what's that? i can't hear you...

I remember the peace and quiet of albert park lake when I was young – a place where kids and families went for special outings, friends met for picnics to catch up, lovers strolled around the lake...

originally occupied by the tribes of the Kulin nation, and significant as a place of corroboree, european 'settlement' in 1835 soon changed  lives and landscape. called south park by the 'settlers', it was renamed albert park in 1862 after the death of vickie's consort bertie (yep, that'd be queen victoria & albert - and nah, no respect for the monarchy here!!!), and 'boasted' 385 hectares of parkland, with the lake being created from a lagoon between 1880 and 1890 – unfortunately the site has been further whittled away by so-called progress – it’s now 225 hectares (and no doubt still shrinking!!!)

Albert Park lagoon

according to Parks Victoria "... Albert Park Reserve is one of Australia’s premier recreational parks. The constant motion of walkers, joggers, cyclists, yachts and rowers are all part of the Albert Park scene."  they omit to say these leisurely activities are impossible on grand prix weekend - then it becomes a petrol-heads' paradise - a 'boys own' convention - the noisiest place on earth!!!!

yeah, the peace has been shattered here in st Kilda this weekend… I’m surprised my eardrums aren’t ruptured - my head is definitely thumping (ibuprofen was a must to have on hand) - fumes are a problem too because my eyes have been stinging and breathing isn't too easy either (asthma!!!) – how does everyone else unfortunate enough to live close to the 'grand prix racing track' cope? What about all the poor animals, domestic and wild – how do they perceive this totally unnatural cacophony – lucky my old girl is deaf (although she is distressed when the jets fly over – the pitch and vibration seem to affect her!!!)... me boy has spent a lot of time huddling under the table - he's stayed inside voluntarily, hasn't even wanted to be out until his curfew – I’m glad because there’s been a lot of aggressive sounding people, lots of abusive shouting – far too many idiots around - booze and rev-heads - it's time to take the toys away from the boys!!

go on new south wales – please outbid victoria for it – or south australia,  please 'reclaim' it – let's get rid of this noise pollutant from our doorsteps - there're certainly no environmental constraints associated with this event!!! – the residents of port phillip shouldn't have to put up with it any longer - it's been an unwanted nuisance here for 15 long, noisy years!!! it's a constant assault on the senses – even public transport is affected – too bad if you’re elderly, infirm or just a public transport user in general... if you're not one of the minority who enjoys cars, toxic fumes, deafening noise and dickheads it's probably wise to think about going away on holidays at this time for the next 3 years (yep, that's right, it's here for another 3 fucking years!!!) and keep your fingers crossed that victoria ditches it after that!!!

on that note i need to go and have some more ibuprofen - the noise is intense at the moment - but before i go...

it's me mum's birthday on tuesday - she'll be 81 so i thought i'd upload some photos of her from the 40s... time to 'preserve' a photographic record of her life before the old black and white photos have disintegrated...

(she's the one on the right in both of these)

(and no, that's not a brooch - that's a hole eaten through the photo!!!)

these were taken in the mid - late 40s when judy was between 16 and 19...

blogged out and work weary...

i spent a bit of time on saturday refining a new parenting blog we're 'unveiling' at our in-service day on wednesday... i took care of the aesthetics and Sailor Lil took care of the written content - i must say i'm quite proud of the way it looks and extremely thankful that Lil's a 'wordsmith'... more on that next week...

but consequently having spent all day friday and (i won't say how much of my) saturday on it i found it hard to do some personal blogging - i was a tad 'blogged out' - i had intended to spend some time writing last night, but i was way too tired after working at albert park - i can't believe how busy it was - the unallocated list seemed never-ending, the returns kept coming thick and fast and the phone kept ringing ("sorry, we're totally booked out today) - i never want to see a dvd again - you get sore hands and arms opening and closing those bloody cases (let alone what all that bending over searching does to your back)!!! it was pretty much the same last sunday...

i saw my mother today, she needed a few things and wasn't feeling well enough to go down the street - she's having a lot more downs than ups at the moment... at times she's black and blue all over - as she describes it "i look like i've been 10 rounds with muhammad ali" - that's her chronic kidney disease - kidneys are deteriorating and have problems removing waste from blood...

i thought i'd share a couple of pictures of her - it was 1950, her 21st birthday...

and i was sent these amazing pics  - i just have to share them - they tell an amazing tale...

Norbert Rosing's striking images of a wild polar bear coming upon tethered sled dogs in the wilds of Canada's Hudson Bay...

The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his dogs when the polar bear wandered in.

the polar bear appeared to want company, and returned every night for a week to play with the dogs.

a gentle giant - unfortunately an endangered species - such a magnificent creature - the dog's beautiful too...

my space...

no, not MySpace, but my space - but alas no, darrell still doesn't have the key to his place - hopefully he'll get that today (i'm waiting in anticipation for his text message now!!!!) he has been staying elsewhere the last few nights though and only has a few things left here to collect once he can get into his space - can't wait for the last of his stuff to go because then i'll be able to feel totally relaxed in my own space - but to totally reclaim my sanctuary i'm feeling the need to rearrange the furniture again as soon as every single thing of his is gone!!!! that might be one of next weekends activities!!!!

i had a full house on saturday night though... irene and the gang came down from malmsbury and stayed the night - that meant all 4 of the poodle clan, along with allie and shadow - yep, 5 dogs, 1 cat and 2 humans in the flat - and believe me that was much easier to deal with than having just darrell here!!!! guess i'm just more of an 'animal person' than a 'brother person'!!!!

we had a nice relaxing evening just eating, smoking, and watching a grouse 'cutesy' family movie - beverly hills chihuahua - now, i don't know about you but i luv a well-done disney animal movie - and we both got a lot of laughs out of this film - one of the major 'characters' - papi - reminded us both of a tough wee chihuahua that once shared irene's life and that i had the pleasure of knowing - cheech (see right) aka cheechie-boy, cheechie-wowa, cheech-mcfeech among others - and he was sure he was the size of a german shepherd - so much bravado - he was a grouse little fella...

of course the evening was interspersed with long walks because the flat and courtyard just aren't like their country space - definitely not big enough for 'rough-house playin' so we had to wear'em'out with walkin' and off-lead runnin' - they loved it!!!!

unfortunately i had to interrupt my weekend with another sunday shift yesterday - that's four weekend shifts in the last five weeks - oh no, and another one next sunday - we don't seem to have enough staff these days because we all seem to be working more weekends - it's harder to swap shifts let alone give them away - you just end up working way too many in a row - everyone's just too exhausted...

we have lost some staff out of the 'weekend roster mix' due to higher banding - that stretches the existing staff even thinner - not good for the already overworked, over stressed team!!!!!!

if you take something away without replacing it, eventually 'something's gotta give' - usually sanity first, followed rapidly by physical deterioration!!!!

luckily i enjoyed catching up with my co-worker yesterday - someone i don't get a chance to work with often - and i'm working with another 'goodie' next weekend - and believe me the team you're on with can make all the difference to it being either a good or bad day!!!

reclaiming my life...

yay - i'm going to have my space back this week!!!! after 4 1/2 months here, darrell's finally been offered housing!!!!! he was originally supposed to get the key last week, but it's been moved to tuesday or wednesday this week now due to needing a new stove - certainly takes "housing" a long time to replace  an electrical appliance!!!! it's a bedsit in flemington - it has an open-plan livingroom-cum-bedroom with separate kitchen and bathroom - his own compact but self-contained space in an over 55s block of units with a community room and useful facilities -  a library, flash new computers with free internet, a communal vegie patch with his own allocated plot should he want to 'get down and dirty' -  the paperwork's been signed, it's affordable on the dole at $65 per week - there's 'light at the end of the tunnel' for both of us now...

it's going to be grouse getting my life back - and having my bedroom back... i can finally get off the couch and stretch out - especially now that the old girl never even tries to get up on the bed anymore - she's happy just being under it these days... at least while he was here he was really good with allie and shadow (yep, the old girl survived another summer - i really didn't think she would but she's a battler - one determined babe!!!) - and he respected my beliefs and never cooked animal in my home - he also cleaned up a lot of piss too (yeah, old girl's incontinence can result in massive amounts of piss to clean up some days - especially when no-one's been home so she's had no access to outside all day!!!)

i can't wait - it's been hard work having someone around most of the time - it became really 'claustrophobic' in my 1 bedroom flat - and we don't have that much in common!!! we're sorta like 'chalk and cheese' actually... but never, ever again!!! i can't be bothered compromising anymore, nor dealing with radically different attitudes to beliefs i hold important - ohh, and there's the use of misogynistic and racist terminology i find totally abhorrent!!! i have to deal with that shit the best way i can to survive in the outside world, i won't do it in my own home anymore - it's not good for the sanity or the health!!!! - as you age your space as sanctuary becomes really important - you become comfortable with yourself... you realise you don't need anybody else's approval to be you...

wasn't the storm yesterday incredible?? i was working in albert park and saw the most spectacular hailstorm... and then there was the water that totally engulfed the footpath outside the library (the picture shows dorcas street south melbourne - 'just around the corner') - i watched people wading through knee-high water and saw an amazing lightning display - and was glad i was inside - although we did spring a few leaks in the library!!!! we didn't need to close like st kilda did though - and it had abated by the time we finished work...

i recently finished reading "charles manson: coming down fast" by simon wells... it's disturbing to say the least - frightening that one person could have total control over so many people - he was incredibly misogynistic and racist... he used and abused womyn terribly and was totally paranoid about a black uprising... he was a wannabe rock star with a delusional god complex - and LSD was used in vast quantities in the 60s - it made the perfect mind control drug and manson used it superbly (while creating a lot more delusions and psychoses in very malleable people searching for some direction and stability in life!!!) -  it is a very interesting read...

this is my current read - cleo, how an uppity cat helped heal a family... i've only read a few chapters and already shed tears - the beginning is heart-wrenching with the death of a young child... i think it's going to be a real heartwarming story though... and that'll be my day today - reading and resting my back which is killing me - one problem with library work - all the pushing and pulling full bins and all the twisting and bending that goes with returning, along with reaching and stretching...






it's been such a suck of a week at work - phil's gone for 12 months to explore other pursuits (good luck, but who's going to replace you???) - it's been soooo busy with lots of sickies to cover - a lot of frayed tempers and extremely tired workers (who still had weekend work to look forward to!!!)  cake and 'council function leftovers' were provided for 'the team' during the week though as a form of thank you for getting through a difficult time - unfortunately the vegans couldn't partake (no, i'm not the only vegan there) - now this strikes me as somewhat 'unfair' - hey, even fruit would be fine - it's about being valued equally, being included!!!  consequently i refuse to be silent about my exclusion - we work hard too - i know i do - is it absurd or naive to expect to be treated as an equal member of 'the team'?? i was brought up to fight for my rights and beliefs - i just can't help myself - 'don't rock the boat' has never been part of my philosophy!!

equality and inclusion are fundamental human rights as far as i'm concerned - and  i'm pretty sure the council i work for has as part of its ethos a commitment to equal rights and the inclusion of all regardless of political beliefs, religion or 'special dietary requirements' for whatever reason - guess there'll be a lot more times when those that are 'different' will feel like 'second-class members' of 'the team', or even worse - non-members!!! how the hell did phil stay a silent, compliant 'outcast' for so long??? if you stay silent nothing changes - so long as you're silent people can pretend you're just like them, therefore they don't have to think outside of their comfort zone - differences aren't taken seriously, differing views aren't explored - no 'seeds are planted' - the status quo never gets questioned or called to account and society pays a high price - it stagnates...


okay - i'm adding this paragraph Tuesday 9/3 after getting home from work - i have to say a BIG THANK YOU on behalf of the vegans at work (4 i know of,  but there may be more!!!) for the treats provided today!!!!!! i'm not sure if anyone read my post or whether it was even in response to it, but it certainly made a difference to me being able to participate (and partake of) along with everyone else today when we'd all been sooooo busy after the weekend's storm and subsequent closure of the library on sat and sun (and of course monday was a public holiday)!!!!! we all worked really hard and i am glad to be able to say i felt like part of the team!!!! vegan rum balls, pretzels and fruit - yummmmm!!!! THANK YOU (especially for taking notice if it was either Kitty or Lil - a very positive and understanding response!!!) - and now i need to go and get the animals' dinner but i needed to acknowledge vegan inclusion  today first!!!!!!



ohh, i'm getting way too old for this work caper - wish i could afford 12 months leave without pay!!! roll on retirement!!!!!



and you wouldn't believe it - after all that rain we have no water in the flats today - don't think the drainage system is coping too well with the downpour - oh well, another reason for not doing washing and mopping kitchen floor (as though my sore back wasn't enough of an excuse)!!!! hope it's back sometime soon though so i can fill the animals' water bowls!!!!

it's international womyn's day tomorrow so to all the sisters - be proud, be loud - celebrate your womonhood - revel in your female power - stay strong - maintain the fight against inequality and suffering - maybe even indulge yourself...

happy international womyns day...