settlin' in slowly...

it’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 2 months since i wrote my last blog post… but having decided not to blog and just concentrate on moving and settling in i have to admit it has been nice not having that self-imposed pressure we sometimes put ourselves under to get a post 'up'…

so moving and settling in is exactly what i’ve been doing - well, when i haven't been working… i'm certainly enjoying the house with it’s space and peace and quiet (internal noise aside that is - 'part and parcel' of shared space) compared to the flat… no hearing other doors opening and slamming, nobody walking overhead wearing jack boots (that’s what the womon upstairs sounded like), no hearing other peoples toilets flush, no hearing their loud televisions or their other noises…. i hate flats, have never been a willing flat dweller…

shadow had the hardest move and settling in time of the household… there are only a few cats in the street, and no-one had lived here for a while according to a neighbour, so the two boys from down the road had made this their territory too… so my boy had to learn where his territory started and ended and stake a claim on his backyard – which of course entailed a lot of mewling and stand-offs with the two local boys – rags, a beautiful ragdoll cat (albeit without a tail due to an accident) and felix, a manx boy (born with no tail – a genetic mutation associated with the manx breed)...

after all of that sorting themselves out, the boy has the run of the place now as the ‘neighbours’ moved out a couple of weeks ago – they were moving from south yarra to st kilda, and here we’d moved from st kilda to south yarra – somewhat ironic, hey - and they'll be going through their own territorial disputes finding their place with their new neighbours now…

there are cute possums around, but shadow doesn't pose a threat to them - well, not at night time anyway - he has a curfew - he's an inside cat once darkness descends... it's seems only fair for the wildlife who come out to forage during the night hours, and who have lost so much of their habitat to our encroachment - they can do without having to dodge one of the most efficient hunters in their search for food too... sadly for the night critters not all feline guardians feel this way...

shadow is definitely enjoying his backyard – fences and trees to climb, a backyard shed to sun himself on top of, garden beds that we’re in the process of extending so we can get some vegie seedlings in – it must be like paradise to him after having to make do with the small courtyard at the flat…

i thought i’d share some photos - the boy, the camellia, the beautiful skylight in the funny little nook in the loungeroom, which happens to be the perfect reading space - and guess i’ll slowly get back into the swing of blogging over the next few weeks…

moving the masses...

i was 'transported' back in time the other evening when i read kitty's post ‘ding, ding’ - it brought back memories of the time i spent on the trams as a connie… it wasn’t a long stint, 12 months – but it was an interesting and stimulating time… it was 'world's away' from working life in an office (or a library) - my mother was horrified when i told her i was leaving the 'security and prestige' of a government typing job to become a connie; she actually told me i needed to see a psychiatrist - it really was seen as much lower down the rungs of the working class ladder! - perhaps that was partly the reason i did it... to 'erk' my mother (mother-daughter relationships and all that!!!)

it was the end of the 70s, and the w-class trams were the mode of public transport on melbourne streets – safety was somewhat questionable – note the only ‘safety feature' on the doorways was a drop down bar… in winter there were canvas blinds to pull down to keep the weather out (ha ha ha) – unfortunately the 'getting on and off side' was always open to the elements… and that could be pretty dangerous if you were in the wrong place going around a corner with a bad driver!!!! the commercial road turn into st kilda road was deadly – i almost fell out the tram a few times at that one (i learnt to make sure i was hanging on)!!!! they had started to 'incorporate' sliding doors into the design but it took years to fully implement the 'upgraded' model...

us connies came kitted out with bag, tickets, thumb (or finger) rubber, small cash tin and ticket-clipper – i loved my ticket clipper – did you know that each one had a different hole-punch pattern? i was quite fascinated by that when i found out (but i don't know if it was always the case)... and kids just loved the stubs of the tickets – such simple pleasures just don't do it for them these days!!!

the bags got really heavy though – we had a number of different priced tickets and most commuters had the ‘exact change’ – and that included 1 and 2 cent pieces - some paid their whole fares with these pesky coins!!! (of course there were always those that 'tried it on' for a free ride by getting on with a big-denomination note hoping you wouldn't be able to change it - guess what, coinage was something we had plenty of - and if you really pissed us off that's all you got back for change!!!)




it was around 4 hours before you got back to the depot for your meal break (where you could empty the first half's takings into your locker) so you had to carry the weight for a long time - you could empty some into your tin, but they were only small (and then there was nowhere safe to put that - the drivers compartments weren't safe and enclosed like they are today) so roaming the trams meant you had to carry everything...

doing the early shift – the shifts ranged from a 5am start to a 1am finish – was always interesting… you had to give two bells to let the driver know it was safe to move off, so on those freezy-cold mornings you had to unwrap your hunched up body to stand up - well, i did anyway being one of the shorter connies (5'2") - and it didn’t matter how empty the tram was – if it was a cold morning some fucker would come and steal your warm seat - they’d just slip in right behind you!!! of course i always felt compelled to acknowledge "it's cold, hey" and they never ceased to amaze me by replying "yes, lucky there's a warm spot to sit in"!!! so off you would wander to warm up another spot for the next passenger!!!

unlike some connies i didn’t mind pension days  – i loved the elderly people who’d chat away and tell you about their lives, and conspiratorially utter to you how "i wouldn’t want your job for quids love, having to cart that heavy bag around" - yes, the older folk understood!!!

there was heavy lifting involved in a connie's job - helping people with jeeps and prams - mind you, people with jeeps or prams weren't supposed to be stopped for during peak hour, because the whole point of 'peak hour' was to get the factory and office 'fodder' to work on time!!! fortunately not many workers took notice of this 'directive' (although if you hurt your back in the 'pursuit' of this non-sanctioned assistance you could well have a fight on your hands!!!)

there were characters like the ‘shopping jeep womon’ – the first time I tried to help her up with her heavy jeep I got majorly verbally abused – her standard reaction apparently so needless to say I quickly learnt she didn’t like to be helped…

there were the homeless people who spent their days riding the trams (sadly a capitalist society will always produce poverty-stricken people) - the derelict alcoholics were sad sights (and some smelled so bad but of course insisted on standing right next to you!!!) but they were (usually) harmless.. unfortunately some drunks (not necessarily the derelict) would drink on the tram and become downright aggressive and violent - booze wasn't meant to be consumed but ever tried telling a drunk that they can't drink on the tram? ever tried getting a drunk off a tram because they were threatening the passengers? (we're talking drunk people with glass bottles - deadly weapons - in their hands here!!)

'drug-addicts' (why doesn't that include alcoholics???) didn't pose the same problem as they do today because chemically altered 'designer' drugs weren't widespread then - smack and speed were the 'heavy' drugs, lsd was still quite popular, along with the prescription drug mandrax... home-grown dope was the most used and pretty much socially acceptable - what can i say, it was the 70s... marijuana was 'safe' then... until the 'scientists' got hold of it and decided to chemically alter seeds which made certain strains so toxic that their crops were possibly deadly and couldn't be smoked until a couple of 'generational strains' down the track!!!! these days there are way too many 'entrepeneurs' and way too many dangerous (if not lethal) chemical combinations!!!!

there were the lovely little kids from struggling families on their way to school – funny how they were the ones that always offered to pay their fares (unlike the little shits from the rich private schools!!!) – there were times you'd ask, to be told a child had nothing for lunch so, like many connies, i would give them a ticket (inspectors were routinely rostered on most routes so a ticket was a must) and tell them to buy something to eat for lunch (or breakfast!) with their fare (and perhaps a little bit extra thrown in out of my own pocket) - of course the ticket shortfall had to be made up… tickets were all accounted for at the start of each shift, and connies had to maintain a daily running sheet, so when you paid in at the end of the day tickets and money needed to balance - of course if you were under, it came out of your wage - if you were over, well you never saw that...

it was still a politically volatile time in the tramways - the management and union were extremely conservative - they didn't like strong, politically active people in 'their' ranks - i'd joined the tramways along with 4 other friends and we were all 'quite political'... hey, this was just 4 years after womyn had gained the right to drive trams in 1975...
 
"After an attempt in 1956 by the M&MTB to train two conductresses to drive, the ATMOEA went on a snap strike, and passed a resolution banning women drivers.

With the development of the women’s rights movement in the late 1960s, female tramway employees gained new hope and began a concerted push to become drivers. Joyce Barry played an integral part in this campaign. In May 1973, the M&MTB attempted to train Joyce and a colleague, Catherine Stone, as drivers, but the union immediately declared the Wattle Park line black, withdrawing services and forcing the M&MTB to stop their training."

this wasn't to stop joyce barry though...

"Much rancorous discussion was held at this union meeting, until Joyce Barry stood up and uttered the immortal line, “I don’t need a penis to drive a bloody tram!” This single statement swept away all union opposition to the proposal by exposing the moral bankruptcy of the status quo and opening it to ridicule. This enabled the M&MTB to implement an equal opportunity employment policy, and she became the first female tram driver in Melbourne.

Ms Barry’s action in overcoming this barrier (in somewhat startling fashion) enabled women to aspire to fill any role in Melbourne’s tramway system, and publicly advanced the cause of sexual equality in the workplace in Australia – particularly as female tram drivers were highly visible to the general populace."

there was still a lot of resentment towards womyn (and male 'sympathisers') in the 'old boy network' ranks - believe me they could make your life very difficult - and some managers and union delegates continued to 'stymie'  applications by womyn to become drivers - however some depots were more 'accepting' than others...

friends of hawthorn tram depot (the 'training' depot for connies) have some wonderful articles if you're interested in reading more...

there were many heartwarming (and some heartwrenching) sights and happenings on the trams - it was a valuable experience - you really were working amongst the public... i'm definitely a 'bring back connies' supporter...

i was surprised at how hard it has been to find pictures of connies over the decades – i would have liked to show a timeline of the changes in uniform – i was around at the time of the brown uniform – yellow shirt, brown tie, brown trousers or skirt (another hard fought and fairly recent battle for womyn - the right to wear trousers!) and brown jacket...

here are some pictures of female connies during ww2… "It was not until 1941 that the first conductresses were employed by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board to relieve the manpower shortages experienced during the Second World War. However, women were banned from driving trams, as it was thought that it was an unsuitable occupation for the more delicate sex, and thus were not eligible for the higher status and pay awarded to tram drivers."

playin' around...

after receiving care2's "healthy and green living" update this morning i was going to post about their article "10 Shockingly Violent Video Games" but i've just decided to link to it instead so you can read it for yourself - if you're a parent or educator this article could (should) be of interest to you - the list was created by Common Sense Media ("dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology" - a site well worth checking out!) - the violent imagery that kids are exposed to in these 'games' sounds very disturbing to say the least...

i have to admit here to getting sidetracked after checking out larry the librarian's latest post... i 'got the bug' and had to have a play with his favourite new toy... so here's a slideshow of me mum - i've used all of these photos through my blog but this tool does tend to 'showcase' them better... mind you, there are a number of elements to play with so if you had the time you could create some spectacular effects... and, as with everything, if you want to upgrade to the paid premium version you get access to even more options... but for the amateur free is good... and if you're 'of a mind' you can even upload your 'movies' to YouTube via this tool... i've tried out a few similar tools before and this one is very easy to use and quick to load compared to some...

 i created two slideshows out of curiosity - same photos but the first one is just a basic slideshow and the second uses one of the free montage style themes called 'glam'...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

the wee baby Finn is here!!!

It wasn't an easy birth - but after problems and intervention he's arrived... he's beautiful... everyone's in love... kudos to Sailor Lil 'n Cap'n Chris... he looks like a real sweetie... he has a good set of lungs apparently... Lil's milk came in today so she's a happy (and, no doubt, more comfortable) woman, Finn's an even happier wee babe, and Chris is ecstatic... all are doin' well... but I'll bet emotionally overwhelmed at the moment!!!

... click here to read more at BabyNamesPedia.com

bet you want to see more pictures of him - and the proud parents...

just a quick post tonight - had to share Lil's happiness with the world!!!!

feeling soooo old...

I tell ya, sleeping on a mattress on the floor these days is hard work... it's not as easy getting down that far, or up for that matter!!!! but at least when I sleep, I sleep more comfortably knowing me old girl hasn't got far to fall to the floor... I pretty much stayed awake at night before I dismantled the bed!!!!

I'm off for a couple of weeks now - I can spend some time with Allie and get to see what her quality of life is like now... she's still being cheeky - finding bones outside and trying to sneak them inside in her droopy old jowls!!! and having a wee dig in the garden... she's not as distressed now (nor am I!!!) and manages to find her way outside during the day... losing your sight (and not having sound to compensate) would be really freaky I would imagine... a really hard sense to learn to live without if you'd always had it...

anyway, here's some photos of 'the gang'...

I've been feeling really exhausted lately - mentally and physically - there's concern for me babe... and me mum (things to do on her 'illness front' next week)... work's been taking its toll on the mind and body - so much to do, so few who can 'perform all tasks', so those of us that can still 'do it all' (but for how long??? I have aches, pains and strains most of the time these days, and I'm pretty sure it's not all attributable to age!!!) - end up doing extra of the heavy shit and wear out quicker (I'm too old to wear out any quicker!!!!) - surely that proves we're understaffed - it at least means there needs to be a re-think about how 'incapacitated' workers duties are covered!!!

and of course there's still 'stuff' at home - the major impacting shit is the money... so now I'm going to do some recuperating myself... a bit of reading... maybe catch up with emails... have a choof... enjoy being with me gang and generally just relax.......

Been so busy...

This was going to be the weekend I got right back into blogging... but guess what - worked Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon, busy Monday - it's just not happening - so it's just a quick post... well, a slideshow actually - had to put up some pictures of the new house (sorry, the application I used takes a while to load)... got holidays coming up from Wednesday week so I WILL be making up for the 'neglect' of my blog...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

More graphics / image generators

SMILEBOX PHOTO SHARING

Now this could be a fun application… make your own scrapbooks, slideshows, greeting cards, photo albums, invitations, postcards… haven’t checked all of it out yet, but it definitely looks like it has potential… unfortunately you do have to download the program to the hard drive – but if you’re able to then it’s well worth checking out… one of its drawbacks is the time it takes for the pages to load when viewing… there’s always compromise!!!!

WOMEN WARRIORS THROUGH THE AGES

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

There's a rich herstory of women warriors, rulers, amazons, samurai, pirates, buccaneers, crusaders - women had to fight for their beliefs and survival in their own way in a patriarchal society (and things haven't changed!!) - here's just a small selection of graphics I put together.

Here's a few sites to check out if you're interested in the background herstory of some of these women...

Women Warriors of Japan

Pirates

Amazons

Women in world history