Card Capers

March 23, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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I got a new credit card recently. I got a call from my bank when I was at Melbourne airport a few weeks ago, waiting for my flight home after the Great Ocean Road Challenge. Apparently someone in the US had tried to make a charge against my card.

Thankfully our bank’s security picked it up and so I was saved any cost but it did mean that I was without my card for a number of days until the new card arrived. I don’t use my credit card every day but it feels weird not having the option to use it if it’s needed.

It was like one of those good news bad news stories. I’ve got some bad news, someone has tried to use your credit card. The good news is that we caught them in time. The bad news is we’ve cancelled your existing card. The good news is that we’ll send you a new one. The bad news is you probably won’t get it until Wednesday next week. The good news is it arrived a day early on the Tuesday.

It’s a great feeling to know the scammers didn’t win this time. Have you ever had someone steal your credit card details? Were you able to get your money back?

Some people blame online shopping for some of the scammers getting hold of our details. Do you shop online and if so what precautions do you take? Are there some sites you avoid?



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Great Ocean Road Challenge 2013

March 22, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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It’s now over a month since I cycled in the 25000Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge for Compassion Australia. I’m already thinking of taking part next year and hoping that you might join me.

Check out the video above, which was released today, to get a better idea of what’s involved. If you’re a cyclist looking for an amazing adventure while you help release children from poverty, sign up now for the 2013 ride. You will not be disappointed.

I am so thankful for all those who contributed so generously towards my fundraising goal of $3000. I fell just $180 short. Of course, the fundraising page is still open for a short while so I’m still hopeful that a couple more people will chip in to get me over the line.



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World Water Day

March 22, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Did you know that today is World Water Day?

Water is the most important ingredient to life — we’re dependent on it for everything — so it makes sense to take one day a year to focus on the importance of fresh water and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

While there are still more than 780 million people around the world who lack access to improved water sources, there’s some good news. It seems that the clean drinking water target of Millennium Development Goal seven has been recently achieved.

Adopted by world leaders in 2000 with a 15-year timeline, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. MDG 7 is to halve by 2015 (from 1990 levels) the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. And we’ve done it.
In 1990, only 76 per cent of the world’s population had access to clean drinking water facilities. By 2010, this had increased to 89 per cent. This means that over two billion people gained access to improved water sources from 1990 to 2010. At this rate, there will be universal access to clean drinking water by 2027.

So with a major Millennium Development Goal now being met is the job of providing safe, clean water for everyone on the planet in reach? This morning on my radio program, the Morning Cafe, I spoke to DJ Konz – Executive Director – Advocacy with Compassion Australia.

Compassion’s child development programs place access to clean, safe water at a priority. Through a program called Critical Interventions, Compassion tackles issues like clean water (wells and water purification systems), toilets and hygiene to provide solutions that enhance and improve living conditions for children in Compassion programs.

If you want to hear our conversation and find out what you can do to help provide clean water for more people on our planet, just click the play button of the audio player below.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR220312_0953.mp3]

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Real Reality TV

March 22, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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I watched some real reality television recently.

ABC TV was showing On A Wing And A Prayer, a magnificent documentary which follows the life cycle of the Carnaby’s cockatoo through the story of one small cockatoo family. It’s a local production made by a Perth documentary maker. You can watch the trailer below.

Playful, mischievous and highly intelligent, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos are adored by thousands, hunted by many and saved by few. Endemic to the south-west region of Western Australia, only a small pocket of these large, gregarious birds remain and these are permanently under threat. Some are still being poached and smuggled for private collections. Many are illegally shot. Together with land clearing, loss of native food habitat and injury from man-made structures, the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is plummeting towards extinction.

I wasn’t the only one in our home watching closely. One of our cats was on my lap snoozing until she heard the bird sounds. Then she started watching TV too. Soon after that she jumped off my lap and after getting a little closer to the telly, lunged at the screen to capture one of the cockatoos.

I had to hold her tightly for the rest of the show to make sure she didn’t damage our television. She was fascinated by the birds and the sounds they made.

It was further proof that we’ve made the right decision to keep our cats inside at all times. I wouldn’t want to let them loose where there are real birds.

I’m wondering if you have pets that watch TV. Have you ever had a dog, cat or any other pet which enjoyed a good drama or a few laughs over a comedy?



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Our Top Ten Regrets

March 11, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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The Daily Mail has recently published the results of a survey that says people spend around 44 minutes every week on regretting our past.

We wish we’d saved more money, traveled more, stayed in touch with friends and that we’d never started smoking. (I’m thankful that smoking is something I’ll never have to regret. Having a father who was a heavy smoker was enough to convince me to never even try lighting up.)

I guess that among the regrets that people identified, there are some things that we can change for our future and others that we need to leave behind so we can move on. Regrets can paralyze us and keep us living in the past yet if we live without some sense of regret we won’t learn the life lessons that arise and we’re destined to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The Top Ten

The top ten regrets were:

1. Not having saved more money
2. Not having worked harder at school
3. Not having exercised more
4. Not seeing more of the world
5. Taking up smoking
6. Not staying in touch with people more
7. Not having taken more care of our bodies when younger
8. Not having appreciated an elderly relative more before he or she passed away
9. Not having taken more photos of experiences growing up
10. Getting married too early.

When I look at that list I can give a nod to a few but I won’t let them keep me wishing for what might have been. We all make mistakes but we need to acknowledge those mistakes, take appropriate action, then move forward. Sometimes we need to forgive others and other times we need to accept the forgiveness that we’ve been offered.

Can you identify with any of the regrets listed or do you have regrets of your own? Do you spend a lot of time thinking of how differently life could have been or are you using past mistakes to learn and move on? Are there some regrets that just won’t let you move on?



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