That’s Odd

July 29, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

I see the strangest things when I’m cycling to work.

I pulled up at a set of lights this morning and noticed that the lady in the Volvo beside me had a large white cat across her lap. The cat seemed quite happy and probably does a fair bit of travelling with its owner but I do wonder about the wisdom in driving with an unsecured cat in the car, especially sitting on top of the driver.

If the car had to stop suddenly, Tibby would be rocketed into the dashboard. I’m a real cat lover; I’m just not convinced that cats should go everywhere that their humans go.

Later during my ride I noticed a young guy in a work ute drinking a can of Red Bull. I wondered why anyone would need an energy hit at that time of the day. If you need artificial stimulants to keep going that early in the day you’re going to be completely wrecked by lunchtime. I didn’t think too much of it at the time but I couldn’t help sitting down and shaking my head as I pondered the situation while sipping my double shot espresso at my desk at work.

What are some of the strange things you’ve seen on your daily commute? Whether you travel by car, bike, bus or train, I’m sure you’ve seen some intersting sights.



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How do you kickstart your morning?

January 12, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Drink CoffeeWhat do you need to do to get your day underway?

I know that some people just bounce out of bed and they’re instantly ready for whatever the world throws at them. Those people worry me.

When I get out of bed it’s a much slower process. My body argues with me on the merits of leaving my comfortable mattress. My mind demands that my body gets mobile, but I’m quite sure that if my body forced the issue just a little bit more, it’d win the argument far more often.

For many people the day doesn’t begin until they’ve downed a fairly strong hit of caffeine. I do enjoy a strong, black coffee once I get to work but it’s not the thing that gets my day started.

A lot of people start their day in conversation with God. They read their Bibles, seek direction, and hand the day over to the Almighty. I envy those people.

I do converse with God in short bursts at that time of the day but my head really isn’t in the right place to be discussing the big picture issues when I first tumble out of bed. Those things come later in the day for me after my brain is a little more engaged.

The big kickstart for me is generally my ride to work. At the moment my morning ride is just over 30 kilometres. The first few kilometres have me wondering what on earth I’m doing. The next few have me thinking about taking the direct route to work so that I don’t have to ride quite so far. At around the ten kilometre mark everything starts to click. I get into ‘the zone’ and start really enjoying my morning ride. By the time I hit the twenty kilometre mark I start to wonder if I really need to go to work or if, perhaps, I could spend the rest of the day on my bike.

Over the last few years I’ve very rarely taken a car to work. On the handful of occasions that I have driven or been driven, I’ve felt lethargic all day. I need the kickstart that cycling gives me.

How about you? What kickstarts your day?



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Free Coffee and Cake

August 19, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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coffee.jpgThey say there’s no such thing as a free lunch but there is a free morning tea.

My apologies to those who don’t live close enough to Perth to take advantage of this but my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM will be even tastier during our annual Radiothon next week.

Thanks to Miss Maud and Five Senses, we’re inviting 20 listeners each day to join me and my morning programme guests for morning tea each day from Monday the 24th to Friday the 28th of August.

The morning teas will run from 10:00 a.m. to around 11:30 a.m. and should be a lot of fun. It’d be great to catch up and it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to show off my workplace at the new complex in Como.

We’ve done a similar thing over the last couple of years and had such a wonderful time. The food from Miss Maud is always outstanding and the Five Senses coffee is spectacular. On top of that it’s a lot of fun meeting a variety of listeners and letting people see how radio works.

If you’d like to be part of the fun simply click here to email me at my work email address and tell me which day you can join me. If you’re one of the first 20 replies for each day you’ll enjoy a delicious, free morning tea at our Como studios thanks to Miss Maud, Five Senses Coffee and 98.5 Sonshine FM.



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We're going to get along fine

June 20, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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coffee_cup.jpgI made a new friend last night. I get the feeling we’re going to be spending a fair amount of time together over the next few years.

After dropping Emily off at youth group last night I had a couple of hours to kill. I was already fairly close to where we’re going to live once we eventually move so I decided to drive past our new house before dropping in to the local cafe. It’s about a kilometre from the new house and I reckon I might be seeing a lot more of that cafe.

I ordered a long black and a melting moment biscuit then sat down with a book I need to read for a review on my radio programme. It felt like home, or at least a home away from home. The staff were friendly, the atmosphere relaxed, the decor warm, and the coffee was just right.

Things don’t always turn out as you plan but I can imagine that I’ll be back at that cafe very soon. I can imagine spending time there alone with a good book or three. I can imagine taking Pauline there for a bit of time out together. I can imagine taking Emily and James there for a treat now and then. I can imagine drinking coffee there with cycling friends that I haven’t even met yet. If you’re in the area you might drop in and have a coffee with me there too.

That cafe and me, I think we’re going to get along just fine.



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What it said versus what I read

February 27, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Do you ever read something and then draw your own conclusions?

Sometimes you’ve just got to come to your own kind of understanding.

This is part of what the News.com.au article titled Drinking coffee may reduce skin cancer said:

A US study has found caffeine plays a protective role for damaged skin by boosting the body’s natural process called apoptosis, or synchronised cell suicide.

Several earlier studies have linked drinking tea or coffee with a lower incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer, and scientists are now working to find out why.

It also follows a 2007 study of more than 93,000 women, which found for each additional cup of coffee they drank they had a 5 per cent decreased risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer.

Drinking de-caffeinated coffee showed no such benefit.

Prof Mann, an expert in the genetic and environmental causes of skin cancer, said there was mounting evidence that caffeine played a “modest” role in preventing skin cancer.

“There are reasonable data from human epidemiology studies, supported by laboratory and animal studies, that caffeine, whether in tea or coffee, has a modest protective effect on skin cancer risk,” he said.

This is what I understood:

Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee. Drink more coffee.



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