Christmas Craziness

It's crazy at this time of year, isn't it?

Sure it is! Everyone is out in the heat or the freezing cold trying to buy that unique gift for that unique person in the family - and you can't quite find it.

Well, I've finished the Christmas shopping over the weekend just gone and am happy with everything I've managed to purchase... okay, I fib, I haven't bought  everything this year - I haven't bought myself my major gift; that's waiting for next week when I get paid.

However, isn't every Christmas crazy? It seems that every year that goes by, it become harder and harder to just simply go out and buy that simple thing you want to buy. No matter how early you leave the house, there are people out there who are doing exactly what you are just to 'beat the rush'. It's become a total nightmare to just do your grocery shopping because school holidays have started and kids 'are bored' within a week or two. 

And is it me, or have P Plater drivers become the biggest idiots on the roads and in car parks lately? They have the brand new, up-to-date cars and yet they'll park them just about anywhere (and block off half a lane of traffic - yes I'm talking about something that happened at Garden City on Saturday where a red P Plater parked on a yellow striped area and blocked off half a lane in a brand new Barina... when people told her it was illegal, she laughed at us. Little did she know that her insurance doesn't cover it when you're illegally parked; especially when you knowingly park illegally - oh well, her loss). I've seen so many P Platers zig-zag in the traffic and act as though the vehicles they're cutting off aren't as heavy as they think - especially trucks. A lot of P Platers can't make up their minds of where they're going... left... right... oh, wait! I'll go strai- left!... without indicating and all the while, they're playing with their hair or talking to their friends in the car. We know it's great you have this independence, but it'd be better if you actually paid attention to the road and got yourself and your friends - not to mention your car - to your destination in one piece, not stuff around wondering where you're going or trying to cause accidents.

Now, I don't mind driving on the roads - in fact I love driving - but since I have gotten a dash cam, it's been something I've noticed about other drivers. They will blame everything on you, right up until you point out that you have a dash cam; then they're gone! And at this time of year, when people are extra-crazy, it's harder to be a nice person on the road. 

Well, I really do hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. I wish you all the best of health and in the hopes you are safe and on the roads while you're out Christmas Shopping - as I try to be. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

A Rotten Apple - An Update

Today, I was online and thought to recharge my iPod and see what apps were online for it - seeing I didn't have the ones I thought I had.  But instead of buying new ones, I looked up the old ones I wanted back.  And I found out something...

The ones I had lost - all 4 pages of them - were all free-bies and they were programmed for this year... and I had gotten them last year!  So, when Dad and I were insulted on Thursday morning by the idiot in the Apple Store, we were basically called liars.  The guy didn't know anything about my iPod (another one who doesn't know anything about Apple products or their apps).  

My main question for Apple is this:  how in the hell did I get all those apps for my iPod last Christmas when they were all coming out this May, September, October and November?  And all but one was free?  Accusing the customer of being a liar by patronising them isn't the way to keeping on the good side of anyone.  So, acting holier than thou and playing mind games with somebody you're supposed to be helping (especially seeing I did ask to see another person after not getting anywhere with this first idiot and he refused to get anyone else for me to talk to) really ticked me off.

Also, today, I looked around on Apple's official sites and found that they are really distancing themselves from the public. 
Three weeks ago, I could phone a number on their website and get a real person talking to me.  Now, I have to go through a series of buttons on their site and e-mail them my complaint which will be looked at within 24 - 48 hours by a tech guy who will then e-mail me back.  And if I want to make an appointment at one of their very few Apple Stores, I have to do the same thing and click around on their site and make the appointment myself... it's so impersonal and cold.  Apple has become a place where I can't talk to anyone because the company doesn't want to talk to the public.  And if you write in to them or on their Facebook page, you don't hear a reply or hear back... you are ignored.  Sure, you get the automated reply, but you don't get personal service - unlike other computer companies that are around today.
This is not good enough for us.  We are people - the public - and should be treated like people, not like numbers.  If our devices malfunction, the company - not the retailer - should be held accountable.  And if the device needs to be set up in a particular way, the company which built it should have a way of telling the customer by adding a little booklet with the device instead of blaming a 'dodgy company' for the problems that come up in the future for somebody (which is what was blamed on my dilemma on Thursday). 

So, if you have an Apple device and it's stuffing up on you, don't take crap from it - or Apple - do something about it and make yourself heard.   

A Rotten Apple

A quite a few of you know, I received an Apple iPod last year for Christmas.  At the time, I was over the moon about it!  It had everything I'd ever want in a little bit of metal and glass... and I thought Steve Jobs had left his company on a great high.  I couldn't praise it high enough.  It had 4 pages of very cool apps (some of which I couldn't use because it was for children; but there were games, trivia questions, languages I could learn and some other great things too that I wanted to have fun with once I had time to sit down and sift through those tiny apps). 

Less than a year on, my old computer bit the dust in a very unceremonious way and I was up for a new computer... a brand new one.  No worries, I thought it was time to upgrade.  So, I did.  And a few months later, I plugged in my iPod and synced it with my computer, which promptly wiped all my music, all the apps that were there (not including the factory settings) and screwed up the security and anything else I had put into the iPod - like the wi-fi from my brother's computer when I first set it up on Christmas Day 2011.

Boy, was I peeved!

So, I looked around on the net and found that there was help at hand at Carindale.  There was an Apple Store there so, I made an appointment and Mum and Dad took me there where I was given the run around by a kid who looked like he had just graduated from high school.  He barely looked at my iPod and told me to move the old iTunes software from the old hard drive to the new computer and it should recover everything... otherwise come back in and I'd be able to  get all the apps that were missing from my iPod next time.
Well, we thought it was a win some lose some situation.  Yeah, he didn't know how my iPod really worked, but he had an idea how to get all my music back.  So, I went home and did that.

Now, today, three weeks later, Dad and I have just gone back to the Carindale Apple Store to be given the run around yet again; in a different form.  I have been told by a totally different guy named Anthony, (at what they call 'The Genius Bar') that the 4 pages of apps couldn't possibly have been on the iPod, that somebody must have fiddled with my iPod before I got - as he smiled at me patronisingly.  I told him that the whole thing came in a proper box, wrapped in the proper tape with 'Apple' written on the top and 'Apple' written around the edge on the tape.  He still insisted that it was stuffed with by somebody before it was given to me.  Dad got really insulted - as Mum and him had bought it for me 2 days before Christmas and they didn't have a clue how to open the box, let alone turn on an iPod, so it couldn't have been them - and he told the guy that he has seen the apps and there were lots of them... and now there's not.  I told this guy in a red shirt (as they were having a sale) that the last guy told me to come back in and the tech guys would put the other apps back on for me - and Dad nodded saying that was true.  Anthony said that was impossible because it was illegal for them to do that if I hadn't bought them; unless they were bought as extras with the iPod.
I said I didn't know, but Dad said that regardless of whether they were bought as extras or not, my demands to get them back isn't beyond him or Apple; and I should be able to get them back if I have the receipt of where we got it from.  He told us to go back to the retailer and ask them for our money back.

Mum and Dad had bought my iPod from 'WOW Sight and Sound' at Underwood just before it went bust.  This guy didn't know who this company was - or so he said.  He insisted then that we had been ripped off by a dodgy company.  All this time, he sat there smiling and being quietly patient... and being very patronising to both my Dad and me.  Every time Dad and I tried to attack this issue from a different angle, he found another way to stonewall us, with that stupid smile on his face and staring at me to make me back down.  But he still wouldn't refund my money on the iPod and wouldn't get my Apps back on to the iPod (which I know tech guys can do as my violent ex-boyfriend showed me time and again, that he could hack into a computer in our unit when I lived with him; and I was sitting at the computer next to him).  Then, this idiot had the audacity to say to us to 'have a nice day'... 

I was hoping to get somewhere on this issue.   However, it looks like I'm not.  I may yet have to go to the media and find out where I can go from here as it seems that since Steve Jobs passed away, the company of Apple hasn't been moving forwards - as most companies do when their CEO moves on or passes away - but going backwards instead; with its new products incurring more problems than possible to work with.  As a person who's totally frustrated with my Apple iPod, it looks like I have to purchase the apps I have been using lately and put them onto the list there; seeing I'm getting nowhere with confronting company itself - whether via phone, in person or on Facebook.  But if you do want to buy an Apple product, I'd think twice... as they don't tell you everything about it.  The guy at the Apple Store today told me that if I had bought it there at Carindale, I would have been 'walked through' my set up so I wouldn't have any problems... well, this is something nobody tells you when you first get one of these stupid things.  Another is that there's a very useless online manual which doesn't make any sense no matter how much you read it.  So, choose carefully when you're looking at your next product to use for music... if I was you, don't buy an Apple.

A Big Week!

It's been a big week of new things, unusual things and loud things going on here at home and around the unit complex.  And it's also been the first week of my garden changing from its dowdy, old, weedy existance and into something I'm going to be proud of over the next year.  However, allow me to begin right at the beginning; as it's usually the best place to start.

About two months ago, I bought a new Gardening Journal, as my old one wasn't being used and wasn't big enough for me to write down everything in absolute detail.  It was nice, but it didn't open right up on a table complete and I needed something that was going to last me longer.  So, I bought a Garden Journal from The Book Warehouse for $4.95... what a steal!

The next thing I had in mind was to begin saving up like crazy to work on my garden.  So, I did, I began putting away as much money as I could and ended up with around $100 (actually more!) to spend on the garden.  

Then, this week, I had my list of items from Bunnings I wanted to buy and asked my Mum and Dad to see if one of them would help me transport my items home.  They said they would; and this was after I bought up big at a Community Thrift Sale at Springwood of plants - four gorgeous plants for under $20!  Now, that's a bargain.  By Tuesday morning - in between heavy showers of rain - I had them all in their new pots with new potting mix and sitting out in the gorgeous rain getting their nutrients from the sky.  

I had also received my prize from Triple M; a JB Hi-Fi voucher to the value of $250!  How great is that?  And this was only one day after my HD box had screwed up royally.  So, Dad and I drove up to Garden City to the place and he suggested I invest in buying a new television with a tuner inside it.  But I had plans for my voucher; just a few other plans... not many.  I wanted two cds and a $50 iTunes card - which I got - and the television was also included.  

Dad and I looked around Garden City after the big purchase, and after I bought some brushes and paint at Riot Art across the way from JB Hi-Fi and then we had some lunch.  Next thing we knew, we were on our way home to my place to set up the television.  While I made him coffee, he put it together on my coffee table and we tuned it in and made sure it was working.  I have spent the rest of the week sorting out the settings.

Anyway, I began working on my self-portrait again with my new brushes - and after sorting out my older brushes - organised the garden (again) so that the plans that love the sun, get it, and the ones that don't mind the sun but love the shade too get that as well.  So, that was this arvo.

However, this morning was also exciting.  I was eating my breakfast when the recycling truck came around to pick up the bin at the back of the complex.  It swung around the second-last corner and clipped one of the carports, taking it down!  Wow!  Did it make a loud noise!  I thought something on the truck dropped, until it switched off and hadn't moved for a few minutes.  So, I went out there armed with my camera to see what happened.  And what a mess!  The whole thing was pulled forward, ripped off the wall of the unit and onto the car that was parked there!  The resident was standing outside with a cup of coffee looking very sleepy had been sleeping at the time as he was a night-shift worker.  He told me it felt the whole unit shake and thought it was an earthquake and came outside to find his carport on his car.  Well, JJ Richards (the rubbish company) came out and took photos, got the driver to write a report, took photos of the damage on the car and then organised to take away the damaged carport.  They are taking full responsibility for the whole thing and offered to pay for the damage on the resident's car too - which a weight off his mind.  By 10am, the carport was taken away, the resident was back asleep and his car was parked in an empty car spot nearby.  All was quiet again around the complex... excitement over.  However, the Body Corporate Chairperson was notified about it all.

So, that was my Friday all done up and over and done with.  It's late, quiet outside and quite warm tonight.  And tomorrow, Queensland residents have to vote on a new Premier to run our state.  Personally, I used to love to vote, but now, I hate it; as the advertising campaigns are back-stabbing little games from one party to the next.  And we don't need to know what each party thinks of each other, we want to know what they are going to do for us.  Are they going to improve the roads?  Are they going to improve the health system?  What about getting all of the buses in each and every town running on the same damned timetable?  Is it too bloody hard to do that for people who would love to spend more time in the city but who live out at Logan City?  Or is the Queensland Government too dumb to realise us people in Logan City and Beenleigh have friends beyond Garden City and Mount Gravatt? 

Okay, sorry about that... had to vent.  I'm off my soapbox.  It's very hard to get around when you don't have a car and only have public transport to use.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

The Attitude of Youth

Yesterday afternoon, I was threatened by a drunkened young man in my unit complex.  All I did was take a photograph of a flower in the front garden of his mother's unit and he came storming out - drink in hand - yelling and screaming profanities at me that what I was doing was illegal and he'd have me charged.  He went to trouble of putting down his dinner to come out and have a go at me; which really makes me wonder about how he came to conclusion it was illegal.  

Now, I must begin at the beginning.  This young man has never liked me - since his family moved in - and so over time, he has made it very obvious to me that my presence around his family (who like me very much as a close friend) isn't wanted by him.  Fair enough; I don't like him either, but you don't see me going around screaming at him.  Mainly if I don't like anyone, I usually don't say anything unless - of course - something has to be said.  

Well, after I took my one and only photo of this flower, I walked off to the pool at the front of the complex where I took more photos of flowers (mainly of Native Iris') and then when I noticed I was losing the light I needed, I made tracks back home the same way I had come; thinking he'd have gotten it out of his system about me photographing his garden.  However, it wasn't the case.  He came back out when I walked past again (this time with my camera securely in its case) and he started on me again.  The profanities were just as bad and he was still yelling at me with his drink in his hand.  I tried to calm him; then thought it was best to tell him what I thought.  I called him a piss-pot and a drunk and told him to go back inside, that I've done nothing wrong or against him; and never have.  I then turned and walked off.  He didn't follow me, but as I turned, he gave me the two-up fingers signal a few times and that was the last time I saw him as I went home.

Not long afterwards, I thought it would be in my best interest to tell my Caretaker (as he's related to this young man) and he said he'd take care of it.  A couple of hours passed by and I ate dinner and was watching television.  The young man brought the wheelie bin up, wandered around the place a bit and then went home.  I didn't take much notice until his Nanna showed up at my door in her wheelchair calling out to me.  I rushed up and opened the door.  She was scared and asked if she could hang around with me for a while; until her daughter - who is a good friend of mine - came home.  I said yes.  I looked around and found the flowers I had photographed all around my place.  His Nanna - whose name is Betty - said that he had gone and knocked all the blooms off the plants so I couldn't take pictures of them anymore, then made threats to burn my house and smash my windows.... it was awful and a little freaky to hear that he had continued his rant after I had gone home; when usually people stop, shut up and are worn out when a person is out of visual range.  But he hadn't.  Soon, Betty's daughter came home, drove straight up to my place and dropped off her own teenaged daughter and sped off home to deal with her delinquent son.  

Today, they moved.  I didn't get to say goodbye to my friends.  I don't know where they've moved to and I didn't get an apology from that young man for saying what he did.

And this really gets me about young people today; and we see it on the news all the time.  There are people like me around who are nice to others and nothing against anyone who are trodden on by these young people who think that they know everything, they own the world and they can push around everyone once they get a few drinks under their belts.  Alcohol isn't this young man's only problem; he's also got a drug problem that's adding to his demons that he must deal with - but won't.  And what really gets on my nerves about where I live is that whenever I see people like this act this way, it's because they don't know they've done this to themselves.

Exactly what is the world coming to when people won't take completely control of their own lives.  They won't take full responsibility for each and every action they make; and realise there is a reaction to what they do.  Why isn't there something that will teach the youth of today - in full colour - that there are consequences to what they do to others?  Please will somebody tell me this?  

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. 

Shoulda Stayed In Bed!

I really should have turned off the alarm after 7:30am and buried myself under my duvet this morning; telling the day to go away and leave me alone.  Honestly.  If the rainclouds weren't a hint of what it was going to be like, the cold should've been.

I was ready on time - that was great - and I managed to check the mail and collect what was needed on the way to the bus stop; even better, taking my best and favourite umbrella with me (mainly because it doesn't leak).  Then, I arrived at the Logan Art Gallery for my morning shift and we had a workshop of teens and adults with an artist who did steampunk-like work.  It was great; until some undesirables came and I had to follow them around.  Then, it poured rain; and I was happy I had brought my umbrella with me. 

Jane and I ate, drank, read a little and chatted.  We called up people for tomorrow's workshop - and got through to most of them.  Some of them didn't answer and two of them had been disconnected (a pity, their kids would have had fun).  We checked the money and had to draw up a new ledger in the book (I'm not sure why they don't use a real ledger book for this, but they don't; it'd be easier for them).  Anyway, the artist finished up his workshop, purchased his items from our store and received his receipt from us and was on his way with the box that had been prepared in advance (fortunately for him, it had stopped raining long enough for him to pack his car and get into it before it rained again).

Then, 1:30pm came around and I packed up my knitting, book and other stuff, turned around and found my umbrella gone!  I asked where it was and nobody could recall me bringing it in except Jane; and she was sure I did saying it was blue and white with a hook handle (and she doesn't see me all that often with it).  This umbrella isn't tiny either, it's large, hard to miss and definitely not cheap.  Mum bought it for me down the coast and thought I'd like it; and I do!  I have never left it anywhere and I've hooked it over my arm if I ever think I might so I know I won't.  

Well, we searched the gallery high and low to see where it might be and it had just grown legs.  I was really pissed off - and rightly so - to find that somebody had come in and taken it from behind me (from behind the counter of all places!) thinking it might not belong to me and it was of the Gallery's.  However, it's mine... and I want it back!  

Now, I'm a bit clumsy, a little forgetful (that's why I have lists around the house and a day planner above the phone in the kitchen) and I may be one who doesn't remember absolutely everyone's birthday, but I hate it when I have remembered an item that have taken with me to bring home only to have it stolen from under my very nose at the place I have been volunteering at for over a decade.

And my bad day didn't end there.  When I was at the chemist, I found that my handbag charm I bought at the Logan Art Gallery only a year and half ago has fallen apart on me; and I missed the bus to go home, causing me to wait half an hour longer than I needed to.  

This afternoon - at around 3pm - I called the gallery and asked if my umbrella had shown up.  They said it hadn't unfortunately.  It looks like somebody really liked it and that's a terrible thing that something that I took to the gallery has been taken from where I thought was a safe place - right behind me, not a metre behind me leaning against the wall!

Tonight, when I called Mum, and I told her what happened to my umbrella she gave me from Bangalow, she was really mad - as angry as I was - about how people just walk off with things.  She asked me if I could have possibly left it on the bus; I said no - that I'm absolutely positive I didn't.  We're both livid about how little respect people have over other people's property.  I just wish people would leave other's property alone... if it's not yours people, don't touch it!  However, if you find something outside a building - for example, on a seat or a bench and you think it might be somebody's inside the building - don't think it's a free for all, take it inside!  Somebody who works there might have left it there by accident.  

I know I had my umbrella behind me as I remember putting it where my stuff normally is in the corner; however, it was gone when it was time for me to leave; and that's just cruddy.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here. 

Anarchy's Roots

I've been observing the riots in the UK and have been disgusted about what they have done to the great country I visited in 1997.  London was a grand old lady of a city; sure it had its problems, but its history goes so far back it's amazing.  This city has had four names in four languages and started out at a little village by the river Thames; and the oldest parts of it still exist to this day.  

However, it's been through some vicious wars.  I've read about them.  London has been attacked from the sea and air over time; and yet this city has been rebuilt.  It has been the phoenix which rises from the ashes; coming back bigger and better than ever before.  It went through the Blitz where most of its great buildings were burnt down and destroyed.  Yes, history hasn't been kind to this old city.

But now, this attack on the Grand Old Lady of a city is just dreadful.  The people who have destroyed parts of London have terrified its residents, the rest of the country and did it while the world watched on helplessly.  What was sparked by the police killing a man last Thursday; and a quiet protest against the killing (as it was said on BBC1 that he was unarmed when it happened), turned into anarchy.  A small group of people began rioting because it was an opportunity to do so.  Suddenly, copy-cat groups went around and started up other troubles in other parts of London.  Not only did they loot and destroy shops, they also burnt down people's residents, cars (and just anyone's cars that were parked on the street; not any car in particular.  These cars were in the wrong place at the wrong time!).  Two police cars, which were being used as a road block, were burned to the ground as the rioting gangs turned on the police.  

I have friends who live in London who I contacted last night.  Hannah and Gray have lived in London for a long time now and have never seen anything like this.  Hannah didn't sleep for two whole days.  She was terrified that her house was going to be burned down while she slept; so stayed awake the whole time.  She only slept due to exhaustion; that was when I called.  Gray said to me that he hasn't seen anything this bad in so long; and they are pretty much shell shocked.  However, he can't leave their place as it's his place of work; and he's scared that if he does somebody will come and destroy it.  They do appreciate how scared I am for them, though, as they live in Lewisham; right in the middle of it all.  

But what makes me wonder is where this all came from?  Despite the quiet protest to the man's death by the police.  Could this have been avoided?  I think so.  But how?  We have so many quick and easy conveniences in life now that how children are brought up today so much different to how we were brought up a generation ago - or even two generations ago.  It wasn't so hi-tech back when I was a kid. Yes, we had computers, but they weren't so much a part of our lives as they are now.  We did have television, but it was luxury to watch it instead of it being on all the time and something blaring out into an empty gallery.  The way we eat is totally different as well; not to mention lazy.  We don't cook things from scratch anymore; instead opting out for microwaved meals or one-pot meals that come frozen or already prepared by a company we pay per month to be delivered to our doors all because 'I'm too busy with my life to do anything like cook a meal.'.

Well, when I was growing up, both my parents worked when I was in primary school.  My brother and I both had a key to the front door as normally Mum wasn't home in the afternoons and we had to let ourselves in.  She did try to be there; but sometimes she wasn't.  So, when we got home, we'd do our homework, have a shower, and set the table for dinner and get the vegetables ready for dinner.  Sometimes there'd be wiping up from breakfast to do or the dishwasher to empty; and we'd do that too.  By the time all that got done, Mum and Dad would be home.  They'd be stuffed from their day at work, but because my brother and I helped with the dinner that little bit, it took a load off Mum.

As we grew up into high school.  We took on more chores; such as bringing in the laundry, taking out the rubbish and making our beds before they got home.  These were added onto our usual chores of what we had before.  And then, we were also learning to cook too; so we took turns cooking at times and it became easier for Mum when she got home and found one of us cooking a meal for dinner for the family.  

Nowadays, kids just come home, have a shower and whinge about when dinner will be ready.  They dump themselves in front of the television and do nothing.  They don't do the vegetables, don't help around the place and don't ask if anything needs to be done.  It's just not what is used to be.  No wonder there's so much anarchy and disrespect around the world now; as it begins at home, not when they leave school.  By then it's too late to try to instill it into them.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember I'm always here.

The Best of Manners

It's cold and flu season and nearly everyone I know - and don't know - has some version of it. However, seeing I avoided it this year (by taking Zinc & Vitamin C tablets twice a day), it doesn't mean everyone has to go and share their germs, snortings and coughs with me! Okay, I'll begin with yesterday. I was out and about doing my fortnightly shop; and there nearly everyone out there sounded terrible, but did any of them have a handkerchief to cover their mouths or blow their noses? Nope. Did any of them turn away from us ones who were well enough to be out there without a cold so we didn't get whatever they had (even if they had asthma or a smoker's cough, it still sounds like a flu; but we're not know that)... and the answer is nope. They just coughed and sputtered all over everyone around them. It's disgusting.
I had one lady handle my things at Life Line after she rubbed her nose with her hand. And those things were a Glo-Mesh bag and a vinyl bag... gee, thanks. I wiped them down when I got home so I didn't get whatever she had - even if she only had sinus, I don't know if it was the beginnings of a cold. While I was at K-Mart Plaza, I was standing outside K-Mart searching my trolley for a bottle of water I had bought when an older man and his son (who was my age) walked past. The older man turned in my direction and hacked out a phlegmy cough - without covering his mouth!!! I stood up and said, "Dude! That was gross! Cover your mouth, don't give me what you got!" his son grabbed his arm and said, "Dad, don't do that. Get out your handkerchief, that's why you've got it." the old man said, "I'm sick, I should be able to cough where I please." I shuddered when I heard that... I was so upset about what he said I almost followed him to tell him off again; but thought he might cough directly in my face; and I didn't want that. Instead, I found my water, had a drink and kept walking.
This is the kind of thing that we shouldn't have to put up with. I may be a young - late-30's - person, but I was taught my manners by my Grandparents and my parents; and it was strict. I was told to keep my elbows off the table at restaurants, excuse myself if I belch, cover my mouth when I cough and sneeze (plus turning away is also another thing to do!) and never backchat my elders. It's just something that was drilled into me when I was growing up; and it's still with me today.
A couple of years ago, I was on a bus traveling to Springwood when an older Turkish woman with her daughter were sitting adjacent to me. The older woman opened her mouth and let out a loud belch that stunk strongly of garlic! I was insulted in two ways; firstly that she had such bad breath; and secondly that she didn't excuse herself. I straight out said so and her daughter also pulled her up. The older woman said, "I belch because I need to. Why should I excuse myself?" I said it was good manners to excuse herself and better manners to cover her mouth if she was going to belch like that in public; not to mention unladylike to do that. The older woman said it wasn't a problem in Turkey; so why would it be here? Her daughter said it was here because women are taught to burp, but to into their hands as it's not what others want to hear. We were both dismissed by the older woman as though it wasn't true.
I don't understand how when I express good manners, I'm laughed at by kids today; and yet when people act like untrained monkeys, it seems to be okay with the rest of the world. Is it me? Am I getting to point in my life where I'm losing the fun of it all? I hope not. This doesn't just cross people in general, it goes across all kinds of ways we express ourselves. From the minute you attend pre-school (better known as Prep now) to when you into college or university, into the workforce, driving a car, taking a holiday, flying on planes... pretty much anywhere you go where there's going to be other humans - as well as animals - you're going to come across sets of manners from different cultures that are going to differ from your own. In Japan, they have a totally different way of looking at how you should carry yourself from not filing your nails in public to not sticking your chopsticks into the middle of your meal (yes, that's very rude to do), their culture makes their manners totally different to the Western World's manners.
Manners of all types - from all over the world - should be taught through each generation through word of mouth; as well as etiquette classes at school; so children know early what is expected of them throughout their lives - not just when they leave school and get a job. Today's generation of kids have no idea how to treat each other or anyone else around them. It's pathetic that the rules of manners and good behaviour has to die with one generation or another. Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

Under-Dressing for the Occassion

I read in the paper today that society has been letting itself slip in its dress-style.  People have been getting on buses, trains and walking in off the street and into fast food restaurants dressed in something that resembles last week's laundry.  Some people have been pulling on their jeans and very little else (yes, I'm talking to you men out there) while others aren't wearing shoes in shopping centres when they go out to do the weekly grocery shop.  

So, it's not just me who has been noticing this slacking trend in 'let's dress like a slob for the rest of my days' trend.  It's the rest of society who won't get in and actually look in the mirror and realise they look like shit!  Believe me, I know what I look like every day of my life as I have plenty of mirrors around the house to remind me whether there's a stain on my shirt or if I've done my hair.  My feet are usually freezing cold if I haven't put shoes on them before breakfast.Now, I live in Woodridge in Logan City and believe me, I wouldn't be seen dead outside my own unit complex without my hair brushed, deodourant on, sneakers on my feet and a clean set of clothing on.  So, if I can pull off this decent bit of humane hygiene, why can't anyone else?  And what is this thing about people shopping in their pajamas?  For the love of God, people, you sleep in those things!  Why would you want to be seen in public in them?  I barely let anyone see me in my slippers let alone my pajamas or dressing gown; so why would you?  And don't even think of giving me the excuse that it's wash day... even I have a set of clothes to get into on those few days of the week where I have to wash everything and it's all on the line, or hung out in the car port (in case of rain) or in the dryer.    So, whatever your excuse, I've heard it all.  Get dressed in ordinary clothes and stop making a spectacle of yourself.

And if you think that dressing up in decent, ordinary clothes is something of a stupid, old-fashioned notion, well, it's not.  Having your own sense of style, your own trend, you own particular type of wardrobe speaks volumes about who you are, what you think and how you live.  It doesn't matter where you get your clothes, all that matters is how you pull off the outfit... and if nobody likes your wardrobe, well they don't have to live with it, you do.  The best thing about having a wardrobe where you have designed it, picked out the shirts, skirts, jeans, suits and jackets, is that you can wear them in any way you like.  So the next time you crawl out of bed and think you look okay to walk out the door just the way you are, open that thing with the doors on it called a wardrobe and pick out something that won't offend anyone.  You don't have to be a style guru to have dress sense, just know what you like to wear ... and oh, yeah, have a shower.  Body odour it another thing that really isn't working in your favour either.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe, and remember, I'm always here.

Bullies

The act of bullying has been around for centuries; and yet nobody will do anything major about it.  Not a week goes by where I don't hear a report about one kid or another gets pushed and shoved around at school by another - or group of them - and yet, there's nothing the school or the parents are willing to do about it.  It's not that they can't do something about it; it's that they won't.

From day one of primary school, I was bullied by boys, teachers and other kids.  I wore glasses, had red hair and was pale with freckles... yep, I just about had a target painted on me that screamed: 'PICK ON ME!'  But really, I was just another student in the class who was sensitive and didn't want to be pushed around; just like anyone else there.  We had another kid who was a redhead and had worse freckles than me, but he didn't get picked on; don't know why, but he didn't.  My bully was Adam Vidler.  Soon he was joined by Adam Bower and his friends; not a good mixture.  For eight years, my life was a living hell (eight because I was kept back a year for failing maths) until year 7 when I had a rotten teacher who bullied me to the ends of the earth.  He picked on me for not being good at maths, sports and other subjects; and hated me being in the school band (to the extent that he'd lock me out of the room after assembly on Mondays and clean off the homework from the board on Tuesday afternoons when I was away at band practice just to get me into detention).  This teacher made my unbearable and I found I didn't want to go to school because of him; and because of the kids who were already making my life pure hell.

But it didn't end there.  I went to a different high school; and thought that a fresh slate would be a good thing.  So, instead of going to Springwood State High, I went to Rochedale High.  I wanted a new place to start; make new friends and see if I'd be able to work from there.  But that didn't happen.  On the first day, I was shoved into the bus wheel by tall blonde chick who made it out to be a joke and laughed; so I laughed along with her.  The next day, she did the exact same thing, and said:  "Get used to it!" I knew I was screwed.  From that day on, I spent my lunch hours avoiding her, running around the school to keep out of her way so she didn't pick on me - or other kids who she didn't like.  Yes, Vicki Brown didn't like people who weren't named the same at her (this I found out many years after school from a friend of mine named Vicki who was close friends with her and didn't know why.  This was why; how pathetic can you get, right?).  I ended up not caring if she saw me and - as the years passed - walking away from her when she made eye contact.  Her bullying began getting a little old by the third year in; all because it was the same old thing every single year.

Not that I'm a saint by any standards.  I did my fair share of pushing kids around; but I did it for the right reasons.  If I spotted a kid with cigarettes on the grounds of the high school (and I was in my senior  year by this stage), I'd freely grab the smokes off him, take one and find a teacher and say that he/she gave me one to teach them a lesson on what not to do on school grounds.  Yes, I did that.  But I never purposely followed kids around and made their lives hell just because I thought it was funny.  That's just sickening.  I did that to that student because he was underaged to have cigarettes, it was illegal to have them on school grounds and he was making a display of having them on his person.  So, really, I was helping him by making an example of him; even if I did hurt his feelings.

However, when I left school in year 11, the only place I didn't get bullied - I found - was college.  The people who attended there were serious about their education.  They didn't have time to pick on each other as they were too busy studying their chosen subjects to be so childish.  We were in between school and the workforce; and passing our subjects were the main things on our minds.

Once in the workforce, though, I found the schoolyard came back and bit me in the butt again.  I worked for RACQ and once I began working - even though I found it extremely difficult at first and very tiring - I was bullied by most of the girls there.  They were very clicky and wouldn't let me in on anything they did; but expected me to put in money for their birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations.  Yet, they didn't bother celebrating my 21st birthday on the day because none of them put it down on the calendar.  So, to get them back, I waited until 5pm and talked about what a great day they had planned for me... how nice it was for them to take me to lunch, the little pressies, the cards and morning and afternoon teas were just lovely.  When they said they didn't do that, I exploded at them all that 'of course you didn't!'  I called them selfish bitches and any other names I could think of (quite a few I can't repeat here) and then I signed out and walked off after I said that my bosses were off the hook seeing they employ me; but the rest of them most certainly were not!  And still, they didn't learn their lesson... I wasn't included in the follow year's calender either.

A few years later, I arrived at work to find one of the girls had decorated my desk with streamers and gotten everyone to sign a card for me.  The whole department had moved and a few new people had been employed here and there; and I found it was the most wonderful thing to have been remembered like this.  Even now - so many years later - I still remember how nice my drab old desk looked with all those colourful streams draped across it.  It was such a great day too; and to think, I nearly took a Roster Day Off because of the last time I celebrated a birthday at work.

It's been years since I have done any paid work; but it doesn't mean that there's no bullying in the outside world.  Where I live - in a unit complex - there's plenty of bullying between people.  It's a matter of boundaries and attitudes in places like this; and it can get really horrible sometimes, while other times it's a matter of standing up for yourself and being your own army.

Otherwise, I can say that once you've left school, it does get easier.  The kids at school aren't there anymore to push and shove you around; and if you do run into them, usually it's in the workforce under very different circumstances.  However, if they think they can take off from where they left off, it's them who haven't grown up, not you.  It just depends on how you deal with them... and there's no shame in just simply walking away from them and telling them to grow up.  In any language, country and at any age you - or somebody you know - will be exposed to bullying.  It will affect you from the beginning of school (or whenever it began) until you find help to deal with it (like I have in recent years).  Otherwise, please do have a zero tolerance for bullying; no matter where you are in life or in your city/country.  If you see anyone being picked on by somebody else, do try to help them by standing up for them and being there to assist them with whoever's bugging them at the time.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.