I got quite attached to my little Asus eee laptop while travelling. The size of a paperback book, it did everything I wanted – lots of photo storage, web, email, office suite – everything. Alas, it’s advantage is also a disadvantage – it’s small enough to steal and that’s what happened to it in theContinue reading “Attachments”
Category Archives: Personal
Sorry is the first step
Today has been momentous. An obstacle has been removed from the road ahead. Now we can move on to some hard yakka.
Sorry Day Eve
Tomorrow is a historic day for Australia. At long last, after much political soul searching and hand wringing, Federal Parliament, through its new Prime Minister, will say the word “sorry” to this land’s first peoples. In this context “sorry” is a power word. It has strong potential for unblocking the process for healing and self-realisation,Continue reading “Sorry Day Eve”
Reflection on an unexpected adrenalin rush
Up until mid afternoon, the greatest drama today was discovering my car’s cooling system overflowing with oil. I managed to nurse it over to the local service centre, just across from where we live, and was discussing it outside with the bloke there when all hell broke loose. A man went charging past us withContinue reading “Reflection on an unexpected adrenalin rush”
Just when you thought you couldn’t take anymore…
… the army of heavy machinery that turns the overhead wire spaghetti jungle into clean neat underground power lobs on our doorstep. This is the driveway we share with the church right now. Meantime the broken fence rubble is being buried under rubble from several deep holes. Judging from what’s happening around the streets, itContinue reading “Just when you thought you couldn’t take anymore…”
An ill wind indeed
Cleaning up after the storm, I concluded the wheelbarrow could do with some air in its tyre. I flung it in the back of the station wagon and took it down to the service station. I attached the air tube and pressed the button – air flowing but no gauge reading – so I adjustedContinue reading “An ill wind indeed”
When the big winds blow
I slept through the explosion. Lachlan heard it as my tool shed sailed past his bedroom window. Jenny heard enough to shake me awake. The wind was howling and the rain was drumming down, but first light revealed the dawn’s drama. The shed took out the corner post of the pergola which mercifully prevented itContinue reading “When the big winds blow”
Captain’s Log
Day 1 Fair sailing along the Mundaring –Kalgoorlie Pipeline, then to Norseman. Traversing dry wheat country where the signs of encroaching salt are ominous, then the goldfields. Coolgardie, with its wide streets and grand buildings, is practically a ghost town these days – 750 kms Day 2 Swift passage through a lonely stretch to Eucla.Continue reading “Captain’s Log”
Blood Diamond: are diamonds the new fur?
This is an unusual movie to reflect on – half action/drama and half documentary. Critics looking at the Hollywood Indiana Jones style action slam the movie for its slow pace and length. Those looking for documentation of the dehumanising illicit diamond trade in post colonial Africa lament the simplification and trivialisation of a complex humanitarianContinue reading “Blood Diamond: are diamonds the new fur?”
Pirouetting Penguin Packs Powerful Punch
The message of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Duckling has moved beyond the worthy goal of promoting self-esteem for who you are to serving a more universal ecological awareness campaign. Right now, the swan in the making has transmogrified into an anthropomorphised tap-dancing penguin called Mumbles. Frankly, my expectations were not high as we tookContinue reading “Pirouetting Penguin Packs Powerful Punch”