My view and thoughts on everything!

Recently a fellow tweep @little_freedia and I decided to go a week without access to any social media.  We decided to see how we would cope without it.  Would we have withdrawal symptoms? Would we give in prior to the end of 7 days?  Or would we discover things that we didn't know existed? To make it easier (or harder) we had to deactivate all social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  For myself, Facebook wasn't an issue as I had permanently deleted my account more than a year ago.  Twitter and Instragram are my main social media nowadays.  We decided that emails were allowed as it really is a communication platform and not a social media outlet. So on Sunday night 7th July, I deactivated my Twitter and signed out of my Instragram account.  Having done this I actually felt like a naughty schoolboy who has done something mischievous in the classroom.  Well I couldn't worry too much about this as I had made a commitment to my fellow Twe...

Life really is full of repetition.  It seems to be the same old thing, day after day. Be honest, how often do you feel like you are repeating things over and over and over again? Just like that great movie Groundhog Day, when Punxsutawney Phil makes an appearance to decide if winter is coming to an end or not, Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again.  Despite its comedic theme, the film does make a good point that our lives do seem to be stuck living the same old scene. To make my point, I will give you an overview of how most of my days go.  Normally the weekdays rather than weekends, where there is a bit of flexibility. On most workdays I take my two daughters to their school which is about a 7 minute walk from where we live.  We really have to leave home at 8am, to ensure that I can catch a train to work and get there at a respectable time. Nine times out of ten, this is never the case.  Even though I am ready, my daughters hardly ever are! ...

Season’s Greetings from the Land Down Under! I hope that you were all on Santa’s ‘nice list’ and had a great Christmas Day with family and loved ones.   I thought it would be a good idea to tell you what it is like to experience Christmas here in Australia. Despite the obvious, (the weather) there isn't too much that is different between what Christmas is like in the UK and here in Oz. In fact, unsurprisingly, it is virtually the same! For example, all the major department stores put up snowy Christmas scenes in their store windows. This includes fake snow in the shop windows, carol singers, a portly Santa and so on. It can be quite surreal to walk into a department store and see these 'winter images' when the temperature is 35C and sweat is dripping from your brow! All around Australia, major cities and towns will erect Christmas trees decorated with baubles, angels and tinsel etc. I have to admit that this can look strange when you are in the tropical part of A...

"Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women - except perhaps during Mardi Gras" Aah yes. Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women – except perhaps during Mardi Gras. It’s a tough bloke’s type of country, you know. We are tough. We work long hours, endure the hot baking sun and love that cold nectar running down our throat, and our beer guts, especially after a hard day’s yakka. Meanwhile our Sheila’s are all at home making dinner and looking after the brats, whilst watching a re-run of Neighbours on the television. This is very much a stereotypical view to some people of what Australia is really like. Just to clarify before I go on, we do not have Kangaroo’s hopping about in our backyard, and yes – we do have ‘shopping malls’. We do, however, like to throw a ‘shrimp on the barbie’. Well I have some news for you, dear reader. Australia is not a man’s country but is, deep breath, a woman’s country. What am I on about? Have I lost my marbl...

"my souffle making skills have improved beyond measure....obviously the architect had a sense of humour!" A few long years ago Alanis Morrissette released a song called 'Ironic'. It was a worldwide hit and is probably her most well known song. For the nerds reading this, the single was released in 1996. The songs lyrics revolve around the great ironies that is life itself. The reason for mentioning this is not to promote the song or Alanis' music career but to mention it because I have come across a few ironies recently. What are these type of ironies that I have discovered? Well, dear friend, read on. A few weeks ago I came across the Mosman Daily. It is a local, free newspaper that is delivered to residents in the lower north shore of Sydney. Nothing unusual or ironic about that is there? However, the irony is that the Mosman Daily is a weekly newspaper!! You would have thought that given it's not so daily frequencies that a name change would have bee...

"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...

"I have been convinced that this weather is a cunning plan of ducks worldwide...you will see loads of English carrying a brolly or two" Us Sydneysiders have just come out (fingers, toes and dangly bits crossed) of a very wet spell that lasted nigh on three weeks. Now I would be the first to admit that it is great that we have been awash with the life saving liquid, but there is a point where it gets beyond a joke (and I don't mean the one about the Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman!). The other joke is that the rain is falling on the coast and not really in the dam catchment area. Now obviously, the downpours do not compare to monsoonal regions of the world, but they can certainly get to you nonetheless. At present we have just entered winter and naturally the sun is rising later and setting earlier. So with the lack of daylight hours, coupled with grey and overcast skies, the city has been living in a kind of gloom recently. For those who don't know, winter in Syd...

"however this advert caught my eye (and nose and left ear)...now call me dumb or slap me about with a wet fish" The other day I was reading the local newspaper when I came across an advert inside it. Now, I hear you say, there's nothing wrong with adverts in a newspaper. After all, it helps keep the cost of the newspaper down to a reasonable amount. This is very true indeed. However this advert caught my eye (and my nose and left ear). So what was the advert that grabbed my attention? Well, you see it was an advert for a local pet shop that was having a sale. It must have been a large pet shop given the number of sale items. In fact, it was one of the items on sale that struck me as being quite odd. The advert stated, and I quote verbatim. "50% off all live fish". At first glance this seemed to make sense. Your long awaited addition to your tropical fish tank would be half price (no, I didn't need a calculator to work that one out!). However, a lite...

"It becomes an issue mainly in car parks and I am sure that most of you reading this are afflicted too. So what is it? Well it is not something that is easily answered in a few words...As you drive around you pass many cars all with drivers searching for their own piece of exclusive real estate. Every driver you see has been afflicted, like me" Firstly, apologies for not writing many blogs lately. I had my mother and sister visit me from the UK. So for the past few weeks I have been acting as a tour guide, chauffeur, interpreter (?) and helping them to stimulate the Australian economy (with British pounds). Oh yeah, and we had the dust storm of all time! Anyway, back to the topic of this blog. I have noticed recently that I suffer from an affliction. It's not contagious, illegal or damaging to your health. It is an affliction, however, that has infected millions of people worldwide. I have thought about seeking professional help with this matter but I feel it is too la...

"Still there appear to be things missing. No doubt they will turn up before the 2012 Olympics...to say that the singing was dire. In fact it was worse than dire, it was totally bad!" One of the biggest drawbacks of moving to an apartment from a house is that you are really living in a box which is cocooned by all these other boxes. It always reminds me of a beehive without the honey. Now, don't get me wrong, apartments have a lot going for them. They are economical, efficient, generally warmer than a house (especially in winter) and you don't need to worry about any gardening! (much to my relief). Recently we moved into an apartment as a stop gap means as we will be moving to another part of Sydney in early 2010. It is a good sized apartment with a nice balcony and a good sized courtyard for our girls to run around, or ride their bikes. I am hoping that my youngest daughter quickly realises where the brakes are on her bike otherwise she is going to be black and bl...

"I rubbed my eyes (not sure why, but it felt good anyway) and re-checked. The computer still showed that the dam levels had fallen...My first thought was that a giant bird had paused over our main dam (Warragamba Dam for all you anoraks out there) and taken a huge gulp of our water!" One of the things I do on a regular basis is to check the water level of the dams that supply Sydney with it's drinking water. Now I don't drive out to all the dams with a dip stick and measure it that way, but I do go to the relevant State Government website to see how full our dams are. It's a cheaper and more effective way of getting the information. Also, I would need a large dipstick to effectively measure the water levels of the dams! I have no idea why I have an infatuation with dam levels. Maybe it was because I used to collect stamps when I was a youngster, and have been known to occasionally sing in the shower. Alternatively it could be that the publicity given to the level ...

"I quickly looked at my phone (its a safety comfort thing really). The month shown was May. I was stunned. So I hadn't been asleep for seven months...At this rate I would expect to see Easter eggs on the store shelves by October" A couple of weekends ago I took my daughters to the local shopping centre. We were looking for some clothes for them as it is (finally - hooray!!) getting colder in Sydney. Yes winter is knocking on the door. This year the summer seemed to linger as long as a bad smell in a lift, or more accurately body odour on a Sydney train! We were wandering around the centre and visiting a few shops, as you do, when we decided to go into one of the major stores. The gals love going shopping especially when it is for them! We looked at some clothes and found some sleepwear for them to wear during the chilly nights. They were very happy indeed! I have to admit I did choose well for them. I decided to look at some books whilst there as I have always like...

"how fat and big the pigs were. They were huge! All I could think of while looking at them was a years supply of bacon and ham steaks!...I had no idea as to how much grooming these creatures go through. I was expecting to see nail polish and lipstick on them but alas the cows were spared this 'luxury''" Once a year an event comes to Sydney that generates a lot of excitement for thousands of locals. It's an event that is predominantly geared towards the young of age and also those, like myself, who are young at heart! What is this event? I hear you mutter over your second bowl of muesli. Well it's not a concert by Miley Cyrus or even a hair styling expo guest starring Zac Efron, but it is the Royal Sydney Easter Show! Note for the anoraks amongst you that the 'Royal' moniker was bestowed on the Easter Show by Queen Victoria in the nineteenth century (about the same time as Cliff Richard was born!). I personally love the Easter Show. Yes it's ...

"Firstly, I am not a male model (or b grade talent show contestant) and secondly I certainly wouldn't wear a g-string (unless it is for charity)....Within seconds she was standing right opposite me and then in a moment later promptly stood on my injured foot. "aaarghhh" I screamed. "There you go" said the wife "I bet you are not in as much pain now" Now that the weather is well and truly getting warmer us Sydneysiders are shedding our clothes. Now, I don't mean that everyone is going naked, but we are all obviously wearing apparel to match the weather and the impending approach of good ol' Summer. So shorts, t-shirts and, for the girls, summer dresses are de rigeur. Likewise boots and shoes have been exchanged for sandals. Mind you, given the past few days, where the mercury has been plummeting, you could be excused for thinking it's still winter here. On Sunday, I received a phone call from my sister in England. She said "gu...

"Two loaves? What are we doing? feeding the population of Australia or 30 kindergarten children??...It looked like a case of organised chaos (which it was)" A couple of weeks ago No Worries and I decided to have a party for our eldest daughter who was turning 6. We decided to have the party (aka afternoon tea) after school. The idea was to invite her friends over for an afternoon tea. To ensure a successful afternoon was had by all No Worries and I, in true military fashion, got out the white board, donned our flak jackets and worked out a plan of attack for the party. Initially discussions were around what food should be on offer for our hungry guests. We decided on cooking most of the food ourselves. I got the gourmet pizza cooking rights as well as the honour of making chocolate crackles (being a chocoholic I readily volunteered for this). No worries would take care of the fairy bread, pancakes, salad and all the other yummies. As the party was on a Monday we decided to do...

"You only have to look at the faces of most of the parents to see that they are thinking "I really want to have a go at this"...We hit him at a fair speed and he seemed to be airborne for ages before coming back to earth" This time of year is a very busy period for the family. It's what I call 'the birthday party season'. Over the next few weeks we will be going to a number of birthday parties of the toddler and child variety. On top of this both our daughter's have their birthdays coming up in the next few weeks. Last weekend we attended two birthdays to kick off this party season. The one on Saturday was a home affair, while the one on Sunday was held at an indoor play centre. This one was located in a Inner Sydney suburb which is really a warehouse type structure that has climbing structures, slides, obstacles, ball pits and so on. To be totally honest, even though these places are for children it is obvious that us adults want to try out all the ...

"I need you to buy some stockings" Now my head was spinning? why would I need stockings???...It was at that stage that some Gordon Ramsay style language spewed forth from my mouth and the GPS was turned off" Weddings are great events. For the family and friends that attend the marriage service it truly is a moment of magic. However, for the bride, groom or bridal party it can be a very stressful time. The following is an account of what happened to me as I attended the wedding of my wife's best friend in Sydney. My wife was the Matron of Honour and my daughters were Flower Girls. The day before the wedding my wife informed me that we would need to get up early on Saturday morning so that my daughters and herself could have their hair and makeup done in preparation for the big event (and I don't mean the local footy match either). I considered this and said "no problems" thinking that we could leave home at 8 o'clock and arrive at the bride's hou...

"My first thought was "where did all the missed calls go to?". My second thought was "who is eating all the biscuits?"...did our mystery person forget their partner's birthday? In some cases that could be the incident to spark an international crisis!" Over the past few weeks there has been an an unusual occurrence happening at the Mothership. No, it's not the fact that there has been a lack of biscuits which is very unusual. Before I go on I should explain that the Mothership is the nickname of the the financial organisation where I work, and it is located in one of Sydney's tallest buildings. Anyway, on the floor that I am located I have noticed that there is an empty desk that just has a phone on it. Now that is not unusual in itself, you might say, and normally I would agree. However, since working on this floor I have never seen anyone sit at this desk. This is strange in itself as desks are at a premium in the Mothership (as are biscu...

"It even comes with it's own sock! (presumably so it can sleep comfortably at night)...that was an easy one to work out. Even Einstein wouldn't have had any problems with that" Recently I wrote a blog about a new mobile phone of mine that seemed possessed http://dw-perspectives.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-think-my-phone-is-possessed.html . Naturally, I changed this one for a phone that didn't require an exorcism every few hours. Also, the cost of getting an exorcism expert in frequently was costing way too much money! Anyway, last week I decided to replace the non-possessed phone for a more hi-tech, wham bam, thank you mam! type of phone. I chose the superbly styled Nokia E65. Now for those of you who do not know much about the Nokia E65, let me tell you it's one helluva sexy phone! It oozes class and style - like a convertible car. It even comes with it's own sock! (presumably so it can sleep comfortably at night) Functionally speaking, it's a slide up pho...

"some person called Fergie is supporting. You don't think it's the same Fergie who married Prince Andrew, do you?...Nicole Kidman, her husband and Hugh Jackman were sitting down in the stalls and, one can cheekily think, queueing up to buy their sausage rolls!" There I was at work last week contemplating life, the universe and everything when the phone rang. It was the wife. "Hi" she said in an excited tone. "We are going to the Police" Straight away my mind started racing at 1,000 miles per hour (or 1,700 kilometres per hour for all you metric nerds). I responded "Police? why what has happened? has there been an accident, or a robbery? are the girls okay?" My wife then started laughing. "Nooo, silly" it's the rock group that I am on about". Once I had gotten off the floor and my pulse had returned to normal, I let out a huge sigh of relief. "That's not all" continued the missus. "I have won tickets t...