a little bit of sorcer-y...

nah, not that type of sorcery -   i'm talking this type of sorcer(y)... our new(ish) web 2.0 catalogue 'experience'...

what does it do? this, from the developers (civica) website... "SORCER is focused at the library patron and, by using a range of Web 2.0 concepts and tools, provides them with a personalized exploration of a library collection integrating social networking and other new features."

in other words it's a more visual, informative, interactive and customizable online library catalogue... i'm in the process of 'learning sorcer' - how to create the containers to display information in various formats - browse clouds, gallery displays, browse lists, etc... doesn't sound too hard does it? but it's like learning a whole new language...

have you ever played around in the template html of your blog? maybe viewed the source code of a web page? because it's that source code that i have to work within when creating one type of container...  this is the source code of the sorcer graphic and first paragraph above - and it's this sort of code that i have to become familiar with... granted, the wheel has already been invented in that there are containers already made that i can copy, paste and edit - but i still have to scan it, work out what needs to be kept, what gets added where, what to get rid of, find the right graphic and then format it to fit, then add it's location into the right place in the code... and then there's the containers that require boolean searching - it needs to be done right to get the right sets of results... all this gets done in a test database and then has to be transferred to the live system - all very 'focused' and 'fiddly' stuff - for me it is anyway - not so for the younger generation who have grown up with computers - guess they grew up with computer-speak their second language...

it is interesting stuff though, but it's been doing my head in all weekend just thinking over what i learnt on friday - i don't want to forget it! the memory doesn't have the same retention and recall it once did (access to the test database from home would be sooo good - the only place where total concentration can really be achieved!)... 

i had ideas of writing a post on a totally different topic - i'd been mulling over a couple of reports of disturbing trends from earlier in the week - but, as you can see, it didn't quite work out that way - perhaps next week...

a significant 60s struggle...

ever heard of dagenham? i certainly hadn’t – so i was totally oblivious to the major chapter of herstory written there in 1968…

well, oblivious until yesterday that is, when i watched a 2010 bbc movie – made in dagenham – a dramatization based on the struggle for equal pay and recognition as skilled workers by the female machinists at the dagenham ford factory…

in 1967 england there were effectively four grades of production workers...

the womyn were at the 'bottom of the ladder' and received only 87% of the unskilled male wage... the industry was rolling out a new classification structure which looked like this..

they were expecting recognition of, and proper remuneration for, their skills but when the industry reclassified their positions to an unacceptable category b, rather than the deserved category c (to which their male counterparts with equivalent skills were regraded) it was time to take action… 



machinists voting to strike in 1968

when ford refused to upgrade them, all 187 machinists walked out and stayed out for three weeks... they were joined by the 195 womyn at ford's halewood plant in merseyside, effectively bringing ford 'to their knees'... oh, i forgot to mention they were also fighting a hostile union in collusion with the ford management...

strikers meet with barbara castle

after meeting with barbara castle, then secretary of state for employment & productivity, negotiations resulted in an immediate 5% pay increase, taking them up to 92% of the male rate, rising to the full category b rate the following year... it wasn't the desired outcome of equal pay and recognition, but it was one they were prepared to accept in the interim...

these courageous womyn and their struggle were instrumental in bringing about the united kingdom's equal pay act of 1970... but their fight didn't end there - it took another 16 years to win the regrading!!!

by the way, i enjoyed the film... there are some inaccuracies, and a bit of 'poetic licence' applied... the main character in the movie, rita o'grady, is a composite character - but played well by sally hawkins... bob hoskins also does a good job as the shop steward... there are also a lot of beehives!!!! all in all it's entertaining and informative (and it inspired me to look for more information!!!)

a dog's tale...

take a dog, a human and throw in some compassion and what do you get? a wonderful, heartwarming story - thought it was worth sharing...

"Naki’o is the first dog to be fitted with a complete set of bionic legs that work naturally to allow him to run, jump and even swim. The prosthetics were designed and fitted in a pioneering procedure by Martin Kaufmann, founder of Orthopets.

Abandoned by a family fleeing their foreclosed home and their mother dead, Naki’o and his brothers and sisters barely survived the harsh Nebraskan winter. Weakened by malnourishment, the red heeler puppy stepped into an icy puddle in the basement and got his four paws stuck in freezing water.

At just five weeks old the litter was taken to an animal rescue center. Under the shelter’s care Naki’o's paws, lost to severe frostbite, healed to rounded stumps.

Veterinary technician Christie Tomlinson was on the look out for a playmate for her Jack Russell terrier mix Poki when she came across Naki’o. Fearful of the pain that walking and playing with other dogs would cause, Naki’o resigned himself to crawling along on his belly at home and at the veterinary clinic’s doggy daycare..." read more of naki'o's story at incrediblefeatures

when all you want to do is...

... curl up and die! i am so sick of being sick - from thursday night to sunday evening i was aching, coughing, spluttering, the head was pounding, i had chills and flushes and spent most of the time in bed - yep, i just wanted a quick death to stop feeling so terrible...

this bug has been going around for ages and just keeps on keeping on... and no, it's not just me - it's affecting other colleagues too... perhaps we're suffering from sick building / sick office syndrome - 'my' office is an open-plan affair  - it's small, i mean really, really small considering there are 5 people sharing it, using computers all day, (along with other testing processors turned on more often than not) and all emitting their electromagnetic radiation (and hey, i'm 'lucky' if i sit a foot away from the back of a minimum of 2 processors!)...

the office also comes complete with air-conditioning (that fluctuates between way too hot or chilly, chilly cold - but alas necessary for 'air movement' when there are 3 young men with their 'boy hygiene' in the office - not casting aspersions here, everyone tells me this, male and female alike!), locked down windows (no fear of anyone falling out an open window here!), fluorescent lights, probably mould spores  and food crumbs in the carpet, etc. etc... we all get sick - perhaps rather than using our own sick leave anything 'flu-ey' should be covered by workers compensation - after all, we probably wouldn't be sick if we worked in a healthier environment...

according to an article Open-plan offices are making workers sick, say Australian scientists some believe we should re-think the open-plan idea and perhaps go back to the old-fashioned small office or partitioned space - wow, noise absorption and the semblance of privacy allowing concentration on your own work (some distractions are more than welcome, but sometimes you need to focus and constant noise and activity can really affect your thought processes!) - now that appeals to me!!! (funny how the majority of top-level managers in most workplaces still have a private office - no wonder they didn't 'join the exodus' to the open plan model, they would have lost their access to natural light, fresh air and personal headspace!)

déjà vu...

me mum - now and way back when...

the mother was rushed to hospital again last thursday – me brother and i are becoming ‘old hands’ at finding our way around the emergency department and the ‘rabbit warren’ of rooms that make up ward 4 at the alfred hospital…

mind you, it was no mean feat getting her from her flat in st kilda to the alfred with all the roadworks happening at the time – all the dirt and dust in the atmosphere was no doubt a contributing factor to her inability to breath – and yep, pneumonia was part of the diagnosis – along with renal failure (of course, having chronic kidney disease meant that wasn’t a shock!)

after stabilising her there’s not much else they can do for her so she came home late saturday afternoon… they did discover she has no vitamin b12 in her body though so has to have regular supplementary injections (for the rest of her life, however long that will be - no, we're under no illusions, this is the downward slide) – but as she has ‘all her faculties’ and can still ‘live independently’ the dmu (disease management unit) is looking at a plan to provide more ‘carer assistance’ for her… it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes them to draw up that plan… perhaps they’re thinking ‘independent palliative care’ – after all it’s very bleak, ‘slim pickings’ where decent facilities are concerned for poor, low income pensioners – as judy says “all they do is put you in front of a television all day – i can do that myself!”

luckily there is a real sense of community in her block of flats with most residents looking in on each other and providing meals (wanted or not) and offers of assistance (although my mother – hey, my whole family – were brought up to ‘do things for themselves’ and not ask for help) - she’s extremely appreciative of the offers but I just know she won’t take anyone up on it though – she will of course help anyone else that needs assistance but it’s just so ingrained in her to not talk about her own problems and health issues – hey, it’s even hard for her to open up to her children! one of my grandmother’s favourite quotes was “i was sad because i had no shoes until i met a man that had no feet…” when you’re brought up with the view that there’s always someone worse off than you it’s hard to put yourself first because that seems selfish… good old fucking catholic guilt – has a lot to answer for…

for a bit of a relax after all the ‘excitement’ i popped a black raspberry (my favourite fragrance) soy wax melt on, made a mull and settled back to watch a movie - “my house in umbria” – maggie smith is wonderful as the eccentric mrs delahunty – a british romance writer living in a beautiful umbrian villa… whilst on a train ride through the italian countryside there is a bomb blast in the carriage she is sharing with nine others… the devastating blast leaves only four survivors – a disparate group of people whom mrs delahunty invites back to her villa to recuperate and come to terms with their altered lives… it’s a charming movie - happy and sad in equal measure, with delightful scenery - well worth the watch…


the rest of the weekend has been spent doing this'n'that for me mum so now it's time to do my domestic crap... sorry for the unedifying post, but that's been my last few days... ohh, shit - me smoke alarm's going off - me toast must be burning!!!! (it also goes off when when it detects 'excessive' steam from the shower - now that's a pain if i'm enjoying a nice hot shower - good for water conservation though, it forces me to have quicker showers!!)