:30am, had the bed stripped down to the mattress and the first load of washing on by 8am and the house opened up before 8:30am.  I also had some horrible sinus too and have been taking some out-of-date antihistamines; but they're working a little.  I woke up with the sinus yesterday morning; and didn't know why I had gotten it then noticed that one of my neighbours had flowering bamboo in their yard.  This happened last year as well; and I was living on antihistamines for the Summer.  I hate Summer because this stuff gets really up my nose; literally and makes me very sick.
Anyway, once all the laundry was out of the way, the washing up was half-done and the mail was checked, I made myself a drink and jumped online for my few hours of net surfing.  I do enjoy my mornings of looking around on the net; as I find it fascinating reading all about the world on a computer.
At around midday, I was offline and downstairs to the radio playing a big countdown for the Gold Coast 600 this weekend.  I went out the side door and into the yard and mowed the lawn, then pulled out a rake and cleaned up the overgrown parts of my yard; tidying it up completely, throwing out all the long grass and weeds that I pulled out by hand.  It was a great feeling to have more room in my place; not to mention something to look forward to planting out with more pots and plants in the future.
Not long after I put all my gardening gear away and locked up the side gate, I was sorting out a birthday gift for my Bookcrossing Birthday Buddy when Mum and Dad came around to look at my air-conditioner.  You see, I had found a wasp buzzing around inside it this morning, called them and let them know.  Normally, these little critters buzz around these machines and not worry me.  But when I heard the noise and I checked out the window, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I found the buzzing didn't come from the outside sill of the window, but the inside!  So, this is why my folks were here.  However, when we pulled the front off the air-con and sprayed some surface spray inside it, we found the little guy was gone.  It wasn't until Dad was putting the front back on that we saw him; and really he wasn't as big as I thought; being a tiny little black'n'white thing.  But Dad understood where I could easily get mixed up with a wasp sounding bigger than it really was when it's inside a place like an air-conditioner.
Well, after they went home (and Dad went off to the doctors for his leg; as it's not healing all that great from a fishing trip a few weeks back), I pulled in the laundry at around 3pm or so, picked up all the towels, folded some laundry and put it away and then pulled together a whole lot of jackets and put them in my bedroom to put away.  The kitchen towels were put away as I prepared the kitchen to have the rest of the washing up finished up.  When that was done, I wiped down the counter and made up some cheese and biscuits for myself and settled in to watch some old sitcoms from the 1980-90's and to copy down the funny Hercules Protection Clause before thinking about dinner. 
Now, it's just past 10pm.  My minds on going to bed; which I've still yet to make up.  And tomorrow, I have an appointment with CRS to find a job.  I hope I'm successful this time.  Also, before I go, I'll be buying myself some good antihistamines... ones that work to keep my nose dry day or night!  I need to keep this sinus from turning into a cold.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Invasion of Privacy

I am so angry today.  There are no words that can express how frustrated I am; but first, I will tell you why.  Late last night, I jumped online here to check my mail before going to bed.  I don't normally do it if I'm feeling tired - which I was - but I decided to and was very thankful I did; as my Hotmail account was hacked!
At first, I didn't think anything of it.  Then, I quickly unhooked myself from the net for about a minute or so, then jumped back on, but it was too late, they had my details.  So, I deleted the returned mail and got rid of them out of my junkmail box and advised my friends on Facebook.  In reply, one of them advised me to change my password on my Hotmail account or I'd lose the lot!  So, I did... and I made it harder to hack too by taking better precautions.  
Now, I'm the most cautious person in the world when it comes to the internet.  I have an excellent anti-virus system installed on my computer (which updates daily).  I don't interrupt updates of anything that's supposed to update; and I make sure my Firefox Browser is the most current so I can keep up with everything.  However, I find it completely irresponsible of people who have studied hard and gotten themselves an IT degree to go and hack others.  Or better still, there's people out there who haven't and they're just naturally brilliant at computers and have found their ways around computers and have become hackers.  This makes them the most awful people around.
I dated a programmer once who once showed me how he could easily hack into a chatroom and use my account with a few simple keystrokes.  And once he showed me, he thought it would be funny to do it all the time; just to tease me.  So, if he could do that - as a programmer who's qualified - I'm wondering who the hell's out there hacking into our Facebook accounts (which happened to me not 6 months into owning a FB account; and I had to change my password).  Now, they've found their way into my Hotmail account.  
This invasion of privacy is becoming worse with each passing year.  If it's not Big Brother looking over our shoulders, it's the hackers who are stealing our identities as they pose as our banking and ISP's.  I, for one, am sick of it.  I'm a law-abiding Australian who was born here, educated here and lives here.  I have never tried to steal anyone's identity or even want to try; so why would somebody want to steal mine?  Only a low-life little grott would want to steal anything as low as somebody's identity; forcing that very person to start over again.
So, if you've found something really weird going on with any of your accounts online, call up your ISP and find out if you're supposed to receive anything like you're getting.  And if you're not, don't open it, delete it immediately and get rid of it out of your junkmail box so whoever hacked you can't get to you again... then, change your password!  The last thing you need is to have to start over your e-mail addressing issues again with all of your friends and contacts. 

Sunday, October 16, 2011

20 Year Class Reunion of Rochedale State High

Last night, I went out to the Beach House Bar & Grill at Mount Gravatt for my 20 year class reunion.  It was a great night.  However, before it all began, Brisbane was attacked by a massive storm for about an hour.  The blue/black clouds descended upon us and poured rain, hail and wind rattled around us.  It was a freaky storm to start the evening.  However, before long, it was finished; and I readied myself to go out.
Dad picked me up and dropped me at the place and I found I was about half an hour early; but I wasn't the only one.  There were others who were sitting around watching either the footy or the horse races on the televisions around the place while they had something to drink or eat.  But, then, people began to arrive and I climbed the stairs to find about ten people already there.
We were handed our name tags and a beer cooler when we entered the place.  It was nice to have something to take home and to remember the night by.  I put mine in my bag straight away so I didn't lose it and then began to try to take photos.  However, not that many people wanted to be in them; pity, as I really did want to get into the spirit of the night and grab as many photos as possible before too many people left.  





The place became packed - and loud - and the band (Theory) played a few sets before Kylie Lovejoy made an appearance at the door with her guitar.  She put her equipment at the stage and went around to everyone and then got herself a drink and sat down.  It was very cool she attended; and better still that she decided to play a set with the band. 
I found that a lot of people there still hung out in the groups they did when they were at school; it was really strange.  I tried to talk to them - without letting those years take me back to those times - but it was them who did that, not me.  The snobs were still snobs, the clicky groups were still the clicky groups and the quiet groups were still the quiet groups.  So, it was an amazing kind of experiment where physically we all changed, but mentally, we gravitated toward our old social groups as though nothing had changed; when really it had.
I found out that one of our classmates had died over the last year or so.  Brendon Jones - one of the funny guys from my Care Group - went out on a deep sea fishing trip and never came back.  I was told that by one of the people I ran into, and it's completely shocked me as I thought he was one of the nicer people I knew then.  What a waste to somebody who was so funny at school.
Well, the night was really great otherwise.  Most of the people I talked to were married, were in relationships or had partners.  I was about the only single person there who had never married or had children.  But a lot of people did tell me that I hadn't change a single bit since high school.  One woman - Nicole - came up and told me that I didn't have a single wrinkle (except laugh lines) and my hair was exactly the same colour as it was in high school; and she was amazed that I haven't changed in anyway.  I thought that was really lovely and sweet.  Then, Kylie Lovejoy said that she and I were the only two who hadn't physically changed all that much in the last 20 years; she found that amazing.  I said that she hadn't changed at all; and she said the same thing right back smiling.  It's so great when people you haven't seen in so long say that about you; and then you see somebody who's exactly the same as you and you can say the same thing about them.

Well, there was a lot of food - more than enough - and we were all given two tickets to have free drinks at the bar during the night.  Our $25 covered the drinks, food and a band for the night; until around 11:30pm.  This was a great deal; and a great evening.  I totally enjoyed myself.  The greatest thing was that I wasn't the only one who didn't remember everybody; there were others who barely knew anyone else.  But I guess that's what reunions are about, getting back in touch with people who you've lost touch with; and kick starting the memory of them again.