Friday, February 28, 2014

Respect

This morning, I heard on the news on Triple M about two teenaged girls who boarded a Gold Coast bus yesterday and they physically and verbally abused an elderly blind Aboriginal man.  Until tonight, I hadn't seen the footage - and it brought me to tears.

What happened to this man was horrible; and he wasn't the only one who was abused.  On the video uploaded online, a woman with a pram was called names as well and she was cursed at by these teenagers.  The passengers on board were shocked at their behavior and the visually impaired man tried to fight off their abuse, but was overpowered by them.

This is disgusting!

I don't give a rat's arse who gets on a bus - and I've caught plenty of buses in my years of not driving a car - but having a bit of integrity and dignity about yourself is one of those things that everyone is expected to have.  Abusing fellow passengers is not.  You don't go around abusing the crap out of other people - I don't care who you are, how drunk you are, where you've been, how you're dressed or anything else about you... you could be a Hollywood legend on the Silver Screen and if you insulted me, I'd tell you where to get off; simply because you don't have the right to insult me.

These girls have been caught since and charged because the visually impaired man pressed charges against them.  And you know, I think that the more young people take responsibility for their actions in their lives, the better human beings they'll grow into.  

Now, I rebelled when I was younger - but I never ever did this kind of bullcrap.  I don't have a criminal record, have never been arrested for anything and never got into any fights with anyone.  Sure, I got close, I was usually standing up for myself or somebody else - and that takes courage.  That was something the people on the bus had - to push the girls off the bus and keep that elderly gentleman safe until they could get him some help.

And the name of the game here folks is respect... pure and simple.  If you don't respect others, how are you going to receive respect from them?  You don't demand it - you earn it.  That's how my family taught me.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

What A Day!

Hmmm.... where do I start?  Today was shopping day.  Yep, pay day... and so I was up early, had a nice shower and washed my hair and got ready to go out.

The fencing guys didn't arrive, so I took off by 9:30am and had checked the mail, bought the fruit'n'veggie and scored $50 worth of petrol before going to Woolworths for my chocolate.

Then, I was off to Logan Central Plaza where I looked around for some hangers for the half pot that I've had under one of my seats in my yard for about 3 years... I want to hang it on the new fence once it's finished - along with a few plaques I have had my eye on at Bunnings to make my garden really look lovely.
I went to the chemist and Coles and then, before I knew it I was outa there and home!  And the guys still hadn't shown and I had arrived back at around 11:30am... so I packed away the cold stuff - dropping the yoghurt in the process - and then planned out my afternoon.

If they weren't going to show, I was going to get the rest of the stuff I needed for the week today.

I took off to Bunnings first to get 3 bags of potting mix, 2 hangers and a new pot to replace one that had gone brittle in my yard.  I found those just as I bumped into one of my friends who works for Bunning and I don't see them often - Kym Phox.  She used to live in unit 7 for a while and did up the back yard, adding value to the place, before she moved out.
We caught up and had a cool chat and caught up with each other.  I showed her photos of what I've been up to with the Creative Markets and she was really proud of me.  And then I told her Dad was buying me a car too, and she was really happy.

After I packed the car, I was off to Garden City to get some art stuff.  I needed some paint and ties at Riot Art.  I bought all that stuff and thought to see if K-Mart still had wooden coathangers in stock before they closed down for the extention.  But they didn't.  Oh well.  I didn't worry, I thought to leave it anyway.

I drove back to Mum and Dad's via the highway and they were watching 'Boardwalk Empire' on dvd.  Dad told me that the television was playing up... or recorder... or something about the two.  Either way, they couldn't watch television properly as it was all hot pink and blue.  However, they've had nothing but problems with this set since Dad bought it from somebody at his workplace about 5 years ago.  Nothing works properly on it and yet he won't get anyone out to look at it.  And yet, when I got a brand new television, and it screwed up, we had Panasonic looking at it straight away... strange.

Well, I arrived home at around 3:30pm and found myself unpacking the rest of my groceries, making a pizza dough and then settling in for a few hours of reruns on channel 11.  It was nice to settle back for a bit.  Before long, it was dark outside and I watched about 2 hours of 'Supernatural' and it was time to lock up the house.  But before I did that, I looked around for my newly-bought art gear and didn't think of looking in the car... where I had left it at around 3:30pm and forgotten about it!  
So, how was your day?  Busy? Slow?  Or just average?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Another Busy Week Ahead!

It's past 10pm and I'm about to go to bed.  But I thought to let you all in on what's been going on in my life first.

It's been a busy weekend.  I had Chiropractors on Friday.  Then, I had my Romance Writer's Group on Saturday.  This was great as I got a lot further with the work I had handed this time than last time.
Then, once home, I packed the back of the car with two table, a sheet of metal and my art easel, strapped it all together and put the main shop box in the back and stock in the front and the car was ready to go for Sunday morning.

I had a light dinner of an open sandwich and headed off to bed by 10:30pm; not that sleep came all that easily to me.  For some reason, I do find it hard to sleep the night before a market day.  But once the alarm goes off, I'm up and going... yeah really weird, eh?

Sunday went off almost without a hitch. 

The Creative Markets were 12 stalls down, and very slow.  But that's something some of the retailers have found in the beginnings of the years:  it's slow in February but picks up throughout the rest of the year.
So, I didn't worry about it when people just walked past and didn't buy anything.  I saw funny things happen and not-so-funny things.  Like when I watched the sibling rivaly between two kids of who controled the relationship in the family.  The older sister went and bought anything she wanted and got her face and arm painted while her younger brother hesitated at stalls and was shoved out of the way by his sister, and was dragged from the stalls he wanted to stay at to buy something.
Then there was a lady who kept on saying she liked my Magna-Pegs everytime she walked past my stall.  She must have passed by around five times, then she walked out the door of the place.  Before long, she was back, walked straight up to me, smiling and said that she'd take two Magna-Pegs.  I grabbed a bag and she chose two... how cool is that?

But really not many people made that much money yesterday.  I made a good amount.  I even scored a commission from the stall next to me - the lady who makes baby clothes needed pegs to hold them onto the tiny coathangers better.  So, last night, I filed down and painted up 24 pegs all the same colour, and today, I began to paint them the same design... so far, tonight, I got up to 6 pegs.  *Phew!*  That's a lot to get done in around 12 hours for me.  But there's plenty to get finished.  I have to buy two or three more tubes of paint and then I'll finished them complete.

Otherwise, I banked the float and the money I made yesterday and organised a transfer each fortnight - so I can really get in and make a bit of money on this and pay for my stall each month... and now, I'm into this Crafty Pegs thing.

Well, anyway, I have to move all my potted plants for the fencing guys tomorrow.  They're not actually working at my place tomorrow, but it's best to be ready than not. They'll be working on my place on Wednesday.  So, I'll move all the plants from the back fence to my house and then making sure they can get through my side gate... and will most probably move the car back for them.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Medication Helps You Live

I just watched something horrifying on A Current Affair.  It was a clip of a man in Katoomba who had a seizure on a train platform who came so close to being hit by a train, that he was dubbed 'The Luckiest Man Alive'.

This was until he admitted that he didn't always take his medication as diligently as he should.

He wasn't lucky - he was stupid.

Stupid for skipping his medication because he felt good that day.

Stupid for taking off on a day where he'd be around a place which could trigger a seizure (some people are photo-sensitive and a train passing in either direction can trigger a seizure - or his iPhone could have done it too).

Stupid for not taking notice of any signs - if he had any warning signals at all (which weren't discussed in the program).

Before any of you jump on the comments thing below and start screaming at me about what a horrible person I am for telling off a poor guy with a medical condition, I'll let you in on something:  I have Epilepsy.  I was born with it.  My medical condition is genetic.  I have been battling with my Epilepsy for a long time; and finally in 2004 it became stablised.  

It only took 3 neurologists, a trip to Melbourne for tests for the operation (which I couldn't have) and a number of medications to find out which ones I was allowed to have and a good watch on my diet, sleeping patterns (and that some nights I don't sleep) and good family support to help me get through it.  And yeah, I've hurt myself plenty through having Grand Mal seizures too... not a pleasant sight those ones.  But I've never - ever - in my life, tried to skip out on my medications.

They are administered by my neurologist to keep me alive.  They are to keep me working properly.  They are so I don't kill off 10,000 brain cells each time I take a damned seizure.
And what happens to some of those idiots who think that they feel okay for a day or two because they haven't taken a seizure?  They skip their medication and think they are 'cured'.  

NEWSFLASH!  THERE'S NO CURE FOR EPILEPSY!

Yes, this has pissed me off to no end.  This has caused me to put up this rant because I've seen way too many people have seizures because they think they're okay when they're not.

And you know something?  I've had enough!

The first time I saw somebody in denial, I was living Auchenflower.  The woman was around 50 and she just fell over in the street and took a seizure in public.  She was trying really hard to hide her Epilepsy from her children... how stupid can you get?  Hiding it from family isn't going to make it go away.

The second time I saw somebody with Epilepsy and they didn't want it was a neighbour who was on the same medication as me and she ignored the fact that she had to take her medication and that she was allergic to cold & flu tablets.  So, one night her Dad showed up at my door saying his daughter was sick and showed me what she taking (as he didn't know we were allergic to).  I advised him to rush her to a hospital before she really got sick.  He did, and she was there for a week... her neurlogist found out she wasn't taking enough of her medication and began to make a few house calls to make sure she took them.

Then, there was an old friend of mine who has had the condition as long as I have.  She took herself off her medication without consulting her doctors... I reported her to all the neurologists I knew; as I also knew she had a motorcycle license (something I knew we weren't allowed to have) and then her parents who dropped in her on her and found she didn't have a drop of her medications in the house... they took her to the neurologist and told her to get back on her medication; that she can't cure herself and it was good that somebody was good enough to report her.  She's never spoken to me again.  But at least she's alive.

Medication helps you people... it stops SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death of Epilepsy Patients) and it stops you losing brain cells.  Sure it's inconvenient... yes, it can be a dealbreaker if you're looking for a partner (but you gotta remember they have the immaturity problem, not you).  But if you want to live, stay on your medications - and don't be a damned fool!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A Mostly Restful Week

This week, I'm hoping to get in and do as little as possible, you know, keep my stress down, sleep as much as I can and eat well... well, we can always make plans, keeping to them is the problem.

On Sunday, I was off to Brighton to see my brother and his girlfriend, Kat.  I used the GPS and followed the directions exactly; and the stupid thing nearly got me lost anyway.  It kept telling me to get in the right hand lane, and then told me to get off the highway - how dumb can you get, right?
Anyway, once there, we had a great day.  My brother helped fix one of my Glo-Mesh handbags, they both looked at my work I was going to sell at the Creative Markets - and ended up buying one of my Itty-Bitty Jugs - and then we decided to go for a swim down at the waterfront. 
Once there, we were almost blown out of the water as it was very windy, and it was also really choppy too, so I didn't stick around in the water long... instead I walked along the beach and picked up shells to bring home (in some places this is illegal, I know, but I don't have a lot of shells in my home, and would like to have a nice little container of them).  We all hung about the house after lunch and coffee.  Kat looked through photos while Gabe and I hung around in hammocks near his work shed for about an hour before I thought it was time to take off home.  I didn't want to be caught in the afternoon traffic on a Sunday afternoon.  What a day!

Yesterday, I had a big morning of running around.  The plans were small-sounding in my head, but once on the road, I found they were big.  
I headed off to Bunnings to get another card table.  This one was for the markets; as packing up my craft table was going to be a shit of thing to do every time.  So, I spent the money and just did what I thought was right.  This card table is only going to be used for the Creative Markets (or any other markets that I'm going to be doing) with my little tresle table and easel.  No fuss, no muss.  I'll just load them all onto the 2 wheel trolly I have and take them into the markets, then the second trip will be for the boxes and then I'd move the car... 
Anyway, after getting the table, I went to Garden City to go to Suncorp.  I had found a cheque from AGL (an energy company which sent me a refund cheque in 2012 and I forgot to cash it).  Anyway, I'm hoping I got it in on time... fingers crossed!  
After that, I went to Riot Stores and found they were having a 'Spend $40 and get $40 free stock' sale... yay!  So, I did.  I bought a collection of things I needed and scored as much as I needed to have in return.  It was great!  
Before long, I was on the road again and back to Springwood, this time to Mum and Dad's place.  They saw what I bought and Mum was impressed.  I made my drink for my Craft Group and then we chatted about what I bought and I opened a portable water pot... this thing folds up to a quarter of its size!  How cool is that?  I love it.  So, I bought two - one for me, one for my niece, Riley.  

This week, I'm hoping to get in and do some cleaning up, washing up, packing the car on Friday or Saturday afternoon.  Then, I'll cook something in the slow cooker for dinner on Sunday.  But then, during the week, I have volunteer work, a chiropractor's appointment and other things to do.  But I'm hoping to get a lot of sleep and eat well so I have the energy to get my butt into the Markets.  I do have those appointments and small outings, but they aren't too stressful.  Anyway, I how is your week shaping up?  Busy, lazy, or just ordinary?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Bullying Through the Ages

Yesterday, I saw yet another video online that had 'gone viral' showing a bully beating up a kid at their school.  

You know, this isn't new... bullying that is.

It's been around since the dawn of time, and it's not going to stop; not until kids stand up for themselves like they did in the past.  I mean like they did when I went to school.

Yeah, I went to Rochedale State High and believe me, if you didn't stand on a few toes there and shove back when you got pushed around, you were called a weakling and feared 3pm each day.
Now, before you begin commenting below and telling me off for being a bitch, let me say something.  I was one of the smallest kids in my class.  I was also one of the most awkward kids too.  In the first year and half I barely said anything to anyone - let alone teachers - because I had big social problems.  In my primary school, I had a really crappy year 7 teacher who had made me feel horrible about myself, so when I went to high school, I had huge trust issues - I trusted nobody.
This made me a target for bullies.  But instead of letting them push me around, I shoved back, or ignored them (which, of course, made them more angry).  

A lot of kids went through this routine with a few of the bullies at this school.  And we were encouraged to stand up for ourselves... and so I did.  If somebody pushed me, I pushed back.  If somebody shoved me, I hit them.  If they happen to fall down and go running off to bitch to a teacher about me hitting them, making them bleed and fall down, well, I'd easily tell the teacher that they started it by picking on me first.  The teacher would ask them if that was true, and they'd just repeat that I hit them... this didn't get them far.  They'd get detention, I'd be told off for hitting them, and that'd be it.  My folks were never called up.  The police never got involved.  I never got suspended or expelled... none of that crap.  And no, nobody put it on ... what was Facebook or the ... inter-what?  

We didn't have the internet or Facebook around to make this kind of thing so public it was around the world in 30 seconds.  No.  The world was a much, much bigger place then.  We were only just getting computers into our schools, still using card catalogues in libraries, overhead projectors and VCR's were the biggest thing around in our homes.  Tablets, iPods, iPhones or anything else that's electronic and hand-held hadn't been invented yet.  And the internet was still being perfected in the USA... it still took 3 days to send an e-mail.

Bullying is bullying.  Beating the crap out of somebody is still the same as it was before - just made more public and is filmed by cold-hearted by-standers who upload it onto the internet instead of helping out the poor sucker who is getting their head beaten in.
So, the next time you see this kind of thing online, just think that the kids who are standing around holding up their phones recording it are in the wrong too.  They should be splitting up what's going wrong, not standing by and treating it as though it's entertainment.  Sure, they might get hurt, but that's part of life... but it'll help another fellow human being.

That's right... a human being.

We are all from the Human Race - we need to remember that.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tuesday Already?

Wow!  I've missed a few days.  

Well, today, I woke up early, ate breakfast, and was out the door just after 8am to get the Pajero to Mum and Dad's house so Mum could drive it to her friend's house for her Mah Jong day.  She goes and plays Mah Jong each Tuesday with a group of girlfriends around the city and usually uses Dad's car.  But today, he has to use his because one of his old bosses is very sick and asked him over.  The old boss is Tony, who Dad used to drive Limos for and he's not going so hot.  So, of course, I took the 'Green Beastie' over there.  I did have plans to vacuum the car out today and make it nice and clean... but they can be done on Thursday; as tomorrow is a shopping day.

Anyway, seeing the car port is empty today, it also gives me a chance to sweep it out and tidy it up properly and set up my stall properly too, and time myself.  I can take photos of it and see if it works too.
I have other plans today too.  I have to mow the lawn, tidy up the edges and water the plants this arvo.  This won't take long, but it'll be good for the garden.

Yesterday was good.  I took along some of my 'Itty-Bitty Jugs' to my craft group to show the ladies what I'll be selling in two weeks' time at the Creative Markets ... and some of them said they'd come and have a good look at the other designs I have at home - as I only took along a few of them.  So, that's a good thing.

I've also been trying to read more lately.  With the markets starting up and again, and my new Romance Writing Group just beginning, I'm finding there's not really a lot of time to read much.  But just before bed is a good time.  I'm squeezing in a few chapters at around 11pm or so... yeah, a bit late, eh?  Oh well, at least I'm trying.
Anyway, you can see my year is starting off as busy as hell.  How's yours?  Busy?  Or is it slowly getting back into order?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Windy Old Thursday

It looked like rain today, but I did the laundry anyway.  By around 1pm or so, it was all dry because the wind snapped the towels, underwear and other clothes like flags, and the sun played peek-a-boo between the threatening grey clouds.

While it was all out there there drying, I vacuumed the house, dusted the piano, credenza and the entertainment unit.  Then, I washed the kitchen floor - which only got sugar all over it again because I'm clumsy.  
While the floor was drying, I put out the recycling and put some money across for tomorrow's outings.  Yeah, I have some things to do while I'm out and about checking the mail, collecting a few things for a Bookcrossing Valentine's Exchange thing and basically just making sure I drive safely.

Then, I sat down and put in an hour or so to do some Crafty Pegs.  While I was there, I heard some Kookaburras giggling around the place, so I grabbed the camera and looked for them.  They were on the guttering across the way out the back door.  One was sitting there, while the other was skimming the underside of the guttering for food; talk about cute!  So, I took some photos and the two Kookaburras watched me watching them. Hahaha... funny as!

At 4pm, I got in and made two pizza doughs - one that worked, one that didn't and got thrown out.  The one that worked tasted delicious!  I'm wondering what happened to the one I stuffed up.  Oh well, it happens; and after around 8 or 9 months of making pizza doughs, this is my first stuff-up.
I worked on more Crafty Pegs gear while Supernatural played on dvd - until around 10pm - before locking up the place and turning off the lights.  Then, I'm now sitting up here and writing this blog.  It doesn't sound like I got all that much done, but really I did.  

There's more to be done... more decluttering and more cleaning.

And until I blog about those, and until I upload a photo album about that, I hope you're working on your projects successfully like I am.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Wednesday .... what can I say?

Today was my Dad's Birthday.  I gave him a Super Cheap Membership Card.  Very cool... he loves it.  But I was up very early today to get petrol for the car.  However, seeing everyone put their bins out behind my car, it was near impossible to get the Pajero out of the car port.  So, I got a great idea:  photograph the problem and e-mail it to Dad (or anyone who cares about this problem).  And I did... well, after his lunch anyway.

This morning, after the petrol was gotten, breakfast was eaten and milk was bought, I was hanging out here online when my mobile rang and the service guy was here to fix my washing machine.  It had begun to make a high-pitched singing sound - this is called grinding and isn't good for the machine.  It's the seals wearing out and they normally put some gunk around the seal to make it stop singing/grinding for the next few years.
Well, once that was done, I paid the man and he was on his way, then I jumped on the phone and called my folks.  Mum had told me that she was thinking of taking Dad out to Runcorn Tavern for lunch and I was invited.  So, I took them up on the offer.  But I had to shower first and get myself into some clean clothes after washing my hair.

We had our lunch, sat around with our coffee and hot chocolate at the club there, scored ourselves some free hats at the bottle shop not far away... then we were off!  Mum and Dad had to drop in to the Medicare at Logan Central. 
This turned into a small shopping trip for them both.  Dad needed to go to Coles and I walked around there with him helping him find stuff and we found the checkouts were all closed - except one - and we had to go through the self-service checkouts (something he hates but I don't mind).  Anyway, we met up with Mum and were on our way back home before we knew it.  It was nice to be out and about around my way... Dad didn't mind it too much.  He was amazed at how well I knew my Coles, and that everything was packed in so tightly.  

I arrived home, opened up the house and didn't really want anything for dinner.  So, I made myself a light salad and had some Green Tea and watched some Supernatural.  Before I knew it, it was around 10:30pm and I'm now on here... woah!  Where did my evening go?  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

A Busy Few Days

I've been working on a few things over the last few days, all around the house.  I'm still organising this place - which is a good thing - and I'm happy with my progress.  Yes, it's slow, but I'd rather slow than a standstill.

Anyway, I cleaned up the area next to the side door to the car port.  I threw out all the rubbish bags there, picked up any paper and newspapers there and threw it all away.  Now, it's nice and neat and tidy.  Any plastic bags that are floating around this house that can't be fitted into the plast bag tube thing in the kitchen, well, they get thrown out in the bin.  I don't want them.  
Then, I attacked the garden yesteday afternoon.  The lawn mower came out, I moved the pots and pulled weeds, grass and other bits to make the garden look and feel neat an tidy.  And now it looks and feels like it should - lovely and pretty.  And I'm glad I got in and did that work too.

Then, I made myself a pasta dish and ate early.  I worked on my digital recipe book and watched some Supernatural on dvd - Season 8.  
Before long, I was sitting at my craft table working away at the pegs, pencils and magnets again.  I'm looking at getting as much done as I can before the next market.  And this week, I'm hoping to buy some coat hangers to paint up and make look nice too... paint them with flowers and flames in cool colours for anyone who wants them.  Take my stall in a new direction.

Anyway, that'll be for March.  This month, I owe money to another artist who has got some jugs I want to buy and other little things she's offered me to help market them.  I'll be seeing her on Saturday.

Last pay, I bought a 6 litre box for the stall gear.  This means, I have 2 boxes for the stock to fill; this is good.  I can't wait to see how all of this goes.  So far, I've put all the bagged stuff into one box and the wrapped stuff into the other.  The store box doesn't look much, but really it will have a few more things before the next Creative Markets comes up.  Mum reckons it's a good idea I have graduated it from a small box to a larger one, as it's easier for me to expand it when I need to.
I've told her my plans to get a proper desk for my craft area... one that doesn't move when I bump it.  I need one with drawers and is sturdy too.  She nodded, and said that it's best if I get myself one which climbs the wall in front of me so I can store stuff there too.  She knows what I'm thinking of too.  That's what's so good about Mum.  She knows what I'm on about with Crafty Pegs.

Well, it's been busy around here.  From cleaning out junk I don't need, to getting my stall ready for the Creative Markets, it's all on the go here.  Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.