Waiting

March 25, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Are you good at waiting?

As mentioned before, we’re waiting for our house to sell. It’s difficult to wait because we can’t actually do anything to make the home sell faster. We can’t force anyone to make an offer. We’re not in control of the sale.

We’ve presented the home as well as we can and have taken the agent’s advice on pricing. The market is slow and so we just have to wait …. and wait.

Our life remains in limbo with our day to day activities now happening on the other side of the city. We’re keen to find a new home and to get on with life but our hands are tied.

I must admit that I’m feeling frustrated and discouraged. Aparently I’m not too good at waiting.

What are you like at waiting? Are you able to sit back and let life move on while you wait? Are you waiting for something at the moment?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Waiting? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Dancing with Flapper

March 23, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

Many years ago, in a studio in Tuart Hill, there lived a character named Flapper.

If you were a kid growing up in the 80s in Perth you might remember Channel 9’s Flapper and his show Flapper’s Factory.

Yesterday, during an outside radio broadcast for Activ at McCallum Park, we saw Flapper return to the stage in a one elephant show. Seeing him brought back memories but how could we have ever prepared ourselves for the absolute thrill of being invited to dance with the little blue elephant?

The video below shows fellow 98.5 Sonshine FM announcer and broadcast engineer Ash Wright, Flapper and myself dancing up a storm.

I did a little research on Flapper and found this recent article at Perth Now. Here’s part of the article talking about Flapper.

Jen Dunstan, creative director of production house, Elephant Productions was at Channel 9 with the Young People’s program department which was created by fellow director Keith Woodland in 1977.

“Keith came to the station with drawings of Flapper the elephant – so he is the father of Flapper,” said Ms Dunstan.

“This new creation was opposite to Fat Cat and Percy Penguin who were quite tall and on Channel 7.

“Some of the little children were finding these characters large and ominous in height, so he created a character which was more kid level.

“The head of the animator for five year-old Flapper lived inside his top hat and operated his eyes – the first time ever in Australia that had a character with moving eyes.”

Flapper became the Nine mascot and had his own show Flapper’s Factory, then came Flapper’s Super-heroes and at the demise of this program came Clash of the Creatures.

I love my job. Where else would you get paid to dance with a blue elephant?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Dancing with Flapper? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

A fork in the road

March 23, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

forkpic.jpgWe came to a fork in the road on Saturday.

I was loading the boot of the car with a few bits and pieces as we prepared for another Home Open at our place. (By the way, it still hasn’t sold.) A piece of paper fluttered out of one of the boxes and landed beside the car. As I bent down to pick it up I saw something interesting.

On the way home from taking Emily for breakfast it seems that I must have driven over a fork and one of the the tines (spikes) had lodged itself into one of the rear tyres. I didn’t want to try pulling it out because I knew we’d lose all the air in the tyre immediately. (Click here for a look at the damage.)

It was around 1:30 on Saturday afternoon so my chances of finding an open tyre store were very slim. I rang the Bridgestone Tyre Centre in Marchant Way, Morley. The phone rang for a long time before someone answered. I asked if they were still open but they weren’t. The guy said that he was just finishing up his paper work. I told him what had happened and to my surprise he said I should head on in.

James and I jumped in the car and off we went. The fork made a ticking noise as it hit the road repeatedly. About a kilometre into our journey we heard a huge clunking noise as the handle broke off and clattered around the wheel well.

We got to the tyre centre and the guy got us to drive straight in. He did the job without any fuss and was very friendly, even though we were soaking up his Saturday afternoon. He took the wheel off the car, the tyre off the rim, removed the fork, prepared the inside of the tyre, patched the hole, put it all back together, balanced the wheel and put it back on the car.

Once he was done it came time to pay up. Just $25.

We were back on the road ready for the rest of a very busy weekend.

It’s rare these days to find someone who will provide great service. It’s even rarer to find someone who will go above and beyond the call of duty in providing service. This guy opened his shop after hours and provided exceptional service.

I know that it’s a bit far to travel for tyres for most readers but if you are in the Perth area and needing tyres, consider Bridgestone Tyre Centre at 10 Marchant Way in Morley.

Have you experienced exceptional customer service recently? Is there a business we should consider using becuase they go beyond the standard? Let me know in the comments section of this post.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading A fork in the road? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

A beautiful misunderstanding

March 22, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

chocolatehearts.jpgEver notice that some of the best moments in life are the ones we don’t plan?

We were tired. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. Maybe she just misunderstood. It doesn’t matter really.

My Saturday morning ritual involves cycling with friends then stopping at a coffee shop for half an hour or so of exaggerating our cycling memories while drinking good coffee and eating a muffin or two. Even when we can’t ride we generally turn up at the coffee shop at the regular time to catch up and get our caffeine fix.

Yesterday, the forecast for this morning said there might be a few showers to start the day. Knowing that most of the guys that ride with me on Saturdays aren’t so keen about getting too wet, I figured that we might all just skip the cycling part of things and go directly to the coffee. With that in mind. last night I mentioned to Emily that if it was raining in the morning I’d probably just go for coffee and she could come along if she wanted. That’s the bit that got misunderstood.

It was such a lovely morning. No rain in sight. The sun was thinking about rising as I cycled off towards our meeting point. We had a great ride followed by great coffee. (Though the service seems to get slower each week.)

When I got home, there was my gorgeous 12 year old daughter waiting to go to breakfast with me. As I said, there was a misunderstanding one way or the other.

I could hardly disappoint her, so I quickly showered and changed before we headed off to the Margaret River Chocolate Company in the Swan Valley for breakfast. We found an outdoor table and enjoyed some precious time together over breakfast. I figure we need to do that kind of thing a bit more often. I had such an amazing time. It really was a beautiful misunderstanding.

Do you have some favourite unplanned moments?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading A beautiful misunderstanding? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Kate Miller-Heidke in Perth

March 20, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

Curiouser.jpgOn a previous visit to Perth, Kate Miller-Heidke was invited on stage with Cyndi Lauper to help her sing Girls Just want to Have Fun. It’s a song that Kate could certainly make her own because she’s been having fun with music ever since she was very young.

Kate will be on stage with her band tomorrow night at Fremantle’s Fly by Night Club. This morning she joined me on the phone during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM.

Kate is someone who refuses to be put in a box musically. She has performed everything from opera to pop music and won a diverse range of awards for her extensive musical skills.

If you’d like to listen to our conversation just click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Kate Miller-Heidke in Perth? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.