"Premier State" or "State of Fear"

Once upon a time NSW use to be called the "Premier State" but if Channel Seven Sydney's "Today Tonight" is to believed it should be restyled the "State of Fear".

My goodness their main story tonight (30/4/2012) was that there are green fluorescent germ things lingering on every train door handle, train seat etc.

A germ fest waiting to kill you - or - more likely is it just more rabid paranoia being promoted by News Ltd favorite TV network?

Why has keeping people informed become an excuse for keeping us all in a constant "State of fear". It is almost like the people programing for these television stations have taken their strategy from the novel 1984.

Writing Tips of the Fun Kind

The following is a humorous list of writing tips:
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren't necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know. "
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don't never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
30. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to the irantecedents.
32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
37. Always pick on the correct idiom.
38. The adverb always follows the verb.
39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek viable alternatives."

Common Sense Definitions

This is a list of Common Sense definitions not to be taken too seriously and definitely with a grain of salt....

A is for

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

B is for

BATHROOM: A room used by the entire family, believed by all except Mother to be a self-cleaning facility.

C is for

COMMITTEE: A body that keeps the minutes and often wastes the hours.

D is for

DATE: Infrequent outings with dad where mother can enjoy worrying about the family in a different environment and surroundings.

E is for

EMPTY NEST: See "WISHFUL THINKING."

F is for

FABLE: A story often told by a teenager arriving home later than promised. Alternative is politicians explaining policies.

G is for

GUM: Adhesive for use in many common emergencies, cracked radiators, loose hair-piece, wobbly dentures.

H is for

HINDSIGHT: The parental experience that comes from changing too many diapers.

I is for

INFLATION: A method for cutting money in half without damaging the paper it's printed on.

J is for

JUNK: What mother calls Dad's stuff and Dad calls mothers stuff.

K is for

KISS: Mothers most effective medicine. Dads favorite treatment.

L is for

LEMONADE STAND: US concept by which complex business venture created requiring mother to buy powdered mix, sugar, lemons, and paper cups and sets up a table (lemonade stand) chairs, pitchers and ice for kids who sit at stand there for three to six minutes and netting a profit of 15 cents.

M is for

MAYBE: When spoken by parents means No. Uttered by politicians means "don't know"!

N is for

NAIL POLISH: Part of an assortment of make-up items such as lipstick, eyeliner, blush etc. which ironically make older women look better while making their young daughters look "like a tramps."

O is for

OVERSTUFFED RECLINER: Mothers nickname for Dad.

P is for

PANIC: What a mother goes through when the darn wind swings under her skirt.

Q is for

QUIET: A state of household serenity which occurs before the birth of the first child and occurs again after the last child has left home.

R is for

REFRIGERATOR: Combination art gallery and air-conditioner found in the kitchen.

S is for

SPOILED ROTTEN: What the kids become after as little as 15 minutes with Grandparents.

T is for

TOWELS: See "FLOOR COVERINGS ".

U is for

UNDERWEAR: An article of clothing, the cleanliness of which ensures the wearer will never have an accident.

V is for

VACATION: Where you take the family to get away from it all, only to find it there, too.

W is for

WALLS: Complete set of drawing paper for kids that comes with every room.

X is for

XOXOXO: Motherly salutation guaranteed to make the already embarrassing note in a kid's lunch box even more mortifying.

Y is for

"YIPPEE! ": What mother's shout the first day of school.

Z is for

ZUCCHINI: Vegetable which can be baked, boiled, fried or steamed before kids refuse to eat it."

Please add more words if you are so inclined.

Discrimination grows with Age

Choosing one thing in favor of another is a normal part of life or so you think! That is until the thing being chosen is other people over you. Chosen because they are perhaps younger, less experienced but cheaper to employ. It's such a loud penny when it drops that at first it does leave you in shock. But you quickly realize that age based discrimination is with all our laws and tribunals alive and well in this marvelous if not often uncharitable world of ours.

I once saw a film about the Eskimos that showed that when their old folk got too old to chew leather because their teeth are gone they are left to the snow and the polar bear to be eaten and return in the spirit of the hunt and in that way be useful to the tribe. Then I thought how cruel how barbarous. Now I have second thoughts and think at least in their way there is some dignity. Our way is to just slowly strip the old of self esteem, then respect and then to chuck them on the scrap pile of some nursing home verandah to quietly forget about them.

These are just some grey thoughts for a bleak day. But would it not be good to be able to feel worthwhile and valued beyond what some stingy tight assed boss who is just as old as you thinks is your use by date. Know I feel it now I'm in my 50s and bet I'm not alone!

Age is like a wall for the longer it last the bigger and more impressive
 it gets and  the more holes  start to appear in it.

George Costanza's Tips for Working Hard

I found this from this 80s view of the working world from the Seinfeld Show to be very funny. The following are George Costanza's Tips for Working Hard.

"Never walk down the hall without a document in your hands. People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they're heading for the cafeteria.

People with a newspaper in their hand look like they're heading for the toilet.

Above all, make sure you carry loads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do."

Might have been the 80s but this is still accurate today. Work is more about perception than what things really are.

How my Garden Grows

Some pictures of my garden front and back. Flowers are blooming and all is looking good...

Flowering blue Irisis in my back garden.

Tropical plants with bright red bulbous flowers.

Veggie garden is under way with all the staples growing. Cucumber, Salad and lettuce.

Lemon Balm and various herbs sre doing well.

Love being surrounded by beautiful plants.

Trivia can be Interesting

Some interest trivia facts received from a friendly email worth sharing:

Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich.
Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left.
Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right!
And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

Q: Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?

A: This comes from the French word m'aidez -meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced, approximately, 'mayday.'

Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?

A: In France , where tennis became popular, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' When tennis was introduced in the US , Americans (mis)pronounced it 'love.'

Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?

A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed
using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document.

The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?

A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.

Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink.
To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his
drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously.
When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.


Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?

A:Invented in 1825,limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime
which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre,a performer 'in the limelight' was the centre of attention.


Q: Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?

A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud.
If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

Q: In golf, where did the term Caddie come from?

A. When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl,Louis, King of France, learned she loved the Scots game 'golf.' So he had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment.

To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a
military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.

Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?

A: Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'.

When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.'
When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.

Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches (milling), while pennies and nickels do not?

A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from
shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because
they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.