Conversion (you can just see the ball inside the left pole, 1/3 of way up)
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Oh, for a telephoto lens....................
Conversion (you can just see the ball inside the left pole, 1/3 of way up)
COWBOYS ROCK!
Er, did I say THRASH? So sorry, I meant ANNIHILATE!!! :) :) 40-8 to the Cowboys, and I even understood what was going on part of the time! I have not had much interest in Rugby League, but a live game definitely helps the enthusiasm, I even know a couple of their names now!! My claim to fame is that I went to school in Innisfail with Ty Williams, who scored a goal or two tonight, then was taken off on the little ambulance golf buggy with a serious leg injury, poor bloke. (Though if you will insist on playing a game where you are required to throw yourself at people and flatten them, I guess these things will happen!) They raised $175,000 for the Cyclone Larry fund as well. I got a couple of photos, but my meagre 3x optical zoom was pretty frustrating from the second-back row!!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
GO COWBOYS!!
I am a little bit excited, becuase I have talked my mum into joining dad and I to see the North Queensland Cowboys THRASH (I mean, play) Melbourne Storm on Saturday night!!! There will also be a fund raiser from the crowds for the Cyclone ravaged Far North. Can't wait..................... :)
Monday, March 20, 2006
Safe and sound :)
Hi folks,
Well, the imminent danger has passed and we in Townsville were very lucky to just feel the effects of the very edge of cyclone Larry as he crossed the coast about 250ml North of here, at Innisfail, the town where I grew up. We had a lot of rain and strong winds overnight and today, but didn't even suffer any flooding in our area.
Further north is a different story, you have probably seen the same pictures I have on the News, some of which are very familar to me, except there are trees, walls and rooves in all the wrong places! The devastation of homes is one thing, but the complete destruction of people's livelihood in flattened fields of bananas and sugar cane is going to hit the area very hard.
(that's all the country I described as the most beautiful North Queensland Scenery in a previous post - I won't be able to get you those photos quite as I expected!)
But we may still head up there this weekend if the Cyclone Wati doesn't play games with us as well.
Thanks for the prayers, please now pray for the huge clean up operation that is to come.
Well, the imminent danger has passed and we in Townsville were very lucky to just feel the effects of the very edge of cyclone Larry as he crossed the coast about 250ml North of here, at Innisfail, the town where I grew up. We had a lot of rain and strong winds overnight and today, but didn't even suffer any flooding in our area.
Further north is a different story, you have probably seen the same pictures I have on the News, some of which are very familar to me, except there are trees, walls and rooves in all the wrong places! The devastation of homes is one thing, but the complete destruction of people's livelihood in flattened fields of bananas and sugar cane is going to hit the area very hard.
(that's all the country I described as the most beautiful North Queensland Scenery in a previous post - I won't be able to get you those photos quite as I expected!)
But we may still head up there this weekend if the Cyclone Wati doesn't play games with us as well.
Thanks for the prayers, please now pray for the huge clean up operation that is to come.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
The calm before the storm
It has been a weekend of intense speculation. With an ear to the radio (and the help of the internet), we have been tracking the progress of Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry, currently a couple of hundred kilometres off Innisfail, 250 km north of Townsville. Radio updates have had us on a 'Tropical cyclone Watch' up until today, when this was upgraded to a Warning. Larry is a category 4 cyclone, the same as 'Althea' which devastated Townsville in the early 1970s. It is being described as the most severe cyclone to threaten north Queensland for 35 years. While over the ocean, it continues to intesify, central pressure is currently 935 hectopascals, dropping from 950 earlier today. Much lower than this and he will be classed as a category 5, the highest rating possible.
We ducked out to get some tape to reinforce windows, some cat food and some other canned food for use in the (probable) event of power failure in the next couple of days. What would normally be a 10 minute shopping trip to the local Bilo lasted over an hour as the queues for the checkouts extended the full length of every aisle, from the front of the shop to the back! Shelves that once were stocked with UHT milk, baked beans, batteries and bread are now completely bare, and back up stock has been snapped up as well. (most of the larger supermarkets up here don't open on Sundays so the smaller Bilos and IGAs made a killing, and many people are probably having to go without some supplies!).
It is eerily quiet outside; the storm clouds are brewing, but the air is still, only the occasional very gentle whisp of a breeze stirrs the leaves on the trees. Each time there is some movement I wonder if this is the beginning of the big blow, but so far the breeze has faded back to stillness.
We are to expect heavy rains and gale forced winds from midnight tonight, with a likely 'storm surge' of flooding over the next 48 hours. At this stage the eye of the storm is not headed our way, but we are waiting with baited breath, hoping that Larry shows no signs of a last minute left hand turn, which would put us directly in his path. Areas north of here have already started evacuating.
The radio and TV have just started broadcasting the familiar siren sound (same as the bushfire one I heard in victoria), warning us to continue preparations, secure our belongings and batten down the hatches.
With the global natural disasters of the last 18 months, it is easy to imagine the worst, though we never expect these things to happen to us!
And maybe it won't.
Please pray for the safety of everyone in the north over the next week, and I'll try to keep you posted...................................
We ducked out to get some tape to reinforce windows, some cat food and some other canned food for use in the (probable) event of power failure in the next couple of days. What would normally be a 10 minute shopping trip to the local Bilo lasted over an hour as the queues for the checkouts extended the full length of every aisle, from the front of the shop to the back! Shelves that once were stocked with UHT milk, baked beans, batteries and bread are now completely bare, and back up stock has been snapped up as well. (most of the larger supermarkets up here don't open on Sundays so the smaller Bilos and IGAs made a killing, and many people are probably having to go without some supplies!).
It is eerily quiet outside; the storm clouds are brewing, but the air is still, only the occasional very gentle whisp of a breeze stirrs the leaves on the trees. Each time there is some movement I wonder if this is the beginning of the big blow, but so far the breeze has faded back to stillness.
We are to expect heavy rains and gale forced winds from midnight tonight, with a likely 'storm surge' of flooding over the next 48 hours. At this stage the eye of the storm is not headed our way, but we are waiting with baited breath, hoping that Larry shows no signs of a last minute left hand turn, which would put us directly in his path. Areas north of here have already started evacuating.
The radio and TV have just started broadcasting the familiar siren sound (same as the bushfire one I heard in victoria), warning us to continue preparations, secure our belongings and batten down the hatches.
With the global natural disasters of the last 18 months, it is easy to imagine the worst, though we never expect these things to happen to us!
And maybe it won't.
Please pray for the safety of everyone in the north over the next week, and I'll try to keep you posted...................................
Saturday, March 18, 2006
This looks interesting!
PRIORITY TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 2
Issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane
Issued at 10:32am on Saturday the 18th of March 2006
A Cyclone WATCH has been issued for coastal and island communitiesbetween Cape Tribulation and Proserpine.
At 10am, Tropical Cyclone Larry, Category 2, was centred near latitude 17.2 south longitude 156.6 east, which is 1150 kilometres east of Cairns. Tropical Cyclone Larry is expected to intensify further and move in a westerly direction over the weekend at about 25 km/h.
Tropical Cyclone Larry is expected to affect coastal and island areas between Cape Tribulation and Proserpine early Monday morning.
People living between Cape Tribulation and Proserpine should consider actions they will need to take if the cyclone threat increases and listen to the next advice. If you are unsure about actions to be taken, information is availablefrom your local government or local State Emergency Service.The next advice will be issued at 5pm EST Saturday.
Bored........... (mum says only boring people are bored)
Big Five Test Results |
| Extroversion (44%) moderately low which suggests you are reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and private. Accommodation (76%) high which suggests you are overly kind natured, trusting, and helpful at the expense too often of your own individual development (martyr complex). Orderliness (72%) high which suggests you are overly organized, neat, structured and restrained at the expense too often of flexibility, variety, spontaneity, and fun. Emotional Stability (56%) moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Inquisitiveness (68%) moderately high which suggests you are intellectual, curious, imaginative but possibly not very practical. |
Can you tell I have nothing better to do?? Headache from wisdom teeth is a bit worse today for some reason, so got some more painkillers, which means I'm not meant to drive. Not too sure of the results here, any ideas from your perspective?
Friday, March 17, 2006
Interesting reading
Having had plenty of time to myself I have been doing a bit of holiday reading, just finished a book called 'Why men don't listen and women can't read raod maps', by Allan and Barbara Pease.
It's all about the different wiring of male and female brains, and links it all back to hormones and evolution (The jury is still out on the evolution thing, I have just read a couple of books by John and Stasi Eldredge (called 'captivating' and 'Wild at heart'), about wiring of men's and womens brains, linking it all back to creation, the fall and the reflection of God's image, which interestingly, comes to the same overall conclusions about the emotional needs and drives of men and women!). I think just linking relationships back to a whole lot of chemical and electrical impulses cheapens the whole thing and makes it a bit too scientific for my overly romantic approach to life, but nevertheless, there are some interesting study and test results that explain a bit about how misunderstandings happen between men and women, and how the 'laws of attraction' came to be. Thought I might share a few of these gems, as they are quite amusing.
High testosterone has been linked to several traits in men, and women are told to look out for: left handed, bald, bearded accountants with baritone vioces who read road maps and sneeze at the same time. Testosterone-driven agression also explains why 90% of the people in prison are men.
Because men generally require a structured task or objective in their day to day activities, the stress of accompanying their partner on a 'shopping' trip (and also of working out the 'right' answer to her questions), means that most men get a brain heamorrhage after 20 minutes of shopping.
In the male brain, testosterone enhances the 'spatial ability' of men, such that they can easily picture objects from different perspectives than what they a can actually see, and have a better sense of direction without visual landmarks. Hence women tend to turn road maps upside down to orientate themselves. As a result, most men can usually point north, no matter where they are, and women find it much harder to reverse parallel park. Women are in fact safer drivers, because most their 'dings' happen at slow speed, while men's tesosterone driven agression and competitiveness results in high speed accidents. However, on the topic of hormonal treatments "a bald head and beard might be too high a price to pay for women to improve their spatial skills"
As to men having 'one thing' on the brain, apparently women are often safe with a Chinese man who loves classical music and works part time, but she should beware of hard-working jazz pianists.
Blond hair is a sign of high oestrogen and hence high fertility, which is why men are attracted to blondes. After having each baby, oestrogen levels drop and hair darkens, which is why there are much fewer natural blondes over 30.
Women really are more capable of multi tasking because they have more connetions between the right and left sides of the brain compared to men, who tend to compartmentalise things.
Anyway, that's what I've been learning in the last few days. I think it is important to approach these type of books with a bit of a critical approach, but these things are very interesting and I reckon they do shed some light on what is going on in people's brains (literally!).
We are off to the Atherton Tablelands next weekend, and hopefully the camera battery charger will be fixed, so I will be able to show you some of the most beautiful North Queensland Wet Tropics scenery. (that's if Tropical Cyclone Larry hasn't wiped us all out in the meantime!
I'll leave you with some of my favourite gems from that book:
It's all about the different wiring of male and female brains, and links it all back to hormones and evolution (The jury is still out on the evolution thing, I have just read a couple of books by John and Stasi Eldredge (called 'captivating' and 'Wild at heart'), about wiring of men's and womens brains, linking it all back to creation, the fall and the reflection of God's image, which interestingly, comes to the same overall conclusions about the emotional needs and drives of men and women!). I think just linking relationships back to a whole lot of chemical and electrical impulses cheapens the whole thing and makes it a bit too scientific for my overly romantic approach to life, but nevertheless, there are some interesting study and test results that explain a bit about how misunderstandings happen between men and women, and how the 'laws of attraction' came to be. Thought I might share a few of these gems, as they are quite amusing.
High testosterone has been linked to several traits in men, and women are told to look out for: left handed, bald, bearded accountants with baritone vioces who read road maps and sneeze at the same time. Testosterone-driven agression also explains why 90% of the people in prison are men.
Because men generally require a structured task or objective in their day to day activities, the stress of accompanying their partner on a 'shopping' trip (and also of working out the 'right' answer to her questions), means that most men get a brain heamorrhage after 20 minutes of shopping.
In the male brain, testosterone enhances the 'spatial ability' of men, such that they can easily picture objects from different perspectives than what they a can actually see, and have a better sense of direction without visual landmarks. Hence women tend to turn road maps upside down to orientate themselves. As a result, most men can usually point north, no matter where they are, and women find it much harder to reverse parallel park. Women are in fact safer drivers, because most their 'dings' happen at slow speed, while men's tesosterone driven agression and competitiveness results in high speed accidents. However, on the topic of hormonal treatments "a bald head and beard might be too high a price to pay for women to improve their spatial skills"
As to men having 'one thing' on the brain, apparently women are often safe with a Chinese man who loves classical music and works part time, but she should beware of hard-working jazz pianists.
Blond hair is a sign of high oestrogen and hence high fertility, which is why men are attracted to blondes. After having each baby, oestrogen levels drop and hair darkens, which is why there are much fewer natural blondes over 30.
Women really are more capable of multi tasking because they have more connetions between the right and left sides of the brain compared to men, who tend to compartmentalise things.
Anyway, that's what I've been learning in the last few days. I think it is important to approach these type of books with a bit of a critical approach, but these things are very interesting and I reckon they do shed some light on what is going on in people's brains (literally!).
We are off to the Atherton Tablelands next weekend, and hopefully the camera battery charger will be fixed, so I will be able to show you some of the most beautiful North Queensland Wet Tropics scenery. (that's if Tropical Cyclone Larry hasn't wiped us all out in the meantime!
I'll leave you with some of my favourite gems from that book:
- How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper? We don't know, it never happened.
- Tests show that women rate 3% higher general intelligence than men
- Men prefer looks to brains becuase most men can see better than they can think
- Women haven't failed - they've only failed to be like men.
By the way, I'm not a feminist, and don't condone the degradation of either sex, but for the sake of a giggle, I thought these were worth sharing! :)
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Howdy all. Thanks for all the comments, it's great to hear from so many 'anonymous' people! Louana, I had my suspicions that was you! Was it Lisa who had her teeth out as well? Pete, great to hear from you, if anyone wants to hear some amazing experiences from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, let me know and I'll forward you some fascinating emails. I uploaded a couple more pics, they're not that exciting, but thought I'd make the most of the bruising before it all goes. I've gotten off very lightly, I think. Just have to make sure I flush out the hole in the back of my jaw after every meal now, I'm getting a bit naughty and trying to chew things. Not that I needed to, but I think this pathetic diet has lost me a couple of kilos! I go shopping and everything just looks sooo yummy and I can't chew any of it yet! Not much more news. The battery from the camera isn't charging for some reason, but when it's fixed I'll get some nice shots of the beach I walked along today..........
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
But the cat came back....
A huge sigh of relief, the cat has just been retrieved from up a very, very tall tree in the next door neighbour's yard! (see previous post for why we might think she was up there in the first place). She must have got up there running away from their dogs, but she hasn't made a noise all day and she just started meowing after it got dark. So dad hot-footed it up the ladder in his theatre clothes (we have visitors staying and they are going to an argentinian tango show and music thingy that sounds really great, but seeing as I resemble a Wallace and Gromit character, I'll be staying home and eating jelly!).
So cat lovers (especially lovers of my sheba cat) can all relax, and cat haters can cross off the second of her nine lives with glee!
So cat lovers (especially lovers of my sheba cat) can all relax, and cat haters can cross off the second of her nine lives with glee!
Dramas
Howdy. Well, got back from hospital about an hour ago. so far pain free (not for much longer, I expect). survived the op (luckily - I was mistaken by one nurse for a gall bladder-ectomy patient; I declined her offer graciously, stick to the teeth for today. Apart from a bit of extra bleeding which is taking longer to clear up on one side, things went ok (for those medically minded, they use propofol as the anaesthetic, with no premed, had me on Hartmans, not much else interesting, but post-op antibiotics (benzyl penicillin) at least a couple of hours after the op which I thought was odd). Oh, they also gave me neurofen AS WELL AS dexamethasone pre-op, and also dex post op as well. I asked the nurse aout mixing the NSAIDS with the cortisone, but she said it was the anaesthetist's routine. (?)
Anyway, enough boring drivel.
The other drama today is that when I got home my parents told me that my cat has disappeared. :_(. I have been calling her (whilst holding frozen peas to my telly-tubbie sized cheeks and mopping up excess vampire-like blood from my mouth!) But she still hasn't come back. Dad feels really bad becuase he left her for 5 minutes outside on her own and then wasn't there when he came back.
So please pray for my kitty to return to me!!
Anyway, getting the hang of the comments thing - thanks! I see some of you are cleverer than me, you can choose 'other' in the list and write you name there instead of choosing anonymous. I might get back to some of you by email. Just remember that everyone else will be able to read your comments as well.
I will try to get some photos of my dispropotionately large cheeks, (possible in shades of black, green and purple by tomorrow) and post them here for your entertainment (don't tell me I never do anything fo you!)
till then take care (and after that too of course!)...........
Anyway, enough boring drivel.
The other drama today is that when I got home my parents told me that my cat has disappeared. :_(. I have been calling her (whilst holding frozen peas to my telly-tubbie sized cheeks and mopping up excess vampire-like blood from my mouth!) But she still hasn't come back. Dad feels really bad becuase he left her for 5 minutes outside on her own and then wasn't there when he came back.
So please pray for my kitty to return to me!!
Anyway, getting the hang of the comments thing - thanks! I see some of you are cleverer than me, you can choose 'other' in the list and write you name there instead of choosing anonymous. I might get back to some of you by email. Just remember that everyone else will be able to read your comments as well.
I will try to get some photos of my dispropotionately large cheeks, (possible in shades of black, green and purple by tomorrow) and post them here for your entertainment (don't tell me I never do anything fo you!)
till then take care (and after that too of course!)...........
Thursday, March 09, 2006
free for all
Sorry folks, just realised that only people with blogs have been able to leave comments. I have just rectified that, so now anyone can write to me :) You have to choose the 'anonymous' option, but let me know who you are when you do, ok?
they're a-comin' out!
Went to the surgeon today, who looked at the rads of my wisdom teeth and said "yes, I think it's worth taking them out". I wholeheartedly agree with him, considering one is growing parallel to my jaw and will be trying to grow into the roots of the molar beside it if we leave it any longer! I said asap would be best, tomorrow wouldn't be too soon, and he said, 'tomorrow it is then!' thanks to a molar extraction cancellation (if I ever think about becoming a dental surgeon, that would be a good time to lock me up!).
No time like the present, and less time to think about it all I guess! So tomorrow is the big day, followed by lots of soft foods, salt water mouthwashes and a few good DVDs (Napolean Dynamite has been recommended to me by a reliable source, so I'll start there I think....!). Gotta be God's timing, as the next available date was the day I am due to start work and considering I am already on their roster and am on call the first weekend, it would have been a headache (even more so, I mean!) to work around that!
No time like the present, and less time to think about it all I guess! So tomorrow is the big day, followed by lots of soft foods, salt water mouthwashes and a few good DVDs (Napolean Dynamite has been recommended to me by a reliable source, so I'll start there I think....!). Gotta be God's timing, as the next available date was the day I am due to start work and considering I am already on their roster and am on call the first weekend, it would have been a headache (even more so, I mean!) to work around that!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
kitty & me
Here is a didgy picture of my and my cat, for some reason mum and dad have it as their wallpaper.........
In the beginning..........
Welcome, if you are reading this, it means that I have successfully estabished a blog, and you have been previleged to be privvy to the address. At this point I feel the need to be very creative, (doesn't it look great - gotta love the people who came up with a way to make me look good!) but at this stage all I have to say is that you can now follow me around Europe and the world on my exciting adventures (they dont feel very exciting having just sat in Townsville for the last 2 days, but I promise there might even be some interesting photos on here at some point.) So stay tuned...........................
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