Archive - August 2006

I’m not really the kind of person that enjoys ‘fancy dress’ parties or events. I’ve got no problem being well dressed if the occasion requires it, in fact I quite enjoy the chance to slip into my suit and choose a tie from my extensive range. What I don’t like as much is dressing as someone or something else.

Having said that, I still very much enjoyed our night out on Saturday. I was asked to be the auctioneer for a sports club dinner. I was more than happy to oblige and so Pauline and I headed out for a lovely dinner and great company.

The interesting thing was that we only found out a couple of hours before the dinner that it was a 70s night. We thought we might rummage around and find something that looked a bit 70s but the friend who invited us then informed us that the rest of the people at our table were going as the cast of Gilligan’s Island. Most of the characters were already taken so we went as the Howells. It’s probably as close as we’ll ever get to being millionaires. The only person missing from our table was the professor.

Some of the outfits were amazing. You see, I don’t mind seeing other people getting dressed outrageously. Many of the costumes were obviously hired including lots of ‘big hair’.

Do you enjoy playing dress ups? What costumes have you worn to parties? Who would you like to dress up to look like? Who would you be if it was a Gilligan’s Island theme?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Gillgan’s Island – The Seventies – Costume

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I’ve mentioned Freecycle before but I figured that as it’s such a great idea that I should just throw in a quick post about it again. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free in their own areas. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer and membership is free.

A couple of weekends ago we cleared a cupboard of about 5 kitchen appliances that were in great condition but that haven’t been used for years. I emailed the details to our local Freecycle group and within a day they were all gone to happy Freecyclers. I also got rid of an old set of brake callipers for a car that I haven’t owned for well over a decade.

Last weekend Pauline saw someone on Freecycle mentioning that they had three standard roses to give away. We drove over to their home, very quickly dug them out of their garden, then took them home and replanted these wonderful mature plants in our back yard. It cost us nothing but time and a little fuel.

It’s amazing what you can find on Freecycle and it’s also wonderful to see some of the stuff that just sits around your home creating clutter put back into use.

If you’re not part of a Freecycle group in your area, can I suggest that you go to their main website and follow the links to your local group?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Freecycle – Free Stuff – Bargains

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Australia was counting on me last night. In fact Australia was counting on everyone last night as every household was asked to take part in a census. The 5 yearly event helps keep track of what’s happening in our country and helps local, state and federal governments plan for the future.

I took the opportunity to fill out our census details on-line. It was fairly simple but it did take a while to go through the details for the four of us. It was the first time that Australians were able to submit census information on-line.

There were a few things that had changed since we did the last one 5 years ago. Being the avid cyclist that I am I’m a little disappointed that the census wasn’t scheduled for mid Spring so that there would be a higher representation of people using a bicycle to get to work. I ride to work each day, rain, hail or shine, so I still got to tick the bicycle box. Strangely though they weren’t interested in how we all got home from work, just how we got there in the first place.

With a range of questions on things like education, religion, career and much more, I suppose there’ll be lots of interesting statistics about all kinds of things when the results are put together. The first information from the census should be available in May with more details in June of next year.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Census – Australia – Population

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How long does it take to let someone go?

I was looking through the newspaper today when I saw a full page advertisement for a new hearing aid. My first thought was how useful such a device would be for my friend Val. Then came the immediate realisation that Val’s gone. As I posted a few days back, he passed away last week.

I’m sure that there’ll be many more times that I’ll see something and think of talking about it with him. Those times will become more and more infrequent but I know they’ll continue for some time yet. I know that I won’t be seeing him again this side of eternity but it’s hard to change those patterns of thinking that have been built up over time.

There are still times that I see or hear something that I want to share with my father too. Dad passed away four years ago this Wednesday, just a few days before his 83rd birthday. Even though he’s been gone all that time I still experience thoughts that bring an instant response of wanting to share those moments with him. I want to tell him about things and even just pass the time of day with my dad. It’s not ususally big stuff, just everyday happenings. It can be a joke that I know he’d like or seeing a photo that he’d enjoy.

I’m not talking about grieving. The grieving has well and truly passed but I certainly still miss my dad. Those thoughts are just flashes. The entire thought process is over in a split second before I’m catapulted back into the real world, the world where my dad is no longer alive.

Of course I think about both of my parents a lot more often than just at those moments but they seem harder to handle because they reinforce the loss. They’re a reminder that there was, there is and there will continue to be moments that would be more meaniful if I could share them with those particular people that I love.

Mum died in February 1987 when I was 23. I still experience those moments of wanting to share life events with mum almost 20 years later but they’re far less frequent. So much has happened since mum passed away and there’s a world of things I would have loved to have shared with her.

What about you? Do you have those instants when you ‘forget’ for just half a second that someone you love has gone? Has time eased the ache for you?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Death – Memories – Family

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You’d have to consider yourself pretty unlucky in love when even a much hyped national television campaign to find you a partner fails to raise much interest.

Network Ten‘s ‘next big thing’ Yasmin’s Getting Married has been yanked from our screens because …. well …. no one really cared enough to watch. The executives at Ten have reached for the remote and hit the off button.

Poor Yasmin will have to resort to some more good old fashioned ways to find herself a husband.

This report from News.com.au tells us that not too many people tuned in to start with but those that did kept switching off.

Less than 800,000 viewers across five capital cities tuned in to watch the series premiere on Tuesday. Numbers dwindled to daytime levels by the end of the one-hour curtain-raiser.

Ten will replace the program with US cartoon Futurama weeknights at 7pm (AEST) from today while it considers the future of the prime-time slot.

The programme was scheduled to run for nine weeks and culminate in a wedding once a panel of judges had sorted through the 5000 applicants who were vying for Yasmin’s hand in marriage.

Yasmin hasn’t simply been left waiting at the alter, she’s had her dreams sacrificed at the alter of television ratings.

I must admit that I’m quite pleased that the show’s been cancelled. Feel free to call me old fashioned but I consider that choosing a life partner is a little bit more serious than attracting fleeting TV stardom. I hope that Yasmin finds happiness with a guy who’ll treat her well and they’ll build a strong future together but I don’t think that trying to do that in the glare of the TV lights and the surrounding publicity is a wonderful recipe for success.

I’m tired of television networks screwing with people’s lives so that they can simply boost ratings and make more money. And if you think it’s not as simple as that, this latest hiccup demonstrates that it really is only about ratings. The ratings didn’t happen, the show gets canned.

I have no problem with television stations trying to increase ratings and create wealth for their shareholders, that’s just business, but when they do that without any concern for the welfare of those involved, something is terribly wrong.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Reality TV – Yasmin’s Getting Married – Television

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