Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Dead Air

I'm really not happy right now. Actually, I can say that I'm really pissed off - yeah, pissed off is keeping it pretty clean.

I have lost my internet connection for the last three days at my house and so have come to my parents' house to write this blog, to connect on Facebook and on to my hotmail to get what I need to call Optus to try and talk to them - again - and hope and pray that they don't cut me off for the 6th time in three days.

Yes... I've have had the phone company not want to talk to me after leaving me on hold for over 10 minutes. They have cut me off when I've tried to get them to fix my internet and phone line. This is about a month after I bundled my phone and internet bills together... something I really should never have done because the way things were going (2 separate bills) was doing just fine. 
Now? I'm being treated horribly and hung up on, being treated dead air on the phone line and on my mobile - and this is after 10 years of me being a loyal customer to this damned phone company, after paying my bills on time every time and never failing to be there as a good customer to them. 

But Optus' downfall is their customer service. Whenever I needed them to help me with my phone line, they'd keep me on hold for over 10 minutes, never be there when I needed them and never ever help me when I needed. This is damned well unexceptable and something needs to be done to fix this problem. 

Not only this, but the people you get to speak with are hard to understand; and when you tell them you're having a hard time understanding them, they get impatient and hang up on you... this happened three times to me on Monday and yesterday. 

I am not going to put up with these horrible people anymore. Optus must work on their customer service. This phone company must look into how they treat their customers; and if the complaints on their Facebook page is any indication, I'm not the only person out here in the world who is pissed off at them. Some of the public have been without phones and internet service for over a fortnight (2 weeks!) and this a dreadful way to treat your customers when Optus used to be one of the best phone companies around not so long ago... so, my question to them is: what happened to make you - Optus - treat your customers so dreadfully? You either fix your customer relations or you'll lose a huge amount of your customers to your competitors ... and there's a lot of them out there now, not just Telstra. 

And... I'm going to be one of those leaving Optus to go to another company who will actually talk to me without cutting me off in the middle of what I'm saying. 

Thursday, March 24, 2016

1984

It's occurred to me lately that we're all just become addicted to so many things. There's Facebook - which is a crappy thing to sit and look at because so many people are out there trying to scare the shit out of us, telling us that a photo is cursed unless we share it. Then, there's 'adverts' which aren't adverts where a freaky face jumps up in our face (and no that's not funny if you're not into that crap). Then, there's the scammers, the phishing, the people out there who are so fucking bored with life that they go and steal another person's identity and fuck with their friends. 

Yeah, Facebook - a great idea. Facebook started out with a person's idea to keep in contact with his friends across his university campus.... that's it! 

Then, there's blogs... yep, like the one you're reading. Do you have any idea how many blogs and vlogs (video blogs) there are in the world now? There's so many to pick from you'd be here all year just looking around at only Blogger to find one which you'd like. I manage 9 of them... yes, you read right. But I don't go into all of them on a regular basis. One of them hasn't been touched in a few months; mainly because it's my Little Miss Stevie's one and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I don't wish to shut it down, but I don't wish to change it either - it's just so darned cute. And it still gets hits.

However, over the years, I've noticed something about our lives. We have become either very addicted to what we're being told on the news - which isn't very much - or reality shows - which are crap intensified for our viewing pleasure. Since when did we become such gullible, stupid animals who just stare at televisions screens for days on end wondering who's going to eat an egg that's gone rotten over 3 - 6 months just to get food let into 'the camp' when nobody in their right mind would touch it?
Why would anyone watch a show on cooking when most of the contestants are fussy, whiny little arseholes to begin with - and I would never invite them to my dinner table to start with? Why in hell are we being suckered into turning on our television sets when there's better things to do like, oh I don't know, turn around and talk to your family.

Is it so wrong to remember that you have other people in your home who you're related to? Don't you remember that you could ask each other about your day? Or put on some music and just listen to it (and not the new shit either; I mean some music you haven't listened to for a long time on cd's... yeah put away your phone and actually use that thing in the corner called a stereo system). 

Now, before you start in on me for using a blog to get my crap out here. I'll tell you something: I don't watch the news. I don't watch any reality television. I don't read the newspapers... it's all just shit that is turned around on us where we are being told what they want us to know; not what we need to know. So, if I'm not being told what I need to know, I don't want to read the crap they're force feeding us.

Instead, I'm writing and reading books, gardening, painting, learning new crafts, cooking old-fashioned recipes and getting myself out of the house and not watching television during the day. I enjoy doing what I do and take part in volunteer work on a regular basis. My life isn't perfect, but then nobody's is. But you'd never find me getting into watching anything on mainstream television. At night, by 7pm, I've turned on my dvd player and I'm watching either a dvd from my collection or a television series I've got from my collection - either way, I don't watch the crap which is lined up on the umpteen amount of channels they seem to think is what we want.

So, really... you gotta ask yourself: are you really happy with how this life has turned out? Way back in the 1980's, life was more pure. We didn't have so many television channels, we went out more, had more conversations with our neighbours and friends. We ate at the dinner table more and less in front of the television. We read more books, had a Family Dinner on Sunday nights, enjoyed BBQ's with friends and neighbours and weren't worried about who was going to know about our ideas of fun. We weren't worried about how violent society has become... because society wasn't violent.  And the bigger question we have to ask ourselves is: what in all that is good has happened to our lives for us to be so scared of who we were, who we want to be and where our way of life is going?

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Autumn Has Arrived!

Last night, I was chillin' out in front of the idiot box when I heard the wind chimes at the back door of a breeze approaching. I hang them there to musically announce if there's a nice breeze or if the rain's coming in when we've got some of Mother Nature's water system happening from the skies. And last night, I felt the chill of the long-awaited Autumn evening show up. I didn't think much of it until I found myself reaching for the socks I had pulled off earlier thinking I was in for a warmer night.

It's so lovely to know we're going to have the warm days and cooler nights coming our way. So, I've been getting myself out of bed earlier to get my laundry done and into the garden as well. I'm looking forward to Winter this year as it's been three years since I gave my gardens a good big facelift - and this year is the year I'll be getting in and doing a major repotting! Very cool. 

The two pots out the front are in to be replaced by bigger pots (so the plants will have room to move) and I'll use the pots from them in the back yard. The Frangipanni out the back is needing a bigger pot - much bigger - and so that'll be replaced as well. This will take time as I'll be hoping to buy those pots from Bunnings one at a time. 

I'm still cleaning out the house bit by bit... I'm in my forth or fifth year of decluttering my house. But you do get to a point where you can only declutter only so much before you can't do anymore. I'm up to the small things in my house. Mum's decluttering her place, and she's starting right at the beginning - and I'm so proud of her, as she's letting go of so many things. However, I have noticed she's stopping on the things she wants to keep and looking through them. I have given her the advice that even though it's nice to look through the stuff she wants to keep, put it off to once side (the Keep Pile) and look at it afterwards and don't lose momentum on the cleaning out process. 

Well, that's all there is to report right now. It's getting easier to sleep at night, and I'm looking forward to cooking the lovely comfort food I love to eat every Winter (yes, I'm a Winter person, not a Summer person) and get in and read some good books over this time of year as well. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

5:30am

5:30am. That's the time my day started yesterday morning; purely by accident, but it started out at the crack of dawn by hearing somebody screaming, two doors slamming and the sound of the siren of a fire engine and their horn.

The horn got me up. I thought the unit complex was on fire! So, I grabbed the keys, pulled on the dressing down and my mobile and got outside to find there was no big red engine at the gate. So, I raced around the place looking around for which unit might have been alight. None of them were - and strangely enough - nobody was out of bed or their houses to see what the noise was about.
Looking up, I saw smoke coming over the back fence (near Marlow Street) of the complex; and I swore. I wondered if one of the units over the other place had caught fire and the flames and embers were going to jump to our place. But the smoke wasn't dense and black enough, and the smell wasn't of plastic (of the insulation... yep, I've seen a place over there go up, not great as they have no fire walls between their units whereas we do). So, I raced along the units to 39 and climbed up onto the retaining wall which runs along the fence line and ran up to the back fence and peeked between the palings. I watched as one fire fighter was battling to put out a car fire which had started in the back of the car. It had started so suddenly - so quick - that the owner of the car had only enough time to grab their belongings in the front seat and run, leaving the headlights on. By the time I walked back home, still nobody had come out of their homes - not even the care taker of our unit complex - to see what was going on. And what would have happened if that fire had been a unit/townhouse fire and it had jumped complexes? Our care taker wouldn't have given a rat's arse... it would have been all on me because I'd be the first on the scene.

Anyway, I was up for the day and prepared myself to go to the Tolkien Reading Day at the Logan North Library. It was great. I had a wonderful time learning about how the greatest writer of all time - JRR Tolkien - created this whole universe (Gods, Goddesses and all) and how he worked the lives, death and immortality into all was fantastic. Tolkien also cleared up on major thing about Elves: they all have red hair... as which point a young girl next to me squeaked: 'I'm sitting next to a true Elf!' 

Afterwards, I got to talk to Peter Kenny - the man who gave the talk - and we chatted about books of Tolkien, both our collections and he found that I had books he didn't have and he has a huge collection of books I don't have... which is a great way to form a friendship with somebody. 

Today? Well, I took a walk around the unit complex really early - so early it was before anyone was up. It gave me a chance to photograph some of the pretty Autumn flowers and plants that are really going well around here. And for once, on a Sunday, it wasn't raining. 
After I returned home, I made my pancakes, read the paper, drank a really great coffee and looked out at the Moch Orange and made the decision to get in and give it a good hair cut... you know the type I mean - the hair cut you give a shrub before the seasons change. It doesn't look so overgrown now.

Now, I'm just blogging away here, and am hoping to get my nose into 'The Silmarillion' by JRR Tolkien. I can't wait as I have two copies of the book and one copy of 'The Silmarils' by Tolkien - which is a book with cliff notes about what 'The Silmarillion' is about... very interesting. Even more interesting is that it's a first edition! I wonder if Peter has a copy of it... if not, he'll be a little on the green side. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here... and .... what have you been up to this weekend? 

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Busy Week

Today is the only day I've got to myself.

Yep, this week has been busy as hell; and next week isn't going to get any better as it's going to be shopping week. 

On Monday, I had craft day and I could sit and do my pin cushions again. After working on a larger needlepoint for so long it was a relief to get my mind onto smaller things than a larger item. I had put the larger needlepoint into the framers to get worked on. 

Tuesday had me picking up the needlepoint - and did it look lovely! I'm so pleased with how it worked out and hope it is accepted into the gallery. There are a few little things that I have noticed about it that aren't up to scratch, but that's all just in learning about how to get things framed... otherwise, it's well done. And the great thing is that I provided the frame and glass; all I had to do was pick the matte for it. 

On Wednesday, I was at the Logan North Library showing it off at the Embroidery Guild. The ladies were very impressed by it; and spotted the same things I did when they inspected it up close. But when they looked at it from a distance, those little things couldn't be seen. So, that's a good thing. I'll be taking it with me to my to the regular craft group on Monday so the other ladies can see it too. 

Tomorrow, I'm off to the doctors to get my right hand looked at, my medical certificate looked into for my driver's licence and then to the bank to see how much money I have left. Yeah, it's just little stuff, but the devil's in the details - and these details don't take long. 

I'm hoping to get my house cleaner than it has been over the last few weeks, so I started today with cleaning up the piano - dusting it from top to bottom - and putting back on the top only the things that make it look lovely and retro. Before I did that, I went outside and mowed the lawn, pulled the weeds and cleaned up the back yard. It all looks so very neat and tidy now... well, until the next time it needs a trim. The flowers on the Moch Orange are now starting to drop and I can then trim up the shrubs for Winter. That will be next week.

Anyway, I have some more tidying to get done around the place: laundry to put away, the bathroom to clean up, the living room and lounge to tidy and the lounge to find (again!)... and then I'll be cleaning out some bags of stuff I have had around the place to see if I can donate them or throw them out in the bin. I'm in my 4th year of declutter, and must say that as the years have passed, it does get easier. I'm onto the smaller stuff now and so I've become better at this. Mum is just beginning on the journey of decluttering and she's finding it harder as it's a big thing to do still; however, it took a good year and half to get through the big stuff before I got onto the smaller stuff (I call it stuff and not junk or crap as a lot of it is just stuff and only a small percentage of it is junk). I have found that it's best to look at something quickly and know if I'm going to keep it or not, put it into the 'Keep Pile' and move on. If I'm not going to keep it, it gets thrown out or donated... I'll look at my 'Keep Pile' more intently when I have time later on in the day; otherwise it will hold me back from doing what I'm supposed to do.

Well, that's my week. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Saving Mode.

I have a list of things I would like to buy this year - and this list of things co-inside with another list of things I want to throw out or give away; so it all pays off.

So, over the last week, I've been looking at my money, how much I can spend, how much food I have in my house and what I'm doing with the crap left over in the place before I start a really big throw-out... and the biggest throw-out is going to be in the office: one of the bookcases is going to be replaced with a bigger, better one.

I'm laybying at a furniture store and looking around at other things that will give my place a nice look to it... on the other hand, I'll be ditching a few things I really don't need around the place - namely some storage boxes and a bit of shelving that has done its time in my house and need updating.

I really don't want to be hanging onto something I don't like and I feel as though I am. So, yep, I'm updating a few things around the place one thing at a time.

Anyway, today was shopping day - a rainy, sultry one - and I got in and did it. While it wasn't raining here in Woodridge this morning, I got my petrol, and decided to go to the Rochedale Fruit Markets to get my lot of fruit'n'veggies. Well! Halfway there it poured rain! So, out came the umbrella and I got half soaked... yay... oh well. Can't win 'em all. I did walk one lady to her car who didn't have an umbrella, and she was parked next to me. She was grateful that somebody was there to help her.
On my way to Logan Central Plaza, I was in traffic when a car pulled up at the lights with the movie character of 'Chuckie's Bride' all over it... you know the one from 'Child's Play'? Yeah that one. A dark blue car with that on it? Yuk! What made it worse was that the dude who owned it had a bride and groom of Chuckie and his bride standing holding hands in the back window. 

Well, I did get my shopping done. There was a bit of time at the chemist, I paid off a layby at Woodys' and then I spent as little as possible at Coles - which ended up being a top-up shop anyway. But I did buy a mop to wash the floors of the bathroom and toilets for just $6.95 ... not a bad deal, eh? Well, it'll help with the floors there and I'll get it done instead of using the vacuum and needing to get on my hands and knees to scrub. 

Anyway, that was my day. I arrived home well before the rubbish truck and now the house is full of food again. It's nice when you've been shopping and you've got food in the house to eat for the next few weeks. I don't know why it's a comfort for me, but it is. I guess it's the way I was brought up - to appreciate that a house filled with food is a good thing to have and to make is last as long as possible. tonight's dinner might be lasagna, I'm not sure yet... but whatever it is, it has to be comfort food as it's still coolish outside. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

A Busy Day

Over the last few days, I've been at Mum and Dad's place helping my Mum with cleaning out their house. for the first day, I just waited to see how she'd do it; but realised that she was moving things from one place to another - without any real progress.

Yesterday, I went to Bunnings and grabbed 2 cardboard boxes and took them to her place to start her off on the Peter Walsh style of decluttering. She was impressed on how it all worked and took to it quickly; and amazed herself on how quickly she filled the Donation Box. 

Today, I was there to help her move a few things around the house while Dad was out. We had our laughs and enjoyed our time of working together. I got some needlepoint done and came home around 6pm.  It was a good lot of work done within a few hours.

Tomorrow, I have to do some work around my place and so I'm staying home to clean my house - yep, it's not a tidy place. I've been working on a piece of artwork so much the housework (except the laundry) has been mainly neglected. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember I'm always here.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Writer's Block

I've felt discouraged from writing lately. Sometimes what people say about what I write can make me feel horrible about how I speak about my life, what I do and how I run my life.

It makes me reevaluate my time and what I should and shouldn't do... and I get writer's block. 

This is never a good thing; and I try to ignore it.

I have never stopped people from writing what they feel is true to their hearts on my blog - unless it's not suitable and I remove it - but when I'm writing my blogs, I try to keep my subjects a cool as possible and on the subject they're about.

My Reading List is about books, authors, publishers and other book-related topics; and I try to make that blog feel as though you - the reader - and I are sitting down at a coffee shop to just chat happily with no stress. It's basically how I speak... mistakes and all.

This one? Well, this is basically an observation of my life and what goes on around me. I know that sounds dead boring, but really a person's personal perspective can be interesting to some and boring to others. Sometimes, it can be a little of both.

Like today - for example. My car was put in to get an oil leak fixed and it turned into something much bigger! The mechanic found so much more to be worried about and it cost me over $100 more to fix it. I talked to him about my front brakes and he ended up having to replace them... thankfully... because they weren't legal by the time they were going to fix them. 
But I had to go out and do a whole lot of the stuff while my Little Green Machine was in the shop. I ended up with Mum's car and took about 4 hours in my day working out where I had to go, getting some things at a charity store, going to the doctors to drop off a World's Greatest Shave poster and checking the mail as well as buying a cool little plunger for my bathroom (yeah, the old plumbing here has a lot to answer for... smelly!). 
When I got home, I found some numbnuts had been at my hose again! This is the second time in three months. This time, they took the screw-on tap fitting and I had to borrow one from my neighbours. So, instead of waiting for this to happen again, I've hidden my hose and taken the tap fitting from them... whoever they are. So the next time they want to take a chunk of my hose (in 3 months' time), they can't. They have to invade some other person's car port to do it.

Things have been going well otherwise...

My tattoo is healing wonderfully. I can almost wear a bra over it (yeah, it's still feeling a little like a sticker; and will for another week or two). My needlepoint is going well. I found a great frame for it for only $4.00 and I'll be getting a framing shop to help me get it all fixed up when I get it finished. And I'm learning to make corn bread... yummo! I love corn bread. Well, until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.