It Is About Time Too ..

It is about time too … I was finally able to pry hubby away from work for more than 5 mins  so we finally got some us time  . It was wonderful we  had a day or 2 just going into town on the ferry  , and had a lovely day with my granddaughter  as she passed through here too . We had a clean  up and re arrange  of things here and then we packed up and headed out bush … I had wanted to show hubby that there really was a place we called the back of  Bourke  so decided we would go visit a friend who actually lives there  and prove it to him .

So we got sorted and headed off , just over 6 hours on a train to get us to Dubbo  then wait a few mins  then get on a bus to take us right into the ” Back of beyond ”  as we call it . A place that has only about 3,500 people living there at the best times  , a place that takes forever to get to and when you do get there   it looks deserted  , lol it really does look like that too till you look around a bit.  The people though are just lovely  , well the ones we met up with while we were there  were , very friendly  and helpful  and that is almost impossible to find in the cities  as the people  in the cities  are too into them selves and their dam technology  . Look out too if you try to interact with them and distract them from their screens , you will get no help but lots of abuse . A very  far cry from the lovely people we talked to in those few short days  we were there  , as well  ( obviously ) as the lovely lady we went to see you could not wish to meet nicer  folks .

Lol , but the  1 thing  I never told poor hubby much about before  we left  was the heat , or just how hot it can get to  , just thought  I would let him find out for himself  , had just said its going to be a bit warm  lol .  Well it was that and a bit more as the temp never dropped below 38c  and on 1 day got to 43c  so he got to feel real heat for the first time , he did well for a Pommie  ..lol …sorry dear   🙂  and the wind if there was any was hot not cool so made it feel more than it was , that does not help a whole lot either  . We found refuge a few times in the towns only pub for a drink and the air con  , lol that bit is most important when it is that hot , trust me on this .It is a pity there is only 1 pub left though as it means the business for more than 1 is just not there any more  , but must have been at some point . We saw the ruins of 3 others  2 of which were just abandoned  and the other 1 burnt down , saw another burnt down 1 on our way home too , hate to see things like that  as its much better to have them as going concerns  not just ruins.

Another thing  I had tried to explain to hubby  was about how this land has a  ” red centre  ”  that makes no sense really to any one who has never experienced it  . What it is  , is the earth  itself is a bright red  owing to all the heat and sun it gets 24/7  , that and the fact  that it almost never rains out there , once a year if your lucky . So any plants that do manage to live there are very strong  as also are the animals  , not that we saw any , lol , only  those pesky flies , but as was plainly visible was just how red the earth was a lovely deep red that to me just adds to its character . I have seen this before but to someone  just seeing it for the first time it is an amazing thing to see , and is just 1 of the  features of this great country there is to see . Hubby also got to see some of the animals he had only read about in  the wild , we saw emus , and goats , and of course  some kangaroos , he had never seen these in the wild and was happy to finally see some , watched them from the train window as we went past  .

All in all we had a great time  , but for me the best bit was being with him for those days as we hardly get to see each other any more , with his shift work and time changes all the time  it is a right pain , so having this much time to be together was just as good as the holiday itself. When he’s on some of his shifts  we seemingly only  get time to wave at each other and  I do get sick of it , also the long hours alone , so this was just very special to me .

I’ll always be here for you … Unless we run out of beer, and someone has some over there. Then I’ll be over there for you…

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Shift Workers

Shift workers  …….. How many of us even think about these  people ? These people who  every day or night  toil away while we  do whatever it is we do in the 24 hour time period . Some work nights some work days some work  odd parts of the day , there are just so many shift patterns it can be confusing .With the continual shift changing can come great confusion if your shifts change all the time  , has you and your family not knowing what day it is  , as with all the changing you start 1 day and finish another day  . The shift worker also  has to cope with irregular  meal patterns  as  well as everything else   what may be breakfast to us might be dinner to  them or the other way round  must confuse the body as well , also the odd sleeping patterns . To be a shift worker all the time  sure turns your  world upside  down  what the  body has got used to now keeps changing  , nothing is the same , must be a great adjustment for the  whole body clock. Try sleeping in the daytime  when most others are awake  and do not even know or care if there are night workers living close by  , who need to sleep daytime .

What would happen do you think if there was no shift working ? If everything was done only from 9 till 5  ?  Think about  that for a while   no services at all , no planes, trains, power, phones, you get the idea  would be  1 huge mess  . What about nurses , doctors, dentists , bone crackers, child minders again you get my drift   only get to see them from 9 till 5 , if you think waiting lists are too long now  how would  it be without shift workers ?  Try going anywhere  in just the 9 to 5 time period  it would be almost impossible to get anywhere as everything   would be packed to the rafters , and anyone who was in anyway at all disabled would have no hope at all . Even taxis and hire cars would be rushed off their wheels  and heaven help anyone who needed an ambulance or a fire truck  or police  or any emergency  vehicle  , out side of 9 to 5  just not possible , within that time  2 hopes of them getting to you in time . It would also be a criminals  world as all they would have to do is wait till after 5 and the police have gone home ,  it would be open house then for all of them .

Even with the  way things are run today with everything available  all the time and no problem  going to and from , or getting services or things  24/7  we often find ourselves  fretting about late mail , late transport  ,  late services  , how much worse  would it  be  if it was only 9 to 5  ? Too many people  get mad at this and that because it has not happened  the  moment  they think it should  , what would they be like then if anything and everything they ever wanted or wanted to do was only  to be had or done from 9 to 5  ? There would be so many popping their clogs  so to speak with sheer anger and frustration  as life these days  just can not  operate  from 9 till 5  as   it is now in this fast paced  world we live in  everything would just crawl to a total stop and the world would go backwards  and go broke. How would you cope if any and all deliveries  whether  food or fuel or  mail etc.  could only be delivered  9 to 5  ? How would they get it all delivered  ? There would be no room  on the roads or train tracks or  airports or sea ports  for all the vehicles trying to deliver their stock. What percentage of it would be ruined by the time it finally got to where it was going  ? Rather a lot of it  I suspect  as a big lot of it is food and that is perishable  mostly unless it is  canned  or dried  anything else is done for .

So next time you go out no matter where it is you go  , take a few minutes to think about how much your shift workers  do for you , and try to be a little more considerate to them as they keep things ticking over  just the  way we like it   , and we must like it as we go to great pains to keep it going just that way . Thanks to these people who  do this  our  mail and food and services and just about everything else   comes and goes just the way we like it and mostly we are all happy with it  . We are all happy to see it go on like this  and only really even notice  it  unless it all comes to a stop , if for some reason  it screeches to a halt  , so it is high time we thought a bit more about  the shift worker  , yes they get paid a tad more but trust me they are well worth it to keep things running smoothly .

What did the worker at the rubber band factory say when he lost his job? “OH SNAP”

Are You Scared Yet ….Part 2

Are you scared yet  ? This is a follow up to are you scared yet  , as you all know the internet is THE big thing now  we do almost everything on it and then some  , well this blog is to tell you that you really need to be careful , and not to take it for granted .

This week has been a nightmare of  trying to sort out something that happened to me , now I have a hubby who is an  IT specialist  also a nephew who is also an  IT specialist , so you can see from this  that I am as protected  as it is possible to be in most respects . Being someone who does as much as possible on line  ie , shopping , banking , e  mails , Faceache , Twitter , etc,  I know more than anyone the importance of protection  when  using any or all of these . We all know that anyone at any time can get at our information if we do not use our brains , and if we do not put in place the needed protection . We also need to  stop putting too much information on the net , too many have addresses , and phone numbers and other identifying information  all on places like  Faceache and  Twitter  and that is just plain stupid , do not put any of this  on the net you are asking for trouble  . If you ask for this kind of trouble  you will find it ..

Well imagine  my horror and  anger at finding out through checking my bank statements  that my credit card had been scammed , furious is not the word for it  , it goes way beyond that , I found out only by accident in checking my statements , I have no way of knowing how much  I have lost  but we did find about  $200  that was scammed  , but to be fair to my bank they got right onto it and  I will get that much back . What is more amazing and  what is pissing me off so much is that the card scammed is 1  I never use , it never leaves this place , it is never used online  so how in the world this happened   I just cannot get my head around  . The only reason  I  have this card at all is because  I had to get it  to replace things that had been stolen from us , if we had not been robbed before we left  the  UK then that card would not exist , neither would my hubbys . This card  therefore is never used  as  I said is always left home .

So the thing that  puzzles me  and makes me so angry  is how in the world  this card could be scammed  ? Never used , never taken out  how did they get onto this 1  ? Makes no sense at all to me   or to hubby  , but we are still investigating  it and hope to have more answers soon as to what on earth happened . Till we get all the answers  I just have to  sit and fume  ,but that card now has been cancelled totally  and will not be replaced  so at least it cannot be used  any more by any one , that is  1 good thing from here on in , but does not make me feel any better  .

So if this can happen to someone  who is as protected as much as it is possible to be  , then how much more  possible is it for those that just get lazy and take for granted what they do on the internet . How many times  do you check  ?  How many times  do you check  your bank statements  , your security , your pass words , what ever else you have in place  that is supposed to protect you ?  If  I can get caught  with all the things  I have in place then anyone can , so do not  take for granted your internet security . While  I have not yet nailed down totally  how this happened  be sure  I will get to the bottom of it  I will find out how it was done . We all need to be way more vigilant than we are , a lot of people are just too lazy .

So are you scared yet  ??  If not you bloody should be if someone will all this in place can be ripped off then what chance someone who just says  ” she,ll be right mate  ”  have  against this kind of sneaky attack  ? So if you do nothing else then  at least  do a proper  check of all your  passwords  and security settings  before it is you  losing money , learn to check all the time  I do but still  got caught  .. Are  you Scared  Yet  ?? The biggest internet crime is not always the ones that rip off the big companies of millions but quite often it is those that sit there patiently  ripping off a few hundred here a few hundred there   , sit there just for 1 day doing that and the amount of money stolen adds up to thousands in no time at all , do this even just 1 or 2 days a week and you got millions ……. Are  You Scared  Yet ?? Can you see how easy it  can be done yet  ??

If  you are not scared yet and  not going to be bothered checking and re checking your security then you get what you deserve …….

Time and Tide ..

Time and tide  as they say wait for no man  , and while this is true  neither does a plane or a train or a bus or  ….. have you ever just got to a station or a bus stop just to see it disappear  into the distance as you do not quite  make it  ? Remember the frustration then of having to re think your whole day to fit in with what is now your new time table ? If only your child  , your husband , a slow clock  , too much traffic  hadn’t got in your way to hold you up  you would not now be having to sit down ( while you wait for next train/bus ) and re work your entire day . While it may not be your fault nevertheless  it has happened and now you have to re plan all of it . It may have been your fault you may have slept in or just been too slow getting moving   or whatever but now too the day must be re planned , and sometimes no matter how many times we say  I will not make this mistake again we still seem to do it time and again .

So now the day to be re planned  sometimes  phone calls must be made  to those waiting for us , or we just rush to where we were supposed to be in the hope we will not be in too much trouble . We rush off  hoping the boss will understand  and not be too hard on us , or the school or college  we go to will not  punish us too hard , after all it was not really planned to be late , was it  ? Do we ever really deliberately  plan to be late  ? Or is it  in built somewhere deep inside that we want to be late ? For the reasons that maybe we really do not like having to go to school , work , uni , whatever  so the mind plays a little trick and we  get it  just a touch wrong  enough to be late no matter what we seem to do to try and  get there on time . Lets face it some of the deadlines or appointments we have to keep are ones we really wish we didn’t have to as they may not be pleasant but we must meet them all the same  no matter how we feel about it .

If we work for news papers or TV  or at a doctors surgery  or anywhere else  these are places  where you just have to be on time with very little room for movement  so being late is not an option  . Some appointments missed can lead  to all sorts of complications  and mess  so being on time is something we really do have to get right sometimes like it or not . Appointments   such as for a doctor or a lawyer  or job interview  are ones that really you must get right as consequences  can be really bad  , such as missing out on a much wanted job  or  or diagnosis  or similar . Keeping up with all  these appointments  we have in life is so important  for  so many reasons like it or not they must be kept .

So in this day  and age of more and more things  we have to fit into our lives keeping appointments  becomes more and more important and more and more of a juggle , we have to try harder  to keep up even if we really don’t want to . So  it seems to me  that no matter  what  gets invented  , what new gadgets we come up with  we will still always need to keep appointments at some point in our lives . There are so very few people left in the world these days who do not have to keep  up with what is going on  and  keep appointments some time  , these to my way of thinking are the lucky ones . So while time and tide wait for no man  ( or woman or child ) neither will all these pesky appointments we have to keep no matter what we do to try and avoid them , seems to me  that no matter how good we are in every aspect of our lives  sometimes we just have to get with it  ..

Workmate:”How long have you been working here?” … Me: “Ever since they threatened to fire me”…

Garbologists …

Garbologists …. or as we call them Garbos….or if they are noisy enough  … $#$$%%$ ….. lol you get my drift I’m  sure ,  but  let us face it where would we be with  out these members of our city councils  ?? Love them or hate them  they do us a great service with  what  they  do  for us . Lets face it would we want to have to get rid of our own rubbish  ? How many times would we actually do it  ? Would we go every week to the rubbish dump or once every  2 weeks  to the recycling as well  ? How much petrol and time would  we have to waste on it  ? First finding the rubbish dump then the recycling plant  , having to make time to  do these chores each and every week  or 2 , because if we didn’t  who would  ? Could you see yourself finding all the extra time and money  to do this  if it fell to you  to have to do it  ?

So each week when they come  banging and crashing outside your place spare a thought  for just what these blokes or doing for you  , and  even if they wake you at 5 am  with the noise  they make just think how much worse it all might be if you had to do it yourself . Anyway  you can  always roll over and go back to sleep , they cant as they  have to keep working and we do not know what time they started   work that morning . They must have to get up at what has been known to be called  ” sparrows fart ” meaning any time from about 3 am  onwards . It is not the most glamorous  job in the world but someone has to do it  , and most of us would not want to  . Seems to be a lot of people  think it is the lowest kind of job you can get , but would they be so condemning   if there was no one else to do it  , or if they had to do it  ? These days just having a job is a blessing no matter what it is  , it pays for the cost of living  and the food we eat and  clothes we wear , a job is a job and to be thankful for .

So next time you start to get all upset at the poor old Garbos  remember  what the consequences  are of not having them there at all ,  then how much harder it would be for you with out them . I personally just say ” ugh  ” roll over and go back to sleep , rather them have to do it than me  , besides with my back  I would not be able to . There too is  something we do not think about, all the disabled people  who would be in dire straits without the Garbos  to do  the job they cannot  do for themselves . So before you get all  upset and start calling the poor old  Garbos everything under the sun , stop and think just how you would cope if they were not there to do that job . Think of all the re arranging  of your life you would have to do if you had to factor in the removal of your own garbage and recycling .

 

So the poor old  Garbo is really the un sung hero of our day to day life , he keeps our places clean by  removing  what we cannot or  don’t  want to do ourselves , even though they are noisy and once a week drive us crazy with noise and taking up most of the road  while they do the job , they do us a great service and we should just be happy we don’t  have to do it ourselves . I know  some people do at least think of them and at xmas time will give them a gift a small thank you for the messy job they have to do , and  I think that is great  and wish more would do it  it is a thankless job for the most part . Imagine what  it would be like if it was all just left to pile up  ? The smell for a start would  make us sick and the growing pile would take up room most of us just don’t  have to start with , then of course you would soon have rodents and bugs and spiders  and whatever else lives in those sorts of piles of rubbish.  We should indeed be most thankful  for the poor un sung  heroes we sneeringly call Garbos   for they do the job that most of us couldn’t  or wouldn’t like to have to do  .

The most important thing in life is not knowing everything, it’s having the phone number of somebody who does!