@52Blogs - Week 4 - Bedtime

When I started to think about this weeks topic, I asked my self what does Bedtime mean?  Is it literal, abstract or greater than just its actual literal meaning?  I think its all those things rolled up into one simple thing for us all.

Bedtime for me is a time of peace, it's that moment when the crazy that is our lives takes a deep breath, exhales and settles into the peaceful enjoyment of the evening.  Just to be clear, I'm talking abut the kids bedtime not mine.

Bedtime is, in my opinion, the most important part of a child's day, the end game for every child's day.  They wake, they eat, they play, they laugh, they cry, they yell, they eat some more, they bathe and finally they sleep.  As parents we realised immediately, once the kids have gone to bed, we can just enjoy each other.   For a very brief moment this mystical time becomes the essential key to the emotional well being of parents,

For people in a new relationship, you know the ones who are testing the reality of The Brady Bunch, it is singularly the most vital time of your day.  Its when you can discuss tomorrow and how you plan to tackle it, its when you can share your frustrations and its when you can have a whole conversation without the interruption of a minor human being.

The single saddest moment for parents is when your oldest child turns 16/17 ish.  This is the moment when you forever lose that quiet time mentioned earlier, that's right they don't go to bed any more when you want them to.  Worse, they insist on sitting in your space and inserting their opinions into your conversation which finally and inevitably results in your peace being forever been stolen.

As a case in point as I finish off this, at best average, blog the last child slinks off to bed which is my move also.

Goodnight

Licence to Watch #1 - Dr No

Watching Dr No with Lumpy, its fair to say this movie is somewhat dated my first impression is the overall feel of the movie is its not stood up so well over the years.

5 minutes in and we finally get to see Mr Connery (my all time fav actor) playing at the tables with his classic introduction my Name is Bond, James Bond

Great interaction between Bond and M, M reading Bond the riot act and forcing him to change guns.

Is that Steve McGarrett I just saw in Jamaica Maaan YES... Yes it is Jack Lord plays Felix Leiter CIA Agent who is on the same case as Bond

Im not sure but I think that spider is dead

Ursula Andress comes out of the ocean that classic scene

Classic Kill the guy behind scene

Then terhes the Dragon

Then Quarrel DIes

@52Blogs - Week 3 - Rescue

Have you met Steve?

In thinking about this weeks topic I had many options.

I could talk about my last year and my battle with cancer, certainly without the help of the wonderful people at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Haematology, I wouldn't be around so clearly they rescued me.

I could talk about my GP who whilst giving me a medical, for insurance purposes, explained how it wasn't ok for me to weigh 148 kg or to have an at rest Blood Pressure of 190/140 or a calculated cholesterol of 13.6.  I know your probably thinking, that's just him doing his job, where's the rescue moment? Well it was the part where he said "John, fix this or don't come back to see me because I don't want to sign your death certificate."

I could talk about my adoption, yes that's right I'm an adoptee, Ill talk about that another day I guess.

No, today we are going to talk about Steve, so as I asked before, have you met Steve?

Steve is a 9 year old Australian Cattle Dog, he is and I say this with much pride, the worst example of a Blue Heeler you will ever meet.  

In November 2011, our neighbourhood had had several "incidents", I finally had a really really good excuse to get a dog, our house "needed" some canine protection.  I guess some back story would be helpful, you see Jacqui is not a "dog person" where as I am a "dog person", I have lived my entire life with a dog and Jacqui has never lived with a dog.  I had been working on Jacqui for a long time to get her to agree to us having a dog, finally I had found a arguable excuse.  Now some further helpful information is Jacqui is a loving caring person who is someone who will give up what she likes or wants for the better of others.  Johns thought, RSPCA, rescue dog!!!!

That's right, I finally got to the point, Steve in all his glory is a rescue dog from the RSPCA.  

His back story is quite sad, he was handed about from his original owner, a young man, then to his old parents who all did their very best to ruin Steve.  The young man didn't pay Steve enough attention and didn't put in the vital training time and ended up with an unmanageable Blue Heeler.  Bluey's are an awesome dog who are amazing IF you invest in them early, if you don't they become complicated.  When the young man gave up on him he left Steve with his parents, these folk had no idea that this type of dog requires a strong firm owner so they went about spoiling him rotten.  Steve quickly ruled that roost and seemed to have dominated the old folk to the point where they couldn't cope with him any more.  After realising he was to difficult to handle they gave gave him to the RSPCA.

By the time I met Steve he had been at the RSPCA for more than 3 months and was being offered at a discounted price.  I had had 2 Bluey's in the past and LOVE Bluey's, best dog in the world EVER #justsaying.  I wanted this doggie bad, he was an outstanding looking dog, a sensational example of what a  Australian Cattle Dog should look like.  He had a beautiful nature appeared to be reasonably well behaved and I figured he would be an excellent choice for Jacqui's first dog.  How foolish I was.

So I came home, gave the appropriate back story hit all the key emotional elements which led to Jacqui and the kids all going with me to the RSPCA the following day, we met him fell in love with him and took him home.

So what are the key behaviour elements of a Blue Healer

                      Bluey Trait                                          Steve's Adherence to Trait

• Deeply faithful one man dog                                          No
• Very energetic always active                                         Sleeps all day
• Mad Ball/Stick/Anything chaser                                    No, could not care less
• Fierce Guard Dog                                                        Nope, welcomes everyone
• Quiet don't bark much                                                  No, barks a LOT
• (insert all other Bluey Traits)                                         No, No, No and no

Steve came home and promptly proceeded to spend the next 2 weeks escaping, he had a sever case of separation anxiety so as soon as we all went to work or school he made his way out of the block.  I applied every effort known to man to keep him in the yard, Steve applied all of his ample brain to successfully escape.  After many costly retrievals of our new dog from the pound we were forced to invest $600 for a dog barrier that would give him a shock any time he gets within half a meter of the fence.  Steve suddenly chose to stay home, go figure?

Steve has many many many OCD issues, he is an incessant licker, scratcher and barker. In fact he barked so much that our terrific neighbours, who are lovely people, came to us and said we love Steve but he is driving us mad.  As soon as you leave he Barks and Barks and Barks and Barks and Barks.  So back to the dog control people for a bark collar, every time he barks he now gets a zap too.  Steve suddenly chose to stop barking.

Now all we had to deal with was the licking and the slinking under chairs, beds furniture any time voices were raised, we have multiple teenagers, there's never a time when voices are not raised.  So I boarded up under beds blocked off ways to get in under or behind furniture, its been over 2 years since we brought him home and he is slowly getting better.

There are a million Steve stories, he is a complicated ball of wax but to his core he is a beautiful sole.  He is messed up due to his former multiple owners but his core self which was buried under all the "stuff" would shine from time to time.  The core Steve is much more prevalent these days, he is more relaxed more at ease and seems to be getting slowly better however we have a way to go.  I know he loves his life with us and he is content and will live his remaining years in happiness.  

His happiness is my happiness. Thats a worthwhile example of rescue I think

Cue Aretha Franklin 

That is all

@52Blogs - Week 2 - Voices

Voice!

Strange bloody word really, when I think of the connotations of the word I realise it is diverse.

My voice has been my downfall, my saviour, my delight, my instrument and my career, for others it has chastised, motivated, supported, encouraged and been an aphrodisiac.  I found at an early age that I was able to talk and people would listen, I would get lots of positive affirmation from the adults in my life so I naturally worked on that skill.  As I grew, my voice, which made me popular as a child, started to become a liability as a teenager.

By my teenage years it was "that mouth will get that boy in a lot of trouble" and all I was doing was behaving as I would as a child except now my words were taken as a smart arse remark.  It was no longer cute to say what you thought, as a teenager you were expected to show respect and you could not get away with a cute smile.  Really all I was doing was saying and doing things that people wouldn't expect.  One thing I've always been able to do naturally is sing, I have always carried a level of regret that I didn't do something more with my voice, had I put some effort in I may have gone somewhere with it.

In adulthood, I realised my voice was persuasive, I had many other skills particularly in the blossoming IT area, however my success was always in my voice.  I discovered my thoughts and opinions were listened to.  I was able to gather trust through simple conversation, people would listen to me and in turn buy stuff from me.  It turns out I could sell stuff to people and whilst doing that I discovered I could sell myself to teach others how to sell stuff.

Public speaking comes naturally to me, I could never understand what the big deal was, it was simple, you step up to the microphone smile say something clever people laugh then you deliver your message.  I became the go to guy for training seminars, Weddings or Funerals.  There is a special emotion that comes when someone you care about asks you to stand up and speak for them in a time of great emotional joy or sadness.

I'm now on the other side of a challenging period, I don't know exactly where I'm going next.  What will I be when I grow up?  Im pretty sure my voice will be at the centre of things though.

@52Blogs - Week 1:Cake

This is what I must say when presented with cake


NO

No no no no no no,


My brain knows I have a propensity for all things bad for me.
My brain also knows I have no off button or even a functioning full gauge.
My brain knows I must avoid cake to remain healthy.

My brain rarely wins the day however.

I love cake, not all cake but I love at least these few

Angel cake

Angel food cake

Apple cake

Aranygaluska

Bakewell tart

Ballokume

Boston cream pie

Banana cake/bread

Banoffee pie

Bara brith

Battenberg cake

Baumkuchen

Bibingka

Bienenstich (Bee Sting)

Birthday cake

Black Forest cake, often known as "Black Forest gâteau"

Buccellato

Budapestlängd

Bundt cake

Butter cake

Butterfly cake

Carrot cake

Cheesecake

Chiffon cake

Chocolate cake

Christmas cake

Coffee cake

Croquembouche

Cupcake

Dacquoise

Date and walnut loaf

Date square

Depression cake

Devil's food cake

Dobos cake

Dundee cake

Eccles cake

Esterhazy torte

Fat rascal

Flourless chocolate cake

French Fancy

Frog cake

Fruitcake

Funing big cake

Genoa cake

Genoise (Genoese cake)

Gingerbread

Gooey butter cake

Hot milk cake

Ice cream cake

Jaffa Cakes

Kabuni

Kendal Mint Cake

Kiev cake

King cake

Kladdkaka

Kouign-amann

Kransekake

Lady Baltimore Cake

Lamington

Layer cake

Lemon cake

Madeira cake

Magdalenas

Mantecada

Marble cake

Mille-feuille

Molten chocolate cake

Mooncake

Muffin

Opera cake

Orange and polenta cake

Pampepato

Panettone

Parkin

Pavlova

Petits fours

Pineapple upside-down cake

Pontefract cake

Pound cake

Prinsesstårta

Prinzregententorte

Pumpkin bread

Punschkrapfen

Queen Elisabeth cake

Qumeshtore me pete

Red bean cake

Red velvet cake

Rum cake

Ruske kape

Sachertorte

Šakotis

Salzburger Nockerl

Sesame seed cake

Simnel cake

Soufflé

Spekkoek

Spice cake

Sponge cake

St. Honoré cake

Stack cake

Streuselkuchen

Sultana and cherry cake

Suncake

Swiss roll

Tarte Tatin

Tea loaf

Teacake

Tiramisu

Tompouce

Torta Tre Monti

Tres leches cake

Tunis cake

Upside-down cake

Victoria sponge cake

Wedding cake

Welsh cake

Whoopie pies

Wine cake

Yōkan

Most of all I like Ice Cream.

7 years ago I weighed 148kg had an at rest Heart Blood Pressure of 190/140, I was told by my Doctor to make a choice, stop treating my body as I had been, loose weight, give up cigarettes and get fit.  I laughed and asked what was the other choice? He paused looked at me and said die before your 40 of massive coronary heart failure.

I chose the first option, so now I don't eat so much cake

I miss it

That is all.