Saturday, November 24, 2012

TTKS #860

Miss 9: "Mum, how do I train myself to sleep with noise?"

Me: "Ummm"

Miss 9: "Don't worry, I'll ask the professional."

Turns to her sister ..

Miss 9:  "Sis, how do I train myself to sleep with noise?"

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I feel redundant ...

Not quite a teenager but yet ....

Me to Miss 11 (who is wearing an oversized shirt and not much else): "You need to go and put some clothes on so we can go shopping"

Miss 11 stands back, spreading her arms: "Done"

Me: "No"

And I think this is the sign of things to come .....

UPDATE ... this is the after shot :(  .....

And, of course, her sister decided to dress similarly ...
Not quite 'POWM' style but ...
And yes, I 'suggested' Miss 11 try again :)


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Wishing all my American friends a wonderful thanksgiving day.  May your day be filled with friends, family, laughter, good food and no stress :)


Sunday, November 18, 2012

The things kids say #785

Hubby has just opened a bottle of sparkling wine - with a pop ...

Miss 11 singing: "Pop goes the parenting juice ..."

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The things kids say #784

Discussion with Miss 9 this morning:

Miss 9: "Mum, I can iron! Dad taught me how to."

Me: "Great"

Miss 9:  "Yes, you spray the clothes twice quite far back and then you spray the person standing next to you!"

Friday, November 9, 2012

Waiting for a delivery

Can someone please explain to me why is it that a courier company can not give a more specific time than "between 9am and 5pm" while adding, not so helpfully, "if it's not there by 3pm we will be able to give you a better idea of when it will arrive!".

I wanted to head "up north" for the weekend, but I need to wait for this delivery first - it's not something I want left on the doorstep AND there is no other option regarding delivery / collection.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Hey USA - I think you've gone mad

Okay, I know it's not the whole of the USA, but seriously this is idiotic ... even more so than Bloomberg restricting sales of the large-sized soda drinks ...

A TEXAS town has added sugar to the water supply to encourage residents to drink more H2O.

Water consumption in Talon, a small town in Pecos County, is well below the United States average.

So the town's top utility officials decided to add roughly 4 tablespoons of sugar for every 240mLs of the town's water supply.

Talon utility commissioner Hester Griggs told CBC News: "Oh, you can taste it yeah, or otherwise there ain't no point in doing it. It's sweet, sweet water."

Mr Griggs said part of the reason behind the move was that kids are preferring to drink soda and energy drinks to water.

"We decided is there a health element to the amount of water that someone drinks.

"We need to make sure that our residents, our kids... are encouraged to drink water, up to 8 glasses a day as is stipulated by the National Alliance of Health."

The sugary water is also being used in water used in showers and toilets.

Mr Griggs said he there wasn't too much concern in the community about the amount of sugar being consumed.

"The upside overweighs the downside unless you have diabetes," he said.

In that case, Mr Griggs recommended local diabetics restrict their intake to four glasses.

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It's not April 1 is it?

Now that is good news ....

From today's news:


Government gives up plan for internet filter


LABOR has abandoned its controversial plan to introduce an internet filter, but is banning all websites related to child abuse.

The federal government will use its powers under the Telecommunications Act to block hundreds of child abuse websites already identified by Interpol, Fairfax reports.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said blocking these websites met "community expectations and fulfils the government's commitment to preventing Australian internet users from accessing child abuse material online".

"Given this successful outcome, the government has no need to proceed with mandatory filtering legislation," he said.

Kevin Rudd promised to introduce an internet filter when Labor won office at the 2007 election, but it was always a controversial policy.

Internet lobbyists argued against censorship and predicted a filter would be ineffective and would slow internet speeds.

Both the coalition and the Greens opposed the plan.

The internet filter would have required Australian internet service providers to block overseas-hosted "refused classification" material as identified by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The list of banned websites would have been based on public complaints to ACMA.

Fairfax said Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Lee welcomed the decision as "a positive step".

But the Australian Christian Lobby insisted a filter was needed because "it is important to prevent unwanted access to pornography".

"We must protect our children from forming unhealthy attitudes towards women and sex," lobby spokeswoman Wendy Francis said.

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I had blogged about the plan previously here and here and as it had died out in the news I thought it had just been brought in with no-one being any the wiser.  However, I am pleased to read that they've decided to scrap it and allow adults the choice in what they decide to read and parents the responsibility to decide what their children can access.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

For my American friends ....

(Found on Facebook)...

Dear All,

Please take note of this very important message from Queen Elizabeth II, which must be regarded as a milestone in modern history. 

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

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1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

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2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

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3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

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5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

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8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

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11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

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12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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13.. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

PS: Only share this with friends who have a good sense of humour (NOT humor)!

(via Robyn Molloy/Kathy Lette)

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The things kids say #456

Miss 9 and me are having a discussion:

Me: "Shall I explain it to you?"

Miss 9: "No, just get it up on the internet."

Friday, November 2, 2012

You never want to see this - Aussie Version

Awhile back I blogged about a farm in the US facing drought with the title of "you never want to see this ...".   Drought is awful to contemplate and the loss of crops is truly depressing.

In contrast, my friends on the farm "up north" that I often shoot on have had a great growing season and they had just commenced harvesting - until yesterday.

Then a hail storm hit - this is what is left of the crop ...