My view and thoughts on everything!

"allow for inflation and say something like 'well that's the $123,267 question...a tinker is a mender of pots and kettles' Recently at a work meeting the Project Manager said a couple of things which got me thinking. Now I should state that the Project Manager said more than a couple of things, in fact he said quite a lot! In my experience they can talk as much as politicians (without th e rhetoric). Our Project Manager certain does suffer from a case of verbal diarrhoea at times. For the record, I do respect him and think he is very good at what he does. Anyway, he said a couple of things that woke me from my stupor (be honest, does anyone find long meetings exiting?) and i used my cheap ball point pen to jot them down. What was it that he said that got my inquisitive radar going? Read on, dear reader and all will be revealed. The first thing he sad was "well, that is the $64,000 question" That got me thinking, where did this expression come from? Also, if i...

"maybe they watched too many Vietnam war movies when they were growing up...whatever the case, these boot camp instructors are scary and dangerous" There is a phenomenon that has overwhelmed Sydney and probably most other cities around the world - certainly in the western world. What is it? I hear you say. Well it's not Justin Beiber - though this young pup seems to have well and truly made his mark - even if he does need a haircut and should learn how to shave. It is, however, the phenomenon known as 'boot camp'. Now, I for one am a great advocate of fitness regimes. Without a doubt they do help us all in our quest for a healthy life (mental note not to eat that chocolate bar that is staring at me!). However, the concept of boot camp truly baffles me. Let me explain. I can understand people signing up for a boot camp, but I cannot understand why you would sign up to get fit and be abused at the same time! You see, dear reader, that a lot of the boot camp i...

"but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks)....there were literally hundreds of baby Huntsman spiders running everywhere!" Recently No Worries, the Gals and I moved to a new abode. The move was a typically stressful one even though we only moved a couple of kms up the road! Moving is not fun at the best of times. As I type this tome we still have lots of boxes to unpack! Yes I know, we are lazy!! Anyway, when we moved in we noticed a Huntsman spider in the kitchen at the top of the venetian blinds. For the uninitiated, a Huntsman spider is quite large, hairy and looks like a tarantula! Fortunately they cannot kill a human but can inflict severe pain (like a Celine Dion concert methinks). I tried to kill it but it went into the bracket that was holding up the blinds. No Worries and I decided to leave it be as Huntsman's do kill insects including the much maligned cockroach. So we left it alone to its own devices. It seemed happy enough to hang a...

"Mostly the news relates to doom and gloom events like earthquakes, terrorism and Celine Dion updates!...or even "scientists prove that winter is colder than summer" The other day I was working merrily away in the Mothership when I was attacked. No, it wasn't by a co-worker but it was an attack of the hunger pangs. So I quickly left my desk and headed to the kitchen. Actually the kitchen is called a 'breakout' room. This in itself is a strange term as the only way to 'breakout' is to smash the window and free fall 10 floors! Most people naturally use the same way they came in. Anyway, I digress. So I entered the 'breakout' room and made my way to the cookie jar. I grabbed two biscuits with cream in the middle, as they are some of my favourites. Whilst there I noticed that the plasma television was on. Again, this is not unusual as a number of staff like to keep up to date with the latest business news and all the important goings on with '...

"My first reaction was 'cool!' My second reaction was 'but I've already got one' My third reaction was 'I need a swig of beer'" A few weeks ago my wife and I went to a parish dinner that had been co-arranged by my eldest daughter's school. Regular readers might recall a recent blog http://dw-perspectives.blogspot.com/2008/05/getting-lost-with-no-worries.html about our journey of getting to the location of the dinner. As well as having a great night, there were a few fund raising events going on during the dinner. One of them was for patrons to hand over $10 and then pick an envelope. The envelope contained the name of the prize that you had won. So naturally I handed over the money and my wife chose the envelope (which wasn't hard seeing as there was only one left). Inside it said that we had 'won' an electric toothbrush. My first reaction was 'cool!' My second reaction was 'but I've already got one' My...

"It was obvious from discussions that the disco night would have to planned with military precision...The only thing that wasn't covered was the synchronisation of all committee members wristwatches" Last week I attended a special meeting. No, it was not an AA meeting, a Celine Dion fan club meeting or anything similar. It was a school events committee meeting. In fact, it was the first time I had attended as the previous meetings were held during work hours. Backtracking slightly, my wife had put our names down to be on the committee when our eldest daughter started 'big school'. For this meeting there were 6 members who attended. There was my wife, myself and four ladies whose names all started with the letter 'J'. The host (aka J1) offered all and sundry a beverage. I declined thinking that the meeting wouldn't go too long and the fact that we lived really close by. It also became apparent to me at this stage that I was the only male on the...

"The product/concept can be anything from cars, drinks, electrical goods or even men's underwear! ...He had researched them to the 'nth degree and chose to give us all an Open University lecture on the polarity, make up, voltage and density of the rechargables" Recently I participated in a market research session in Sydney. For the uninitiated, market research is where a group of consumers (that fit a certain criteria) talk about a product or a concept. The product/concept can be anything from cars, drinks, electrical goods or even men's underwear! (and that one was an interesting session, indeed!). The best thing of all is that you get paid cold hard cash as well as enjoying some food and drink! The subject matter that we had to talk about related to batteries and the session lasted two hours. Immediately you are probably now thinking 'how can you talk about batteries for that long?'. Well, the truth is we did! (though even I am amazed at how we tru...

"in the show the 'Biggest Loser' is the loser actually the contestants or the viewer?...No sport on television. Hooray, say half the world’s population. All the men, however, say ‘noooooo’" Us human's are funny creatures. We really are. On face value we are very outgoing but deep down we are myopic and secular. We only want to know what's in it for us without really caring about what the future holds. I am sure that everyone at most times is like this. We are continuously wrapped up in a material world always wanting the latest gadgets, etc. Well, brothers and sisters (putting on my preaching hat now), we can do something about changing the way we are. On March 29th the World Wildlife Fund has arranged for the second annual Earth hour event. What this is is a global initiative for people in cities living all around the world to turn off their lights for one hour. This will be a symbolic gesture to let everyone know that we need to get serious about glo...

"Once the email has been received there is no getting out of participating. It is very much compulsory participation by peer pressure!....I, for one, always break out into a cold sweat when my hand reaches into the hat for that folded piece of paper" December is the time of year when office workers are faced with a serious challenge. Normally, it can lead to higher stress levels, and even major arguments. You see, it's all to do with a particular December deadline. You know which one I am on about - the Secret Santa (or Kris Kringle) present giving occasion! In all honesty any work related, or year end deadlines, take second, or even third priority, when it comes to Secret Santa! For the uninitiated out there in Blogland, Secret Santa is where an office worker pulls a name of a co-worker out of a hat and then has to buy them a present up to a certain value. The 'Secret' part comes into it as you are not supposed to reveal who you have bought a present for. What no...

Aussies were purchasing traditional food too - ice cream and packets of chips....like going to a Celine Dion concert and finding that the support group is Motorhead! Indian culture truly is an amazing thing given its facets and its extensive and rich tradition. Being married to an Aussie Punjabi means that I frequently get to experience aspects of that culture. To a small minority of people that might mean having a ‘curry’ rather than a meat pie and chips! To others it could revolve around meditation, yoga or getting in touch with your spiritual self. Though to some of my friends their ‘spiritual self’ revolves around sculling a scotch and coke or three! Anyway, at the weekend just past, we decided to go to an Indian dance show that was being put on at the local civic centre. My wife and daughters got dressed in traditional clothes. My wife wore a Punjabi suit (salwar kameez) and the gals wore multi coloured lenghas. As for myself and my father in law, we decided to go in traditional c...