Where do we come from?

I love checking the keywords of people's Google searches that lead them to this blog site. Just ilke when you search for something and get results that are unexpected, sometimes the searches that people use to get here are suprising because of how little I've thought about the different ways things I write about may be able to be interpreted.

A quick google search has shown up that there is actually quite a bit of debate about the top search terms people use. Everything from God, Sex, Paris Hilton, Jobs, Politics, to far ruder subjects.

Ha - notice that I've managed to slip all of those common search terms into one post? I guess this will be my own little test! I'll let you know if my readership explodes over the next few days!

And to the mysterious "alternative phrases for the best things since white bread", I'm glad you stuck around for a read and I hope you found what you were looking for!

Jacki

I am Sailing...I am Sailing...

Bugger, now I'm going to have Rod Stewart in my head all day!

Last Friday I went sailing. The photos are here.

I have to tell you all, I had a bloody sensational day! What's not to love about sailing? You're out and about on the water (lots of sunscreen is definitely the order of the day), the wind ruffles your hair, you hang on for dear life as the word tilts sideways and you're sure you're going to end up on the news...

then you get where you're going and sit and drink wine and eat nibblies (my favourite) in the sun.

then you do the same thing to get home and you get home exhausted and happy and sleep like the proverbial fairy-tale princess. Good company, good fun and a really great day. I could get used to a sport like that!

J.

Limbo (not the kind with the Carribbean drums and the stick)

We're currently in the middle of that limbo period...those couple of days between Christmas and New Year's. It's a funny old time, where the world doesn't quite work the same way it does the rest of the year. As with anything out of my usual routine, there are things about this period that I love and things that drive me bonkers.

Love: Work is quiet. You can tinker away on ideas that you've been wanting to invest some time in for months, but never seem to get free time to do.

Hate: The city is impossibly crowded. People everywhere with nothing to hurry for and plenty of time to wander, stroll and browse. Out of my way, people!

Love: Work is relaxed enough that you can actually get time to go out for lunch instead of grabbing take-away and eating at your desk as usual....

Hate: Public transport. Limited services (ie not even as many as usual), the usual train gong the wrong way around the city circle loop, tourists with suitcases who have no idea how to get on or off a train. Or a platform for that matter. Seriously, this is my everyday thing. You're the ones in the way...MOVE!!!

Love: Knowing that I'm saving my holidays for a big trip next year (almost this year!)

Hate: Knowing half my friends are on holidays now. And half of my team.

Love: Even without taking any holidays, I still get a 4 day weekend followed by a 3 day weekend.

Hate: Skeleton staff for support staff. I'm sitting here writing this because the normal fortnightly report that I produce, instead of taking the usual 10-15 minutes, has now taken 4 hours. I logged a call with tech support yesterday, but nobody seems in any particular hurry to help. ARGH!!!!!

so if you're working like me, I hope you're not working too hard, and if you're on holidays, well, I don't want to hear about it! See you Tuesday!

Jacki.

To Be Or Not To Be...

I like to think of myself as a pretty polite person. My parents certainly raised me to have good manners and I really think that was a good thing that I adhere to whenever I can.

The question is, though, when is it OK to stop being polite? What does it take for a reasonable person to be pushed beyond the limits of polite tolerance?

Today two things happened. Both of them brought into question the appropriate application of manners.

Situation 1: Today I went out to lunch with 3 friends. Admittedly we went into the nasty part (read: the mall) of the city right in the middle of the post-Christmas sale rush. This was obviously a mistake. (gotta love hindsight)

We went to a small café slightly out of the way. Apparently it wasn’t out of the way enough, however. Firstly the only table that was available was one that had been recently vacated. So the previous occupant’s dishes remained on the table.

Next we weren’t offered menus. Fair enough. It was quite busy. We borrowed one from a neighboring table.

Next we eventually had to go ask the waitress if it might be likely we would be able to order soon. These things happen. Annoying, but I can live with it. In response, she came over and cleared the table then disappeared for quite some time.

Eventually she returned. We managed to order. With effort. I’d be willing to bet that she was a temp brought in just for the Christmas rush period, based purely on the fact that she seemed completely unfamiliar with any item on the menu and made us point them out for her before after stating what we wanted before we could have our lunch requests committed to the notepad.

After a ridiculous amount of time the food started to arrive. Not only was it not the food that we had ordered, but it was also awful. Some time after this we thought maybe it would be a good idea to go find our absent waitress again to see if we could track down the mystery of where our drinks were.

The drinks were also not what we ordered. Mentioning the fact that a bitter lemon (as per the menu) might actually be different from a lemon, lime and bitters was met with a raised eyebrow and a “that’s not the way we do it here”.

Needless to say, by the end of our (semi-inedible) lunch, nobody was impressed.

What would have been the appropriate response to this situation?

Situation 2: I finish work and hop onto a fairly crowded train to get home. I notice with delight that there is a large area with nobody sitting in the seats, and, assuming it is due to the reduced number of commuters during the holiday period, take a seat.

I soon discover why the seats are empty. I’m sitting next to a guy smelling strongly of urine. Apart from that fact he seems reasonably sane. He’s not doing anything wrong. Do I move seats? Do I get up at the next station and pretend I’m getting off and get on at another carriage? Should I care? Don’t I have the right to move seats on public transport whenever I feel like it? What if he gets offended and I hurt his feelings? What if he doesn’t know he smells like wee? What if he does and he’s trying to cause trouble and he yells at me for moving?

What do you do?

….Answers (at least to what actually happened, not to what should have happened) in tomorrow’s installment….

Photos, photos and more photos

I've finally gotten a little organised (mainly due to the fact that we're havinga few network issues this morning) and started sorting my way through my photos from the last couple of months. I've been working my way backwards, so have managed to get the following events on...

Christmas Day at Sandy's
Christmas Eve Eve at Danielle's
Sailing Adventures
Welcome Home Drinks for Kogi
A couple of Work Christmas parties
The PA Offsite dinner
and Karen & Anthony's Wedding

Whilst there are defniitely still more to come (including a whole buckload of photo diary), if you're interested, just pop on over and have a sticky-beak.

Jacki

A bit ridiculous

OK, I know it's that quiet period between Christmas and New years when only the people with no famililes or different cultures end up working.

And I know that it's 4.30 and pretty much even those people have jumped ship and buggered off to do something more exciting.

but seriously? The cleaners are vacuuming around me! I feel l ike I'm at that last table at a restaurant at the end of a long night!

don't they know I'm trying to sort through my Christmas photos?

;-P

And then it was over...

Well it's Boxing Day. The big one is over. The food (or a small portion of what was planned) has been eaten. The wine has well and druly been drunk. The presents have been opened and the tree is ready for disassembly to be put into storage for next year.

Thanks to Sandy for hosting orphan's Christmas and thanks to Edel, Kogi, Jonathan, David & Ronene for sharing a beautiful day.

Hmm, guess I should get out of my pajamas and off the couch and go collect my car.

Soon.

Soon-ish anyway.

Hope you all had a good one.

Jacki

Count down til santa's visit

Given my penchant for countdowns, you may be wondering why I'm not counting down to the big sparkly shiny day coming up next Monday.

Well everyone else seems to be counting down to that one so I thought it might be a bit redundant. I was downstairs on level 28 earlier and the boys down there have a litte blackboard with Santas and stuff that you write in the number of days to go until Christmas.

So if you want to count down, you could go get yourself one of those. Or an advent calendar (maybe one with chocolates?). I'll leave you to your own devices on this one.

J.

Chocoholism

Now let me start this post by stating that I'm usually not a big chocolate person. I may have been when i was younger, but my taste buds seem to have matured (read: aged) a little since then and usually I'll head straight for the cheese plate without so much as a pause by the chocolate bowl.

This year, there seems to have been an awful lot of chocolate around. I've received some as gifts, had them handed out at work and been given them as after dinner treats at the various Christmas functions I've attended this holiday season.

So in the interest of not appearing rude (of course! What other reason would there be?) I have partaken of more chocolate in the last couple of weeks than I probably have all year.

But somehow now that I've jumped on the chocolate bandwagon, I seem to be having trouble getting back off. I've started looking for something sweet after lunch and dinner and a piece of fruit is not longer making the grade.

So what's going on? Have they started making chocolate more addictive? Or was it always like that (that might explain my teenage years, I suppose)? Do I need help beating the demon dessert?

And so this is Christmas...

I received the annual christmas letter from my Uncle yesterday. this year it was in pdf format and received via email, so I guess things have changed a bit from when I remember Mum getting organised with the photocopying and the personal writing on the bottom of each one and then an enclosed photo of the family sent off months in advance (my Mum's a very organised person) to reach teh overseas friends and relatives.

Anyway, I'm digressing. I thought it might be a good idea to do my Christmas letter on here. These annual events always prove an interesting time to reflect on the highlights and lowlights and to take stock of the previous year to clear the air in preparation for the next one.

So what have been the features of 2006 for me?

• My brother Bronte's wedding to Bec
• My sister Mel's wedding to Brownedog
• Alison & Steve's wedding
• Bec & Luke's wedding
• Karen & Anthony's wedding
• Travelling all over the country to attend weddings: Perth, Melbourne, Port Douglas, Perth, Launceston. Whew.
• Learning to Bollywood dance
• Buying and moving into my apartment
• Mum & Dad visiting me in Sydney
• lots of other visitors now I finally have a spare room
• Sandy moving to the inner west
• Seeing Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz
• Bloody missing Beth Orton in concert again!!
• Sadly farewelling my Grandma
• A dodgy flatmate and freeloading swedish backpacker experience
• Moving into the shiny new office building
• And I started this blog!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!!

Jacki

New Year's Resolution

I've decided what my New Year's resolution is going to be so I'm declaring here, openly for all the world to see...

In 2007 I will get better at remembering people's names!

Anyone have any ideas how?

Dirty Little Secrets

I enjoy watching Grey's Anatomy.
I really like the new Pink Album.
My favourite social activity is playing board-games
I love Coke Zero
I'm really clumsy and really forgetful
I'm very bad at remembering names. Really bad.
I like playing with databases. For fun.
I buy movies on video or DVD because I can never return them on time when I rent them and they end up costing me more in fines.

So there.

My new Favourite Word

neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun:
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.



The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism.
-- Larry Wolff, "If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars", New York Times, November 13, 1994
If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing.
-- Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game", New York Times, November 24, 1985
The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?").
-- Edward L. Widmer, Young America


The French word neologisme, from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements neo-, "new" + log-, "word" + -isme, -ism (all of which are derived from Greek).
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for neologism

Smug

Can't help but feel smug about articles like this .

And as I sit here eating my lunch....home-made pizza with fresh basil, baby spinach, mushrooms, capsicum, capers and pine-nuts...I can't say I'm feeling like it's much of a chore being veggie either.

Yum.

Shame on you, chocolate thief!!

In our office, we have one of those charity chocolate boxes offering enticing treats sans guilt since you're helping out with fundraising.

Someone in our office has been stealing from the charity chocolate box.

I hope they get the karma they deserve. :-(

Weird World

OK, this has got to be the strangest media story I've read for a while.

Wear sunscreen

Ouch. I had a nasty looking mole cut out of my back yesterday. It's very painful (despite being very small and not looking too impressive at all). I'd prefer not to have any more pieces of me cut out, so my summer's resolution is to always wear sunscreen.

slip, slop, slap everyone...that's my advice for the day.

Work - vocation or job?

I was at a discussion forum the other day, and we were taling about career development. Kind of a dry topic, you'd think, but things took a bit of a philosophical turn, and we ended up contemplating some questions that I thought were kind of interesting.

I thought that I might share them with you. You can contemplate them on your own, ignore them completely, or if you feel inspired, you could even post up your thoughts.

If you weren't getting paid, would you still come to work?

If you were getting paid to either sit at home all day or work, would you still come to work?

If you could get paid the same to do something else, what would it be?

It's definitely that season again!

Hmmmm. The big company Christmas Party was on last night. great fun, a whole (open) bar to ourselves, lots of networking, food and wine.

Lots of sore heads this morning. A few fuzzy ones too. And lots of sighs and bottles of water and trips to the coke machine. Quite a lot of big greasy breakfasts this morning. A few people taking an early mark today. The odd scandal and person looking a little embarassed today. (Not me, in case you were wondering, I was suprisingly well-behaved!) My boss reckons that our team is operating with one brain-cell between us today.

It's definitely that season again.

Team Christmas lunch tomorrow....
Christmas Lawn bowls for the greater team next week....
Then there's the big day itself....
and New Year's Eve....

I definitely know why they call it the "silly season".

Still, back to my regular job on Monday so I'll try to get in a few more regular posts.

Where did the week go?

Do you ever have weeks like that? I'm sure it was Monday morning about 5 minutes ago and suddenly I've been in this weird time-warp and it's Friday afternoon.

Seriously, I've had such a great week. I've learnt some amazing stuff and had a ball doing all sorts of nerdy things.

And I've had a great workout in the process. sounds odd, I know, but it's true. All due to the fact that I've been working on level 28 and still doing stuff on level 31 and transferring all sorts of stuff around between desks. I'm on my record today...9 trips up and down those 3 flights of stairs!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

J.

Woohoo!

Woohoo for 2 things....

tomorrow it's SUMMER!!!!

and congratulations to Dave who finished his last exam today. We're off to have a bit of a beverage to celebrate!

Yay!~!

J.

Where's Jacki?

Apologies for the paucity of posts...I'm doing "work experience" with a different role this week and next week (sounds like I'm in year 10 and deciding whether or not I want to be an astronaut or a hairdresser!), so am busily trying to get my head around all the new stuff.

It's very interesting and exciting in a nerdy sort of way (is there any other kind?) and I'm enjoying myself immensely at work and really trying to get the most out of it. Hence working flat out during lunch and other assorted times when I'd normally muse over blog entries.

So hang in there...I'll be back (as the governor once said).

J.

MP3 Ettiquette

Is it ever okay to sing along to the song playing on your MP3 player? What if...

• The song is really, really good?
• You've been drinking? (actually cancel that...probably not such a good idea now I think about it)
• It's late at night?
• You sing quietly?
• There's nobody else around (or you think there isn't)

And what about dancing? Do the same rules apply? Can you push the envelope a little further? Or tapping your feet? Nodding your head?

there's a whole world out there and I really don't know the rules. Can anybody help me? Or am I going to be left to my own devices...could be embarrassing......

J.

Update from the fast-fading weekend

I had a lovely weekend, and would like to thank everyone who contributed...

Thanks Jess for the Gazpacho party
Thanks Jonathan for making it to the Gazpacho party
Thanks Marti for the lift home from the Gazpacho Party
Thanks Ronene for being my co-driver to the Blue Mountains BBQ on Sunday and for assisting with every one of my needs...drink bottle management, DJing, plugging in phones and more.
Thanks Danielle for being the Hostess-with-the-mostest. She managed to cover everything from my labelling needs (take that! Junk mailers!) to improptu surgery with a pair of Ikea pliers (don't even ask).
Thanks Bec for finally telling everyone your exciting news so I don't have to worry about slipping up and letting the cat out of the bag anymore.
Thanks to everyone who was great company at both parties and especially to the Scattergories competitors.

Hope everyone else had as good a weekend as I did!

J. :-)

Jacki's Jabberings Gets Another Facelift

As I'm clearly someone who can never leave well enough alone, you'll notice that there have been a few new bells and whistles added to the left hand side-bar of the blog.

I thought they looked like kind of fun things to have on there, a bit of added entertainment. I am a little concerned, though, that I shouldn't have added every bell and whistle I could figure out how to add. What do we think? Is is too busy now or am I just turning paranoid?

So, loyal readers, it's over to you to let me know what you think. Due to the overwhelming law of inertia (read: laziness) if nobody responds, the changes stay, so if you don't like them you'd better get typing. All suggestions will be dutifully considered, and all decisions are made by me and considered final.

J.

Update to the Breakfast Dilemma

Back at the start of September I had a bit of a whinge about my breakfast situation. After moving offices I've never been able to find a suitable place to have breakfast and had pretty much resigned myself to inferior alternatives.

this morning I'm in a great mood, because the breakfast dilemma has been solved. A huge thank-you to Sophie who directed me to a whole new shopping area I didn't know existed in search of somewhere to replace my flat watch battery. In the course of going there I discovered a fantastic new breakfast place that does exactly what I like, even better than I used to get at my old place (they put parsley in the scrambled eggs and all!) for the same price!!!

Yay! That's totally made my day!

Mmm...scrambled egg and mushroom rolls are the best!!!!!!

The Weather Girl

It’s a bit of an accepted fact. I remember when I was at school teachers telling me that windy days make kids a bit crazy. Full moons are worse, but a rainy day always means the blues. Sunshine makes us happy and people are affected by SAD – Seasonally affected disorder. There are summer people and winter people, hotties and ice-queens (or kings), just like (seemingly arbitrarily) there are dog people and cat people.

So the weather has a big affect on us. Weather that suits us has a positive affect on us, and weather we hate does the opposite. I suppose there are universal exceptions; I can’t imagine anyone really enjoying getting stuck in the pouring, freezing rain whilst our walking a long way from home, and I doubt that Bourke and Wills enjoyed the fine weather they experienced.

But I guess the old cliché “mind over matter” holds true, whether it’s a conscious decision or not.

Today was one of those days which consists of the best that Spring in Sydney can throw at you. I’ve gone from stinking hot and sweating, to freezing and fighting the wind and sleet in one long day[1].

I met up with a couple of friends after work for a quick drink, so headed home an hour or so (maybe 2, if I’m going to be honest here) later than I usually would. I hopped off the train and headed down the short stroll to home. I couldn’t read my book, and the flimsy cardigan I grabbed this morning (just in case) seemed as useless as a chocolate teapot[2].

I made it down the road and through the gate into the yard…feeling a bit sorry for myself and grumbling internally about the unpredictable weather and getting stuck out in the cold at this time of year. Then all of a sudden, something clicked. I looked around me, and somehow my perspective changed. I saw the trees and the bushes flying around, and the spring jasmine revoking its right to lazily exude its heady scent in favour of a wider-ranging more adventurous dispersion.

Somehow, without warning, the wild weather made me feel alive. A grin spread across my face and I unfurled my foetal pose to embrace the storm. I looked around a few minutes in wonder at the passion and the fury and beauty of it all. And then I headed inside to the comfort of my warm home, encouraged by the contrast between cosy shelter and the formidable fury of Mother Nature outside.

[1] And I’ve just had the weird weather reports of snow and hail around the country pop up on the late news, so I guess, relatively speaking, on the weired-o-metre things really weren’t that bad here
[2] OK, so it’s one of my favourite sayings at the moment, but I have to admit that I stole it from some show on the ABC a while back

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain

Rain is rain. End of story, right? And Hail is something different, snow and sleet are other categories again. Or so you might think. Apparently the Eskimo have dozens of words for “snow”. And I heard a story once of some guy who did an experiment and isolated himself in a cave for some ridiculously long amount of time and ended up being able to recognize various different types of water drops solely from the sound of them falling.

Today it rained in the city. It’s always a spectacle to watch a storm roll in from the upper floors of a tall building with lots of windows, but today’s rain was something else altogether.

The wind was coming in and gusting in a dozen different directions, and the cold change was right on the verge of freezing the raindrops. Flakes of almost-snow almost-rain almost-hail were swirling and dancing, up and down and across and over and under and around.

It was beautiful. Enough even to have the jaded office workers lined up pushing their noses up against the glass in awe.

Training dynamics

If you’ve been reading along recently you’d know I was on training for a couple of days last week. And if you’ve been reading along a bit longer you’d know that I quite enjoy coming up with my own little Jacki-philosophy version of categorising the world around me.

Over the course of my working life I’ve attended quite a few training courses and for some reason the group dynamics of that sort of environment always seem to bring out some stock-standard personality types. Last week was no exception, so I thought I’d share my observations with you…

1. The instructor: Essential part of any training. Usually starts with such gems as “This is interactive training. Please feel free to ask questions at any time and please speak up with the answers to any questions I ask of the class” Closely followed by deafening silence after every questions.

2. The Know-it-all: For some reason this class member is sitting through a class, the syllabus of which they are already completely and intimately acquainted. They sit looking bored, answering questions and rolling their eyes when everyone else in the class is completely and hopelessly lost.

3. 2-step Charlie: The one person at the back of the class that’s perpetually 2 steps behind the rest of the class. Pipes up with answers to questions that the rest of the class completed 10 minutes ago.
4. The Spanish Inquisitor: The incessant questioner. Can’t leave any detail unanswered and clearly will not be satisfied unless they leave the class with every aspect of the application of the course content is clear in relation to their particular job. Whether anyone else in the class is interested or not.

5. The literal thinker: this classic class member doesn’t seem to be aware that the examples used in class are there for the purpose of illustrating a concept. They’re not true. For the sake of showing relevance, I’m sure the course-writers try to base them on believable scenarios, but they’re never supposed to taken as seriously as the literal thinker considers them. Can hijack the course work by holding up the class picking holes in the examples rather than actually learning what they were supposed to teach in the first place.

6. The wall-flower: Sits quietly up the back. Seems startled and incoherent when addressed. Could potentially be the next Einstein on the topic, but who would ever know?
So how did I do? Recognise anyone? Recognise yourself? Recognise me?

Who do you think I was last week? And am I always that person? Hmm…I think that’s another post altogether….

Where's Wally?

Actually no idea. But if you're wondering where Jacki is, she's in training for a couple of days. Luckily, however, she has internet access there and will still drop a post or two in if she can manage it. She's also collecting material for an exciting new post.

Jacki (aka the database demon)

Horsing Around

Last week was the Melbourne Cup, those few minutes each when Australia stops whatever it's doing and watches a horse race on the telly.

This year work made a bit of a big deal of it...champagne breakfast and then lunch at one of my favourite restaurants. So in the spirit of the day I decided to take the plunge with my first ever flutter.

I picked 2 horses and put a couple of bucks on each for a place. Luck was with me and one of them came in second for me. Woohoo...I felt like a winner.

So, of course, being such a numbers person, I had the whole thing figured out. With the odds on the horses I chose, I absolutely planned on the win on one horse winning me the same amount as I...um..bet on the other horse...and...umm..lost.

Yep, that was the plan alright. Break even. Maybe I should go quitting my day job just yet, huh?

Superheroes galore

I made it to the Walk against Warming on Saturday, despite the rain, and it was fantastic. Great to see so many people standing up to be counted and showing they care. I've never seen so many people crammed into Martin Place!!

Good work fellow superheroes!

Luke…."<"inhale…exhale">"….I am Your Father…

You may have noticed that on Planet Jacki there are superheroes. Mostly this consists of people I admire and readers who listen to (and act upon) my rants about saving the world (like the Walk Against Warming this weekend).

As Einstein’s taught us, however, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. And for every superhero in the world, there is an anti-hero; a villain, or nemesis if you will. Equally, on Planet Jacki, there are people out there from the dark side.

For your reading pleasure, I have outlined the sorts of people who fall into this category below:

The morning person: People who try to talk to me on the train in the morning
The premature embarkation: People who try to get onto the train, before exiting commuters have finished getting off.

The tosser: People who litter. Especially with cigarette butts (somehow they’re exempt?).
The glass nazi: Over-efficient bus-boys. Would you believe the other night we had to rescue our empty glasses 4 times before Sandy returned from the bar with a fresh bottle?

The Chatterbox: People who talk through the movie while I’m at the cinema.

The time-bomb: People who are really late when I’m waiting for them.

The perilous pedestrian: When are we going to introduce tickets for dangerous walking? People who stop suddenly, right in the middle of the walk-way, groups who walk slowly and in random directions several people wide thereby stopping anyone from getting by.

The fickle pricing policy: When you go to the same place all the time and buy the same thing, yet the price mysteriously changes every time. I’d rather be overcharged right from the start! OK, so it’s not exactly a person, but I blame every single person who works in places like that.

The know-it-all cab driver: Yep, I know it’s their job to drive around and know where they’re going. But at the end of the day, I’m heading to my house and I go there all the time. I'd like to think I know the best way to go at any given time or circumstances. In particular, I may want to go a slightly longer way because I know what traffic is like a particular time of day. If I’ve specified a particular way to go, I’d like to go that way without the snide comments. I am the one paying, after all. If I take them a longer way, surely that just means a bigger fare?

Anyone else have any anti-heros in their life?

Communication Generation

Yay! I have my phone back, and working like new! It’s amazing how you can get so used to things.

Believe it or not, I used to be one of those hold-outs to the onset of the new technology. I had a home phone and answering machine that I could dial up and check my messages on from a public phone if it was really necessary ….

And then I gave in. ostensibly it was originally just going to be for when I was traveling interstate, and maybe for emergencies. Initially it was. Then I started using it a bit more. After all, it was there, and handy, and it was useful for a few things. Then there were text messages, and then using the gadget a bit more. Then I swapped my dad for his swanky silver cover and had my first experience of the phone as something trendy. My first upgrade was to a kind of strange sideways phone with a full keypad. Great for texts, but impossible to use one handed, and also impossible to tell one end from the other, so guaranteed you’d always put it up to your ear the wrong way up. After that one disappeared (mysteriously…), I renewed my contract and was delivered a shiny new top-of-the-line phone. One of the first ones to come out with a camera in it. I thought I was in mobile phone nirvana. Photo diary evolved out of the funky purple phone, and by this stage I was well and truly hooked. When that one was pinched I even took the grand step of changing brands to my stylish and versatile Samsung slide phone. I may whinge about difficulties charging it occasionally, but the last couple of weeks while it’s been on the fritz have certainly made me realize how much I’ve integrated it into my life. I don’t even have a home phone anymore, let alone an answering machine.

I was organizing for Ronene to pick me up to go to dance class. Our custom for occasions such as this is for Ronene to ring as she’s leaving the house, and she’s at my place by the time I get downstairs and out the front of my building. It took us 3 goes at coming up with an alternative plan (making a time, and having to be there btw).

And let’s not even discuss the impact this had on plans with the boy…who for all his good points can have a bit of an issue with punctuality at time…

So, phone’s back. I feel like I’m myself again. Yay!

J.

Dancing Queen

I started Bollywood Dancing classes last night. I love dance classes as a great way to get some regular exercise, blow off a bit of steam, and have a lot of fun doing it. Just for the record it’s certainly not because of my natural talent and coordination (as any friend upon whose carpet I’ve spilt red wine will tell you). I’ve done several Salsa classes, Hip Hop Dancing, Belly Dancing and the enigmatically-named Solo International Dance Excitement. To continue with the hobby, I was talked into Bollywood dancing this semester.

Now just to get this straight, I’m not a Bollywood fan. Not to say that I’m not a Bollywood fan, it’s just that I can’t remember ever actually having seen anything even remotely Bollywood related. Unless “Bend it Like Beckham” counts. I just went along for the reasons outlined above, along with my fellow dancing queens Ronene and Bernie.

Well, let me tell you…Bollywood Dancing is shaping up to be the most fun of the lot. I really think in these cases that the instructor can make or break the class. Salsa was instructed by a hot-blooded latin lady who was an absolute hoot (and occasionally her very attractive assistant…mmmm). Hip hop was the young funky slip of a thing who turned up early to practice all the moves and took things quite seriously.

With this new class, the instructor is an absolute hoot. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard and so long. You’ve got to love a class that starts with jumping in the deep end – no instructions! We did get to a bit more structure later in the class. There were more classical moves…like “picking apples” and “pointy fingers”.

Bring it on, I say…and namastase!

Updated Haloumi Kebab recipe

For anyone who tried (or is considering trying) my Haloumi Kebab Recipe from an earlier post, I got a bit adventurous on Saturday night and came up with what I think are some improvements and thought I should share them.

Firstly, I marinated the mushrooms for an hour or so before I threaded up. I did this with balsamic vinegar, a drop of sesame oil, red wine, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger, stiffing frequently. YUM!

Secondly, instead of popping these under the grill, I used my brand new Jamie Oliver Tefal Shark Tooth Grill. It certainly browned everything up a little better than the stove grill, and they cooked a little faster as well. Totally loving my Tefal cookware at the moment.

Trust me, these are the best thing since sliced bread (better, maybe)...you should give them a go!

Good News / Bad News

Good News: Laptop is back and fixed!!

Bad News: Didn't recover the stuff from my desktop. Includes the lengthy posts I wrote whilst on holidays

Good News: Everything else was recovered

Bad News: Ummmm...that's it

Good News: Now the laptop's back I can write some new stuff

Bad News (maybe): You have to read it!!

Superman Part 2

If you're not doing anything on Saturday, you should be. This Saturday is the Walk Against Warming. In Sydney it starts from Martin Place at 11 am, details for other locations are on the website.

Hope to see you there, superheroes!

Long Live the Luddite

Ha ha! I'm back!! The laptop is back and working like a dream. Well kind of. I don't have my Office installation discs here so it's back to notepad for my writing, but I'm online and have all my photos and files!! Yay! Plus the lovely Warren from Computer SOS put everything onto disc for me. So he's effectively backed everything up for me. Guess now all I have to do is keep it up to date. Gulp!

So I'm working flat out to get everything organised. There may well even be updates this very eve. Although my favourite TV show happens to be on at the moment, so don't hold your breath! Plus now everything has been restored to defaults, and as I'm the queen of customisation this could be a bit tricky to get used to!

Hang in there, faithful readers....I'll be with you with something worthwhile soon!

J.

Now all I have to do is get my phone fixed. And my watch. Then I'll be back in the 21st Century with the rest of you!

More Kodak moments

Woo Hoo!! I'm getting my laptop back tonight so should have some decent stuff worth posting tomorrow (including a couple of longer posts that I wrote before the thing died and that my tech-guy assures me he was able to recover (along with all the rest of my stuff!! Yay!). In the mean time, I thought I'd whet your appetite with a couple of Kodak moments from my sister Mel's wedding. She's the one in the white dress. The other people in the shot are my other siblings. If it was full length you'd be able to see the freak toes.

Otherwise, please feel free to tactfully ignore the fact that I've recycled the same frock for both weddings. You have to do these things when you're travelling. I wore different shoes for each one if that means anything....

Peace, Harmony, Food

What a great combination! Totally loving the new restaurant that's opened near work. It's called Peace Harmony and they do Vegetarian/Vegan Thai food that's delicious, cheap and if you phone ahead it's ready by the time you walk around the corner to pick it up.

I have a menu on my desk and am working my way through the menu and rating each dish.

If you're reading this and work here or nearby (or are coming to visit soon) it's at 44 Erskine St.

Nicole - You'd totally love it...almost worth a trip on its own!

Worth a Look

Just to prove the point that every idea you could possibly have, and an awful lot you just wouldn't, is already on the net. Check this out !!!!

Travel adventures

So I've been rabbitting on both before and after going on holidays. But what did I really get up to? I know that's a burning question for my loyal readers, so here's a brief itinerary of my adventures over the last couple of weeks:

• Tuesday - Finish work, last minute trip to the beautician, spend the evening with the boy and finish packing.
• Wednesday - Early morning flight Sydney to Perth. Greeted by parents and younger sister Petrina who arrived an hour or so earlier. Off in the motor home and had lunch in the back while Dad bought a band saw (don't ask - it's a Dad thing). A stop in to visit brother Bronte, sister-in-law Bec and Niece Kara (oh my god! How cute can one kid be?) then down south to the affianced sister's farm for a couple of days. Dinner with the family and the soon-to-be brother-in-law Brownedog (yep, again, don't even ask).
• Thursday - Photography in the Dryandra with Mum & Petrina, then dodgy DVDs then dinner with the family and a fairly tame night at the Como hotel.
• Friday - Drive with Petrina to the airport to pick up wedding guests while the rest of the family heads to the wedding rehearsal, where we join them later. More wedding guests arrive and a looong boozy lunch entails. Back to Bronte & Bec's place for the night.
• Saturday - A trip to the shopping centre with Petrina & Bec for a bit of retail therapy and pedicures then off to check into the accommodation. Lots of scurrying from room to room as we had half the place booked out. A big dinner at the local and a few more drinks than may have been advisable the night before the big event. Oops!
• Sunday - the big event! Lots of getting ready, then the ceremony (limericks and all), then the dinner. All very beautiful.
• Monday - packing up and back to Bec & Bronte's again. Big BBQ recovery.
• Tuesday - a bit of relaxing and then a trip to the pool with Kara and hanging around til midnight to go catch the red-eye to Melbourne
• Wednesday - Time zone issues, layover in Melbourne airport, finally arriving in Tassie and sleeping all day. Pizza with my friends Nic & Mick.
• Thursday - big sleep in, chores around town and cooking dinner for Nic & Mick.
• Friday - Lunch with Nic and Rebecca, move to Rebecca & Matt's place. Dinner with Karen's (the second bride) family.
• Saturday - the big day (again!). More beautiful wedding and reception stuff.
• Sunday - BBQ at Karen's family's new house. A surprise visit to the absent Pom (who is known for not managing to make it to events before they finish!) and then pizza with Rossco.
• Monday - A visit to my old work for lunch with Julie and a very quick hello to a bunch of old friends. Then off to the airport and back home again...whew!!!!!

I think I need a rest!

J.

Sneak Peak

I'm not even close to sorting my holiday snaps yet, but thought I'd at least tease you with a sneak peek!

This is me and 3 of my high-school buddies, at Rosevears Estate for the reception for the second wedding I attended on my trip. Can you tell we're absolutely freezing? Ah...Tassie weddings!

Meet The Maker

Since I've been a bit light on the posts lately and haven't even had the chance to sort out my holiday photos, I thought I'd take advantage of my back catalogue of Albert's stories to give all of you something to read until I get my butt into gear (and my laptop fixed...it's with the guru guy and should be back in a few days). So, enjoy the lastest guest writer's offerings...

When I was but a miniaturised version of what I am today, though far more opinionated, with ample reserves of impatience always at my disposal, and being too outspoken for my own good, my grandma strongly urged me to seek, and be close to God. And I won’t deny that while I still retained the eagerness of youth, and imagining the kind of gifts an all-powerful “God” could throw my way, if only I could get his attention, and appeal to his benevolent side. Alas, for a great creative artist God turned out to be, with all the poor listening skills and attention span to go along with such vocation. My incessant prayers night after impatiently agonising night fell on deaf albeit divine ears.

Speaking to my good friend Zazoum (my wise alter ego), he reassured me that there are a host of recreational supplements at one’s disposal that can help make God far more accessible than previously presumed possible. I followed my friend’s sagely advice, and for quite sometime I developed quite a close relationship with the now late God …Yes God is dead. He was very old by the time I met him, and contrary to popular belief, he was created in the image of man, and as such he was not immune from dying any more than he was immune from foul temper, rash decisions, and over-consumption of alcohol. It was not for nothing that he taught his son Jesus to turn water into wine. It was because he needed a lot of the stuff, and most of the time he was too drunk to do it himself.

And to finally put an end to another misconception – Yes, God is (or was) a man! For all the New-age folks out there who have been labouring under the false impression that God is a woman, or that he might be some sort of curious mutation encompassing, thus transcending all genders and species, that is a whole hip of moronic refuse. God is a man, and now a dead man, and that, as they say, is that!

I once even caught a glimpse of him naked in the change room of the gym, and by George he’s got all the right equipment of a man. Who knows, he might have granted himself the male anatomical parts for shear posterity. “Let there be some serious goolies!!”, he might have commanded rather authoritatively, in almost a godlike voice, “and thus it came to pass”.

He may have been omnipotent, but it turned out that he was grappling with some major, shall we say, psychological shit. His omnipotence would cause one to think that God would, by definition be the essence of the supernatural, but nothing could be further from the truth. He epitomised nature in its most basic form, real nature, stripped of all sentiment, rhapsodic as a cold sore, romantic as a yeast infection, yet, paradoxically godly in nature.

In the winter years of his life, I got pretty close to the old guy. So much so that I thought he was bound to leave me something in his will. Some minor omnipotent powers perhaps, such as the ability to levitate in mid-air, or make my eyes light up with all sorts of luminescent colours. Perhaps even the ability to urinate some fine vintage wine of an excellent year on demand. But, alas, no such powers were to be bestowed upon me. Our Rabbi Chucklestein, however, did manage to receive some special powers. To give the reader some background, the Rabbi was always sweetly dangerous with the ladies, even at his ripe old age. Now, however, if the Rabbi enters a room where many young, and not so young ladies are congregating, invariably they would all burst into a spontaneous orgasmic combustion simply by being in the same room as he.

And how does the Rabbi feel about having such powers?? Quite beside himself at dawning sense of this unbelievable luck. Frankly the Rabbi does get tempted to have his ass kissed. Tempted to be their god. But Rabbi Chucklestein is bigger than all of this, he would rather settle for a generous donation to his favourite charity (namely his Swiss bank account).

The deep seeded archaic remnants that underlies man’s need to create god is well understood, but why would God choose to transform himself into a man, to live like a man, and to finally die like a man will forever remain a mystery.

funniest ever!

I love the website and it makes me laugh every day, but I reckon today's entry is the funniest EVER!!!!!

Check it out here

The home straight

Nope, actually not talking about the Caulfield cup. I'm talking about my big wedding-a-thon.

Everyone's married that's getting married (Rebecca & Matt who I'm staying with have been told if they don't get married today or tomorrow morning, they have to wait until after the end of next year because I'm going travelling and I'm not available for any more weddings)

Yesterday's event was beautiful and lots of fun. The bridal disco was a particular highlight. I have loads of photos and heaps of stories, but for now you're just going to have to be patient for a few more days.

For my Sydney friends, I'll see you all soon...and by the way, please nobody text me at the moment as my phone is on the fritz and I can't read them.

For now, I'm off to the post wedding barbecue, then dinner tonight with Nic and then lunch tomorrow at my old work with Julie....then home, and my own bed. Yay!

J. (aka the weary traveller!)

Hi, from the Apple Isle

Hi everyone,

made it to Tassie safe and sound after a particularly crazy week of lunches, dinners, trips to the airport, sister's wedding, and spending time with my gorgeous niece.

The trip itself involved a red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne, a 3-hour layover there, and a flight to Launceston. I was in great form by the time, as you can imagine, and it has taken me pretty much until now to recover.

Plus, I've realised that I've managed to not only continue one of my least-favourite traditions, but to make it worse!

Somehow, every year I manage to travel to Tasie in October. Not a problem in itself, I know. It's really just a problem that Tassie changes to daylight savings at the start of October and Sydney at the end of October. So what usually happens is I get here, and by the time I adjust I go back just in time to have to get used to non-daylight savings for a week and then have to change again. This year, I've managed to add WA time into the mix as well. Bleurgh. Can't everyone just get coordinated?

Anyway, back to the important stuff, I'm having a ball here catching up with Nic and Kristina today. Tomorrow is brunch with Rebecca and dinner with the bride's family. Saturday is the big wedding day and Sunday is (hopefully) recovery, then Monday I head back to home, sweet home. Phew!

Lots of updates promised for next week!!

J.

Quick Hello

Hi all,

Quick note to you all to say I'm alive and well and having a great holiday and the wedding was sensational and I've been on the go non-stop since I got here!

And my laptop decided that while I was away from home it would choose the most inopportune moment possible to completely die.Consequently posts are a bit hard to come by at the moment. Promise lots plus photos when I get back.

J.

I'm off!!

Alright!!! I'm all done and heading off on holidays!!! I've got the extended absence greeting on my voicemail, an out of office notification on my email, and even managed to knock everything off my to-do and handover list (if you can believe that!). I'm just powering down my PC and gonna wash up my mug on the way out the door.

See you all on the 24th!!!

Signed: One very happy girl!

Be your very own super-hero

If there's only one of my links that you ever follow, please make it this one.

This is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really important stuff

Save the world one signature at a time

Plan your platform

I promised some more stuff on public transport, and now I'm going to deliver. If you happen to live in Sydney, or maybe another city where public transport is the only option, and yet totally crap, I'm sure you'll relate. If you don't, well I'm sure you can feel smug or sorry for yourself depending on what your options are.

So I'm going to share a secret with you. If you take public transport every day, particularly the train, you can't really afford to leave things to chance. If you want to try to avoid the worst of the crowd, not get stuck in inpenetrable crowds of people trying to get through exit gates, and actually make it to work on time, you have to have a bit of a plan.

Now I'm not going to pretend that it's some finely-tuned secret service black-ops mission-style operation. But I will tell you it's as closest as you can get without having a license to kill. So every morning I walk down to the platform. I've invested in the annual ticket (after careful deliberations and extensive calculations) and therefore won't have to worry about buying tickets for some time. Nonetheless, there is much planning, negotiation and impeccable execution required.

So I walk down. I head to the right of the platform, approximately 15-18 metres from the bottom of the stairs. When the train arrives, there is a bit of an element of judgment involved, as the doors might not line up exactly with where I need to end up. Once on the train, having chosen the optimum door, my strategy is usually to go against the flow. Once all the seats are full, most people (amatuers - ha!) tend to stick around the standing room at the end of each carriage. I, on the other hand, pretty much always tend to head up or down into the seated areas and stand in the aisle. There is motive behind my actions. The reasons for doing this are as follows:
There's generally more standing room there than crammed in the cattle class. I like personal space and I'm perfectly aware that I'm towards the end of the line and therefore the train is generally pretty full by the time I get on.

As soon as someone gets off the train, I'm in perfect position to steal their seat. Anyone down the stairs would have to a)spot a spare seat. and b) get all the way up there past me!
Quite a lot of people get off at Redfern (usually changing to other lines, not because they want to be there). A lot of people get off at Central. A really lot of people get off at Town Hall. I get off at Wynyard. I get a seat more often than the odds would indicate is likely.

So there you go. Inside the mind of a planning, scheming commuter!

Anyway, the upshot of all of this is that I tend to end up with a seat. Plus, thanks to the devious scheming and positioning at the start of the line, I generally end up with the doors opening right at the stairway. That means I don't end up behind the lovely old duck in the walking frame. And I hit the gates first and save myself about 10 minutes in crowd negotiation.

So for all of you out there who thought the whole public transport thing was left to chance, hope you’ve had an education!

Chef Jacki's tip of the day

Mmmm...I made felafel rools from scratch last week. I've never really been game to give the whole thing a go as I've never been able to cook chickpeas to quite the right consistency.

A big thanks to good old Sydney Morning Herald whose weekend paper a few weeks back advised me to boil them with a bit of bicarb soda in the water. A simple yet oh-so-effective trick that made the best felafels. I didn't even need a food processor (lucky since I don't have one) and just used my potato masher. Added a few secret herbs and spices and shallow fried in my Tefal thermospot frypan (that is great, even though I've never yet seen the spot change colour).

Serve with lebanese bread, lettuce, cucumber, radish, chilli sauce and cottage cheese. Yum!!!

great hair days

I had a haircut last Thursday. Not a big change, just a slight variation on my current style, which had grown into a bit of a rampant mullet.

How good is it to have great hair after having had crap hair?? Pretty damn good, let me tell you. I feel like I'm in a Shampoo commercial!

J.

p.s. Thanks to Sharon, my hairdresser at Freaky Style in Newtown who always does a sensation job for a reasonable price....02-95577886 if you need her!

Go go gadget arms

When I was a kid I was totally addicted to the Inspector Gadget cartoon show. I loved it to the point that if my mum told me that I wasn't getting any dinner if I didn't come to the table and stop watching Inspector Gadget there would have been no competition - Gadget would win every time.
I'm a little older and (arguably) wiser now, but I find that I still have a fascination with gadgets. I don't pretend to be any great inventor or designer (despite my whinge about mobile phone chargers a while back), but I have managed to retain a fascination and great amount of respect for inventors and designers when they do a good job.
There are some fantastic things out there, Dyson vacuum cleaners spring to mind as a beautiful fusion between function and form (doing both exceptionally), my LG fuzzy logic washing machine (top loader but with no agitator) is another, and my Fisher and Paykel double dish drawer dishwasher (dishwashers?) is another. Great ideas, well executed, intuitive to use and they just do a good job! What more can you ask for?

But I guess what really gets me every time is a really good gadget. An honest-to-god gadget that is really designed for a very specific job…preferably one that is something you’ve never thought could be done better before, but once you’ve tried it, you can never go back.

I think the best recent example I’ve come across is the Microplane. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll realise that I fancy myself as a bit of a cook. So I’m sure it won’t surprise you that the first gadget I discuss is a kitchen one (given the abundance of kitchen gadgets in general too). So my favourite gadget at the moment is the microplane. Essentially it’s just a grater. It’s really not that much more expensive than a regular grater, however, trust me on this, it’s truly in its own little category. If the story on the packaging is to be believed, it came about when some woman was baking and happened to go into her husband’s shed and found some tool then (of course) tried it out on her lemon rind. Well, great story and all, but the thing is amazing. I’m a huge fan of grating fresh grana padano (it’s a type of cheese, kind of like parmesan but better, in case you’re wondering) on top of my pasta dishes. The only down-side used to be that the stuff starts out roughly the consistency of a lump of concrete. But never fear, the microplane is here! No effort at all and the grana padano goes from concrete to feathery slivers of finely grated fresh flavour with barely the flick of a wrist!

I also love the weird feathering tool that my hairdresser uses to give my hair a bit of a “choppy” look at the end. And the ceramic hair straightener (love that one!). Just quietly I love my Braun epilator and extra-long battery life electric toothbrush. And especially at the moment I’m loving being one of the clan-MP3. Another kitchen gadget that I’m finding great is my adjustable measuring thingy (yes, that’s the official term). It is kind of a spoon attached to a magnet (so it can hang on the fridge) and it has an adjustable lever thing and markings, so you can use the one gadget for anything between a teaspoon and a cup when you’re cooking. And it’s purple.

So cheers to the gadget! And may there be many more!

I really am still here

and I miss you all. I know the last 2 weeks have been a bit light on posts and for that I humbly apologise. Things have been utter madness.

Anyway, I'm going off on holidays for 2 whole weeks from Wednesday morning. I'm still hoping to be able to check in and do a few posts here and there, but I'm not making any promises.

I'm just hoping that my faithful readers will stick with my through the dry period. I swear I've got about 27 half-formed posts running around in my head or in my drafts and I'll have a go at getting some of them written for you all very soon. As a sneak peek I can promise a couple of guest writers...maybe even one that's not work-related (how novel!). I also seem to have a whole lot of posts half written about public transport. Hmmm, maybe a holiday really is in order!!

so keep checking in and I'll see what I can do to keep you all amused!!! (Lots of holiday stories and photos when I get back, too!)

J.

p.s. I'm starting Bollywood dancing classes the day after I arrive back, so I'm sure that I can manage a few amusing stories about my lack of coordination once that gets going!

Word Nerd Part II

Oooh...It was a good one today! Bloviate!!

Miracles of modern technology

Does anyone remember this old post?? The one where I had a whinge about how hard it is to charge my mobile phone and how someone should come up with a better solution?

Well, I'm very excited to announce that my musings have come to fruition. Last week my better half was on a conference and returned with various goodies. Amongst them was this little beauty:Yep, it's a USB phone charger with attachments for Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Simeans, Panasonic, Alcatel and (most importantly for me) Samsung mobile phones.

As he was kind enough to trade me this outstanding item for an old Nokia car charger I no longer need, I now have this wonderful box of goodies on my desk at work. No more running my phone flat at work!! And if you happen to sit near me and need your phone charged, chances are I'm your girl.

I am seriously impressed with this. I'm just a simple girl, easily pleased.

Long weekend update

I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. Umm, for those of you who didn't have yesterday off, well, umm, that's a bit of bad luck, isn't it?

Well I managed a great one. Well, in spite of a little drama over an injured wrist that I managed to hurt on Friday in typical Jacki style (ie freaky event that you wouldn't believe in a million years). Anyway, it's not too bad and only gets a bit sore now when I'm using a lot or tired.

Totally loving the weather at the moment in Sydney. I had a very active weekend with a lot of park time put in. A big walk in Sydney Park was followed by a relaxing afternoon playing Scrabble in Centennial Park (although I did actually manage to get a bit sunburned as a result of my outdoor activities...must pack the sunscreen earlier in the year this year). Also made it to the gym a couple of times which is giving me a bit of a head start on summer already!

There was also a family dinner with the in-laws, and time for a bona-fide spring clean (thanks Cath - I finally got around to using my marble paste and my shower doors have never been so clean!). Uh Oh, I think that may have made me sound a little like a grown-up there. Gulp.

So hope you all enjoyed the extra day!

Now. Countdown to holidays....8 sleeps to go!

Word Nerd

I think I may have mentioned previously that I receive word of the day. From that you may have surmised that I am a bit of a word nerd.

Well, that may be true, but I think I've really only shared the tip of the iceberg. The true level of my word-nerdism has not yet been revealed. I truly love words and language.

So firstly, I do subscribe to Dictionary.com's word of the day email. Every day a new and exciting word arrives.

But it gets worse! I have a whole method for making sure that I actually learn them. I know, totally daggy. But there's no point reading the word and its definition (and it being used in various sentences and its historical derivation) and then promptly forgetting the word altogether. So the trick is to leave the email in your inbox, and every day when a new one comes in I'll see if I can remember what the previous ones mean. Sometimes it sinks in for the next day, and sometimes it takes ages, but I always get there in the end!

I also have my favourites. And I keep them in my inbox.

In case you're interested, here's my list:

• pleonasm
• pandemic
• importunate
• triskaidekaphobia
• philomath
• segue
• ostensible

If you don't know what they mean, guess you'll just have to look them up! ;-)

Passiona

Do you remember passiona? That fizzy passionfruit flavoured drink from when we were kids? Do they still make it?

Actually, a quick google search revealed that not only do they still make the stuff, there is also now a new product available - Passiona flavoured jelly!

I'd like to know who named that particular drink. Pure genius! Creative, innovative, and very descriptive.

I have a bit of an idea. It's top secret, but I'll share it with you, my trustworthy readers. What do you think of the idea of.....(wait for it)........................................(drum roll please!).............
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................





Passiona cocktails!!!!!

Farewell Sunday Mug

I'm a little sad this week and feel as though something is missing from my life.

Remember the Sunday mug? Well it came to a sad end last weekend. Every morning this week I've had to make myself 2 cups of tea and come back for the second one halfway through my morning ritual. It's a really unsatisfactory state of affairs.

I spent part of my weekend last weekend trying to track down a new one, or something similar (maybe a touch bigger?). I tried House, Kmart, Bayswiss, Tek (the local $2 shop) and a couple of little homewares shops at my local shopping centre. All to no avail. Can't find anything like it.

Any ideas? Short of taking up pottery and making one myself I'm facing life without a Sunday mug! Aargh! The horror!

This week

So I'm off doing training at work for pretty much the rest of this week. It's very exciting stuff...correlation coefficients and regression analysis...geek heaven!

But unfortunately it means posting may be a bit limited over the next couple of days. Never fear, though, I have a stack of half-written posts ready to run with next week. And let me tell you how funny and interesting they are....well, I've got to try and get you back next week somehow!

But I really do have a stck of stuff coming up. You can decide for yourself whether it's funny or not.

Back soon.

J.

Karaoke

On Saturday night it was Simon's birthday (one of those scarily rounded-number ones too). In celebration he organised a little get-together at Karaoke World.

It was a bit of an education for me. My previous experience with karaoke was more along the lines of tragically deciding it's a good idea to get up and sing in front of numerous strangers at the pub after liberal amounts of dutch courage.

This was another thing altogether. Far more like that scene from Lost in Translation. except with cheesecake.

So we had our own room and table and remote control and dodgy film clips. Yes, it's true. The karaoke videos don't use the proper clips, they actually hire actors to make new clips for them. Doesn't that sound like a fun job?

Anyway, the night was hilarious. There was lots of singing and multiple microphones and lots of Whitney Houston.

Thanks for a very funny night Simon, and happy birthday!

**Photos will be published soon!**

J.

Words you just can't type

Does anyone else have words they just can't seem to type? That just come out as some weird alternative, no matter how many times you type them?

I certainly do. A couple of them are...(gulp! Just realised now I actually have to try to type them all!)

• Training
• Inflated
• Exercise

I'm sure there's more, I will have to update this post over the next couple of day's typing.

What words does everyone else struggle with?

Update - Add "Myself" and "forecast" to the list!

Well, I'm usually friendly...

As you may remember from a previous post of mine, I'm generally quite a friendly person. quite sociable, in fact. I could possibly even be considered likely to talk to any given stranger at any given time.

However, I'm here to tell you that that is not entirely true. The "any given stranger" part is pretty close, but I can tell you that the "any given time" bit most definitely is not.

You see, I'm not exactly a morning person. Back when I was at uni and working nights, the only time I saw morning was at the start of it (i.e. from midnight onwards). I had a well-documented talent for sleeping in.

When I first started working full time with the company I work for now, I had the option of doing shift work. I know a lot of people hate this, but for me it was great! I was getting paid extra to sleep in and come to work late!! My favourite shift was 1.30pm to 10pm. You could get a bit done in the morning, and still be finished in time to get to social events (albeit fashionably late if it was a dinner party)

Later in my career, and as it has progressed, I had to move to working more conventional hours and have been doing that for years. It has its advantages and the routine does kind of work for me, even if I push the definition of the 9am start on occasion (although I'll have you know I've been in at 7.30am the last 2 mornings). I even tend to get up fairly early on the weekends these days, as otherwise it's too hard to get back into things on Mondays.

One thing, however, that I just cannot deal with, is talking to strangers first thing in the morning. Particularly on public transport. Here's why...

a) Regular users of public transport to get to work do just that. They want to get to work. A respectful silence should be maintained. Eye contact should be avoided.
b) My little commute to work (and back, for that matter) is my time for my daily meditation. Reflect, read, so a puzzle, listen to music. It is my buffer between my work life and my home life. Intrusions are not welcome.
c) I'm a little grumpy in the morning. I can pretty much guarantee that if you're talking to me about something while I'm still on my way to work I don't care.
d) Public transport is Sydney is crowded. As a general rule, I have to put up with people in my personal space. Can't be helped. But seriously, I don't need them talking to me as well.

So please, please, if you happen to be on the bus or the train with me in the morning, just leave me alone!

Haloumi Kebab Recipe

by popular demand (OK, one request...it doesn't take much to make me feel popular) here is the haloumi kebab recipe - so easy and yet so delicious!

Ingredients:
Haloumi cheese
Mushrooms
Capsicum (preferably red)
whatever other suitable veggies are in the fridge - In the past I've used onion, garlic cloves (for the brave), quartered yellow squash, green beans, or wheels of corn on the cob.

Method:
Soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 10 minutes prior to threading so they don't burn. Pre-heat grill (oven or BBQ) to about 200 degrees (Celsius).
Pat haloumi dry, chop into cubes. Chop all veggies into cubes, square pieces, or threadable kind of chunks.
Thread alternate chunks of veggies and haloumi onto skewers, sprinkle with a little dried rosemary, thyme and pepper. Grill until veggies look cooked and haloumi turns golden, turn once and serve with salad.

What's Hot and What's Not

In the world of Jacki....here's what's hot and what's not:

HOT
Asparagus being in season
30 degree temperatures in Sydney in September
Sandy coming home tomorrow
Haloumi kebabs
Cracking open the summer wardrobe early this year.
Nikki going to be a mum again!

NOT
Peta leaving
The amount of hours I've worked this week.
Bigpond wireless broadband which refuses to work for me

What a month!!!

Whew! Whilst I've been carrying on about my birthday, I may have neglected to mention a few of my fellow Virgoans (or Librans), so here goes...

Happy birthday to Daryl & my Dad for Monday (just gone)
Happy birthday to Kogi for yesterday
Happy birthday to Nikki for Sunday
Happy birthday to Carla for Monday next week
Happy birthday to Trent for Next Wednesday

Hope your birthdays are all full of love and friends and good times, just like mine was!

Fireman Sam

Well, I'm not quite fireman Sam, but I am now officially qualified Fire-Warden Jacki.

Yep, believe it or not, when it comes to getting people out of a burning building from the 31st floor, apparently the duty falls to me.

But don't worry. there is hope for my fellow office workers yet. This very morning I underwent a 2 hour training session. Yay me.

Actually, I've been a fire warden in the last 4 offices I've worked. somehow once you've been one, every time wardens are required, your name comes up. I was even chief warden once upon a time, so I guess that makes me a particularly desirable conscript volunteer.

I am being a bit facetious here, and probably without good reason. I'm the sort of person that has freaky stuff happen to them, and therefore am faced with the distinct possibility that at some point in my career I will be involved in some sort of office emergency (apparently burnt raisin toast is the most common culprit!) , and in that event, I think it is best to be prepared.

The training, also, was far better than any previous training I've been given. For a start, there were goodies provided. Also, there were lots of films and sound files (of the sirens etc) and photos from other events. The presenter was knowledgeable and very entertaining (previous warden trainings tend to have been run by people who take these things just a little too seriously). I now actually understand why you're not supposed to use the lifts in a fire and other interesting facts. On the down-side, they changed rooms at the last minute and I didn't read the email this morning, then when I finally found it I was late and there weren't enough chairs provided for everyone, so I had to stand through the whole thing. In uncomfortable shoes. And then walk all over the place checking out red phones and fire escapes and exits and such warden-y things. Well, you win some, you lose some, I guess.

So, if you're reading this and you don't work on the same floor as me in the same building, then wish me luck. If you do...well you might want to wish me even more luck!!

J. Fire Warden Extraordinaire. (official title)

In alternate universe...

Given my love of dodgying photos, it's no suprise I couldn't resist this

364 sleeps to go!!!

ha ha! Just kidding. I wouldn't actually do that to you, don't panic.

The birthday was sensational!!! I had pancakes made for me for breakfast...a very good start to the day! Then people arrived and I received a very special present that took a bit of time and effort to set up. Then we headed over to Sydney Park for EarthDance where we sat on a hill in the sun and drank wine all day. Good weather, good company, good music, and a good vibe. What more could a girl ask for?

Thanks to people who gave me lovely gifts (Ronene, Jonathan, Bec, Ceri, Nikki, Nic) and thanks to everyone who helped make the day wonderful...Nic & Mick (who dropped in all the way from Tassie), Jonathan, Ronene, Bec, Ceri & Anton, Marti, Sarah, Bridget, Eva, KT, Dave & Angelica, Jess, and anyone I'm missing out because things got a little hazy towards the end of the day...

Photos from the day can be found here

2 Sleeps to go!!!

OK, this is the last time you have to put up with a countdown post. Since I'm not online on the weekend, the whole thing will be over and done with by the time I post on Monday.

A big thanks to Nicole for the e-card, and Adam for the amusing picture (which, unfortunately, I'm not able to upload for some reason, but you can view here if you're interested). BTW, are you impressed with that little link? Just bragging because I've figures out how to add them in all neat and attached to a word like that.

A HUGE thanks to Ronene, also, who is responsible for getting my butt into gear and getting me to The Boy From Oz last night (the tickets are each other's gifts for this year).

How bloody sensational is Hugh Jackman?? If I didn't already have a crush on him, I would have had one by the end of the night, and since I already did, it's now an even bigger one! Plus the show itself was even better than I imagined, and Hugh was fantastic in the role (as well as being totally gorgeous). Woohoo!! although I still have Time is a traveller...Tenterfield Saddler...turn you head.... stuck in my head.

so everyone, hope you all have as good a weekend as I intend to!

J. (aka the Birthday girl)

Update: And thanks to Bec for the very appropriate e-card!!!

I'm off to see the...

Well, not quite the Wizard of Oz, but close.

This evening's entertainment involves going to see Hugh. "Hugh who?" I hear you ask. sounds like a knock-knock joke...

-Knock Knock

*Who's there?

-Hugh

*Hugh Who?

-Yoo Hoo to you too

OK, I didn't say it was going to be a good joke.

"So what the hell is she actually babbling about?" I hear you say (I have very acute hearing today, apparently).

Tonight I'm off to see Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz. Australia's favourite entertainer, every bloke's best mate, and every woman's drool-spiration (Yes, I know, I just made that word up).

Updates tomorrow with how it was...although I have to admit I'd be happy with Hugh walking up and down the stage muttering like that weird guy on the bus a few weeks ago. I'm sure he'd make even that entertaining!

J.