AN INTERESTING AND SAD OBITUARY

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

PHOTO FRIDAY ..... 'END OF THE DAY'

If you are looking for a weekly photo challenge look at this great site http://photofriday.com/.  Each Friday there is a new subject for you to interpret and photograph. 

I immediately thought of photographing dusk ...... BUT ..... sitting on the outside table was a vase of dead flowers waiting to be cooked in the dye pot !!!!   LOL ... yes, these once beautiful flowers had come to the end of their day !!!!

THE GREEN BAG

I was asked yesterday on facebook, did I have airconditioning in our house .... ???? The answer was NO!!! ... considering it was 41C I wish we did have airconditioning.  However, I remember saving the undermentioned and want to share it with you ...

 Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day.

So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have.... Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Western Australia. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the train, tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fish and chip shop.

We did as we were asked BECAUSE WE RESPECTED OUR PARENTS. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

2012 IS A NEW YEAR !!!

Hello everyone ..... just to let you know that Ern and I are still in the land of the living !!!

In the past, I have always said that I do not make New Year Resolutions, because they are only meant to be broken.  This year however, I did make one ..... to write in my blog "every now and then" ..... LOL

WONDERFUL FRIENDS

Yesterday I had such a lovely surprise telephone call.  Jeanette and Joy were going to meet me at ????? yes ..... at Allan's Bakery ...... and bring Ern  ..... be there at 10.30am

When I/we get there, Rosemary was there also.  They had met her in the shopping centre and said she had to come for morning tea.

It was lovely to catch up with them, friends from the past, friends whom I hadn't forgotten and whom I often think about.  We were all in the Kilsyth CWA together.

We had our coffee and much laughter (and some tears) and were about to leave, when another friend from CWA lingered outside the shop, then decided she was going to take something home for lunch.  So Betty and the rest of us had lunch there and then .....

..... in the meantime, Ern had joined us, couldn't stand our chatter and laughter and waited outside the Bakery with our dog Chloe ....... geez Ern, go home !!!!   No he wanted to wait for me ...... oh isn't that nice??  Yes he did eventually take the dog home.  Come to think of it, I think Chloe took Ern home !!!

I really did enjoy the morning (and avo with the girls).  It was wonderful to catch up on their families ..... how the time flies by ..... kids grow up so fast !!

Thankyou Jeanette, Joy, Rosemary and Betty for making me laugh, cry and remembering the good times we once had.

2011 LÓREAL MELBOURNE FASHION WEEK - MODEL CASTINGS

My beautiful (I mean stunning) neice Anna, auditioned for the 2011 Australia's Next Top Model auditions at Chadstone.  Two of the judges said they wanted her to go to Sydney, but the third judge said NO !!  When Anna questioned why, she was told that she was too short ..... she wanted the models over 6ft !!!  Although disappointed, she accepted the outcome quite graciously ..... mind you this was her first official catwalk appearance !!!!!

A couple of weeks later, Anna was invited to participate in the 2011 Model Casting for the L'oreal Melbourne Fashion Week.  This was quite an honour for her .... the other Vogue models were extremely nice and helpful and gave Anna technique advice for strutting her stuff on the catwalk.

The day was awesome to a young schoolgirl, talking and laughing with models she has admired from afar.    Below is the official LMFF video of the Lóreal model casting.  Anna is in it and I am a very proud aunty !!!!!

HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY MUM

My lovely Mum has just celebrated her 80th Birthday.

Now everyone who knows me had better sit down for this ....... Ern and I actually were able to celebrate it with her.  OK, so what does that mean?  I live in Melbourne and Mum lives in Wangaratta.  I have not been to Wangaratta for over 3 years.  We actually travelled to Wangaratta ..... yes ....... we really did !!!  I put our lovely dog in a boarding kennel and Ern and I travelled to Wangaratta by train.  Of course I was thinking that Ern wouldn't go ..... however, he was going, even if I had to drag him kicking and screaming.

When we got there he was out of his environment but at least he had his laptop and port !!!!

We 4 kids decided that Mum was going to have a party.  35 people enjoyed a very informal and lovely luncheon at the Vine Hotel.  It was so relaxing.  Everyone had the opportunity to say a few words and this proved very entertaining.