I shall say this only once

It's inevitable that there are going to be some songs that you like more than others. It's always been the case and always will be. I like to think of these as "Repeat Songs"

These days it's fairly easy to have your fill of whatever your particular repeat song might be. There's a repeat function on my CD player so that whatever song I've pressed it for loops to eternity. I have the same setting on my MP3 player. If I happen to decide after the song is finished, in any case, I can flick backwards with a touch or two of a button.

Somehow, though, I don't feel as though this is always a good thing. Back when I was younger, and cassettes were the newest fandangled media for music storage, you really had a to work to get your repeat song played.

It involved precision timing and a whole lot of guess-work. Rewinding the tape, maybe counting to 10, hitting play and then possibly having to adjust several times. It really seemed so satisfying and good to be able to play your favourite song twice in a row. Any more than that and you really had to love that song...the effort soon started to outweigh the reward.

These days, being able to easily achieve repetition may have served to cheapen our attachment to our repeat songs. It's the equivalent of having that song put on high rotation on the radio.

I guess too much of a good thing can be a bad thing after all.

Bumped Down the List

I've decided that writing training materials is no longer second on my list of least favourite work tasks to do. It's been bumped to third on the list - right after documenting database structures.

Grrr.

Happy Birthday Bronte!

It was my brother's birthday on Saturday. Hope you had a good one little (big!) brother!

J.

An Excerpt from an email from my sister

My sister has been making me very jealous for the last month or so, doing the free-spirit thing travelling around Central America.

It may have been a little mean (jealousy-fuelled, of course) or me, but I may have laughed out loud when I received an email from her this morning. I have pasted in the first couple of paragraphs.....

"Hi there,

It´s official, I´m a complete tradgedy. Yup that´s right I missed my flight
home. Still trying to fathom how I managed to do it. Wednesday is Thursday
is not Wednesday. Bugger. Guess I was really into the relaxzed holiday
spirit...

And no I don´t need a lecture or smartarse comments from anyone thankyou.
Turns out the LA - Melb route is very popular. No available seats til Feb
24. Yup, a month away. Spent yesterday in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua,
trying to sort it all out. The good news is that I don´t have to wait a
month to get home!"

Tee hee hee.....

;-P

22 things

1. Camping was truly amazing
2. I did get really dirty and smelly
3. Not too much, though as there were showers (20c worth of hot water doesn't go too far though!)
4. I did go for a walk in the bush
5. I didn't go for a swim (sorry, just too cold!)
6. I did get sand in my shoes
7. I did cook on an open fire (with very able assistance)
8. I did cook on a solid fuel cooker (much more difficult)
9. I was more relaxed whilst camping than I have been since my last big holiday (Christmas 2005)
10. I did sleep in a tent, with my socks on
11. I did see possums and wallabies (and just missed seeing a giant goanna)
12. I did get attacked by various flying, biting insects
13. I did sit on the beach in the sun
14. I did hike a long way up a hill to go to the loo
15. I love camping
16. You should always take more water and more tea-towels than you think you're going to need
17. And spare batteries
18. Cups of tea taste much better when they're made in a billy-can
19. The South Coast of NSW is truly beautiful in many, many ways
20. I'm sad that I'm back
21. I'm resolved to go again really, really soon
22. I may have gone tent shopping on the way home....

Woo Hoo!!

In under 45 minutes I'm outta here! It's Australia Day tomorrow and I have Monday off as well. That's 4 whole days off. I'll be camping, somewhere down South. Definitely no internet access. Probably no phone coverage.

I'm going to disappear for a few days. And swim and snorkel and go for a hike and cook over a fire and get really dirty and smelly and sleep in a tent.

I can't wait!

See you when I get back!!!

J.

These are a few of my Least Favourite Things...

Yay. Writing training material. Right up there with researching public holidays. Hmmm. Now there's a word you don't want to make a typo with.

Wild Weather

OK, so it's dark outside and has been all day.

And it's overcast.

And Raining.

And Hot.

And Sticky.

What is going on with this weather? Seriously?

Are you trying to tell me that climate change isn't happening?

Carnivore Part II

Did you know you can stretch out the time it takes to eat a giant chocolate freddo longer than a twin peppermint freddo...even through they're the same size and basically the same amount of calories and fat?

A butterfly flaps it's wings in an amazon jungle...

I'm a great believer in the interconnectedness of things (is that a word?).

Nowhere is this more obvious than within the bounds of a rail network. Apparently a train derailed in Sefton a few days ago. Obviously, that's why it's taking me well over an hour each way to get to work and back at the moment (it takes about 45 minutes to walk!). Plus it's also the reason I get on a train that says it's going a particular way, and discover it switches to a different line with no warning half way through. After sitting stationery between stops for extended periods of time.

Hmph!

I think I'll walk home tonight.

Jacki's Carnivorous Cravings

There's an animal I'd love to eat right now.

Bite off it's head, nibble at it's feet, suck the insides out.

Freddo might be in trouble.

In response to the email chain...

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:50am
2. Diamonds or pearls? Neither.
3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? It's been a while. I probably couldn't tell you.
4. What is your favourite TV show? Anything with ghosts, aliens, super-powers or psychics.
5. What did you have for breakfast? A scrambled egg roll
6. Your middle name(s)? Marie
7. What is your favourite cuisine? Anything so long as it is made with fresh, good quality ingredients, and cooked with skill and care.
8. What foods do you dislike? Vegemite. Beetroot. Bananas.
9. What is your favourite crisp flavour? Chilli
10. What is your favourite CD at the moment? Pink.
11. What type of car do you drive? A Subaru Forester
13. What characteristics do you despise? racist, Liars, cheaters, anyone who's not genuine or who is cruel
14. Favourite item of clothing? My headwear collection
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you
go? At the moment trying to organise a trip to Vietnam
16. Favourite brand of clothing? Brand isn't important, so long as I like it and it's on sale (never pay retail!)
17. Where would you like to retire to? Retire? That's a bit premature, don't you think?
18 Favourite time of the day? brunchtime
19. What was your most memorable birthday? I have to choose just one? I love birthdays! They're all memorable.
20. Where were you born? Prince George, BC, Canada
21. Favourite sport to watch? I don't like any, but my least worst would be the Tour De France
22 . Who do you least expect to send this back to you? I'm not sending it. Sending it back is therefore redundant.
23. Who do you expect to send it back first? As above
24. What fabric detergent do you use? GreenCare
25. Coke or Pepsi? Coke Zero
26. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night owl. Absolutely
27. What is your shoe size? 9.5
28. Do you have any pets? Yep. Fishies. I actually got some new ones on the weekend.
30. What did you want to be when you were little? an Astronaught.
31. When is your birthday? 17th September, 1975
> **********FAVOURITES****************
Shampoo? Hmmm...I change every time I buy
Soap? Sorbolene
Summer/Winter? Summer.
Favourite Advertisement? The one (i'm not sure if it's on still) where the car eats the sports-cars for breakfast.
NOW*****************


Wearing? work clothes. suit pants, stretch top, work security pass, glasses.
Eating? Just finished lunch - Soy fillets, corn on the cob and a garden salad (with lot of chilli)
Drinking? Water. About to go make a cup of tea once I've finished this.
Thinking about? The Pink Concert - I just booked tickets!
Book: The Beauty of the Beastly. Populr science book all about cockraoches, spiders snakes and nasty creepy-crawlies

> **********THE LAST 24 HOURS**************


Cried? Came close
Met someone new? No
Cleaned your room? Yes. Brand new bed linen and everything.
Driven a car? yes
How many hours sleep? 8


*************DO YOU BELIEVE IN* *************
God? Not exactly
Yourself? Definitely
Your friends? Absolutely
Santa Claus? I did once upon a time.
Destiny/Fate? Yes, although everyone has a choice of what to do with the hand they're dealt.
Ghosts? Yes.
**********FRIENDS AND LIFE**********


Who have you known the longest of your friends? Karen, Maddy & Kate...we all started high-school together back in 1988.
Who do you go to for advice? My girls
When do you cry the most? When I'm frustrated
Do you want your friends to do this and send it back to you? only if they want to.

Sorry

...to the people who got here via a search for hare krishna and lawn bowls etiquette.

You probably didn't find quite what you were looking for....

quick update

I went to some interesting training today - Organisational Politics.

It certainly changed my mind about a few things and gave me a few ideas....

I'm totally plagiarising the course, but some interesting stuff that I learned today was:

• Refusing to play politics is a type of playing politics
• There's such a thing as constructive politics
• I'm an Owl, but I used to be a fox.
• You don't have to be conscious of playing politics to do it.

Great food for thought.

J.

New Toy

Gotta love new toys. Especially free ones.

My mobile phone contract had expired and it hadn't been really suitable since I stopped having a landline, so I spent Saturday morning mired in phone bills and phone company Internet sites. Since it's me, I had to do a full analysis, based on my last couple of phone bills, of exactly what the best deal was for me. Spreadsheets were involved. Formulas too. It was all very complicated, but in the end I got there and found the perfect plan for me.

Armed with this information I headed off to my local outlet for that particular phone company (conveniently located in the same shopping centre as my usual supermarket).

I fronted up, asked a couple of questions that hadn't been clear on the website. The answers were satisfactory, so I agreed to sign up then and there.

All good, I was happy. The next bit of news made me even happier, though...free phone! I wasn't really in need of one as I was perfectly happy with the one I had. But the free phone was the swanky newer model of my current phone...better camera, a few new features, a few of the little things that annoyed me previously sorted out, and it's a 3G so I can make video calls.

If I knew someone else with a 3G phone, that is....

Seriously

OK, so the whole "Jacki's Jabberings" things is doing my head in. It's even falling into one of my least favourite grammatical traps (if you can't pick it, I might get generous and let you know at some point).

In case you're not privy to the complete background of this whole palaver, the name was part of a bit of an exercise I went through some time ago. Apparently my communication skills were somewhat "challenged". Well, maybe "apparently" is redundant in that last sentence. If I'm going to be honest, my written communication skills have always been ahead of my verbal skills...unless, of course, you happen to fancy verbal sparring, logical conundrums and spontaneous condescention (professionally, at least)

Any-hooo....

The whole blog name is just not working for me any more.

I've hinted at this before...here, but seriously, I'm totally over the whole alliteration crap that I came up with for the newsletter at short notice way too long ago.

I'm starting to consider some crazy options...if you don't come up with suggestions you're going to end up with.....

• Interview with a Jacki
• Frog on a lilypad (the random line I just heard on the TV)
• Not the PowerPuff Girls
• The BMX bandit who doesn't have a BMX
• Veronica's Cars
• Bigville
• Vegetarianing the Menu
• The Less Than Amazing Race
• Medium...grade TV
• The Bill..or the Cheque...or la bille (seriously, check the french translation, it;s way funny)
• Chin Chin (translation difficulties are suddenly at the front of my mind...my highschool japanese teacher apparently made this toast in Japan more years ago than I would like to admit, but that's a whole nother story)

Someone, seriously, give me a better option....please???!?!?!?

All opinions gratefulyy accepted via comments..

J

Is it bad?

To try to use your work pass to get through the train station gates?
To try to use your car clicker to unlock your front door?
To have dreams where you're moving around a database universe?

Whoa!

Where the hell did this week go? I'm sure it only started about 10 minutes ago!

Actually, I know where it went. Everyone finally came back from their holidays with a whole bunch of new ideas for what needed to happen at work. I've been building testing and managing pilots for a new tool at work. It's very complicated and has completely taken up my brainpower this week. There's pretty much nothing left, let me tell you.

On the up-side of this week, I'm doing the post-Christmas detox thing. No alcohol or junk food for two whole weeks and I'm 5 days into it. I've even managed to fit in a little bit of exercise! Must be getting responsible in my old age. Ah well, it'll all be over soon enough(the detox, not my old age!) and I'm sure I'll be back to my old tricks in no time.

Next week is full of more exciting things to write about, so hopefully I'll manage to be a tad more prolific.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jacki.

I'm in lust!

It followed me home...please can I keep it?

These are a few of my Least Favourite Things...

Grr...I'm doing my least favourite part of my job ever. Bloody public holidays for 2007. I did this a while ago, but some of the bloody councils didn't gazette theirs until very late (surely, a smack on the wrist would be appropriate?)

So now I'm doing my least favourite job again!

Does anyone have any idea when the Port Hedland Cup is going to be held in 2007?

Anyone?

Anyone?

anyone?

...sigh...

Food of Kings...or at Least, an Earl

All hail the Earl! The Earl of Sandwich, that is. The inventor of one of my favourite lunches. Imagine the leap of logic, the audacity, the pure unadulterated genius of serving up your favourite luncheon meats and salad between two slices of bread!!!!

And this pioneering step paved the way for more and more adventurous permutations...the toasted sandwich (one of my personal favourites) and the salad roll. I reckon we could even trace the origins of the hamburger (or, in my case, the veggie-burger) back to the auspicious Earl. There's also the Turkish and foccacia varieties, multitudes of bread-choices in fact...white, wholemeal, grain, rye, gluten-free, crusty, seeded...the list is endless.

In fact, when I was a kid, and we always had make-your-own sandwiches together as a family for Sunday lunch, I went through a faze of making what I called a "lettuce sandwich boat". (I thought that was a cool name at the time, OK?). I started with a big lettuce leaf and tossed all my sandwich ingredients inside (including the bread), then wrapped it up and ate it. There was a sort of random surprise in which ingredients you ended up with in each mouthful!

In my humble opinion, there is something sublime in discovering a good sandwich shop with a multitude of fresh ingredients and a careful sandwich hand. One of these slap-em-together, only order off the set options on the menu (sandwich?) board-type people will never do.

I'm quite particular about my sandwiches (in case you can't tell). The ingredients that need to be available, the condiments on offer, the order and proportion of fillers are all vitally important to a good sandwich.

I'm quite lucky to have discovered at least one good sandwich shop nearby to wherever I've worked in the city, and I have a secret spot where I'm based now (shhh...I'm not telling or it'll get too busy).

I have also, however, discovered the mecca of sandwich shops. A little franchise I visited in WA called Mr Bird's MYO. You go in and choose your own bread and wander round an obstacle course filled with fabulous sandwich fillings and you literally make your own sami as you go! You get weighed at the end of the course (well, your sandwich does, not you of course. That would be silly) and pay for you lunch by weight.

It's sensational. Pity that they're in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne, but haven't made it to Sydney as yet. anyone feeling like they'd like to set up a franchise? I can guarantee at least one loyal customer!

J.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Welcome to 2007 one and all. I hope all festivities were festive and all celebrations were celebratory.

As for me, well I had a great time.

On Saturday I went to the Peat's Ridge festival up north of Sydney. It was a fantastic festival...all sustainable principles and rubbish monitors to advise you whether your mango pip goes in the compost, recycle or landfill bin.

I swam in the river in the mud and ate Hare Krishna food and slept in a van (quite a comfy one, too, actually) and got really dirty and had to line up for toilets. It was certainly a return to my hippy roots and I loved every minute of it! (Well, except for the lining up for the toilets bit!) Especially the Hare Krishna food.

Then on Sunday I raced back to the city for a shower and some glam (half an hour's worth was all I could manage, but I think I did OK all things considered) and then headed off to a swanky New Year's

Eve party with a view of the harbour and the fireworks on the bridge and Veuve Cliquot and sensational red and gourmet pizzas made by the trusty team of Ronene, Jacki and Sandy. Thanks to Dave for the sensational night. And to Simon for the entertainment (ever seen ET dance?)

for those who've noticed the fact that this isn't the first, nay: even the second, but the third time that I have appeared in a photo on here in the same frock, well bad luck. Who do you think I am? An Australian Princess?

Was I or wasn't I?

Situation 1: Pretty much let the manners go. Wrote a list of complaints on the back of the bill and presented it to the owner. As an explanation of why we weren't really willing to pay the full bill.

Situation 2: Rescued from the dilemma of deciding. Smelly man got off at the next station. I moved seats anyway.

How'd I do on the collective polite-o-metre?