Blue Mountains

The Three Sisters

Wentworth Falls

A letter to Toyota

Only because both email addresses to the dealership bounced and it is quite obvious they are uninterested in receiving feedback.

Hi there,

I had a very disappointing and unsatisfactory experience when I called Toyota Pennant Hills today.

At about 3.30pm on Tuesday, 24 March, I called the Toyota Pennant Hills on 1300 782 505 to request quotes for new tyres for my Toyota Yaris sedan.

The operator transferred my call to the service department where I had to repeat my enquiry.

Upon hearing my request, the person at the service department promptly transferred me to someone else, where I had to once again repeat my enquiry.

The person then asked what size my tyres were. I do not know the size of my tyres, but what I do know is that they are the standard Toyota Yaris sedan tyre size. Because of my lack of knowledge of tyre size, the person had to transfer me back to the service department, because he assured me, they would know the size of my tyres.

When I was transferred back to the service department, I once again had to repeat my enquiry and was once again asked about the size of my tyres.

I gave the same reply, indicating that I had made no alterations or requested specific tyres when I purchased my Yaris. The tyres came with the car. Stock standard.

However, the staff member insisted that I had to know the size of the tyres, and that he will not be able to help me at all because "there are a lot of tyre sizes out there".

Frustrated and surprised that a Toyota staff member would not know the tyre size of his company's product, I decided to end the call.

I have since been able to make the same enquiry to Castle Hill Toyota, who were very helpful and knowledgeable with their products. They were not only able to determine what my tyre size was, they were also able to provide me with a quote. I was only transferred once, and only had to repeat my question once.

I have also gone on to the Toyota Yaris website and found out the size of my tyres.

My phone experience with Toyota Pennant Hills has been highly disappointing. It is perhaps somewhat shocking to know that staff employed by Toyota Pennant Hills would be so unfamiliar with their own products, and be so reluctant to help potential customers.

Regards,
Melody

Pop! Goes my heart

To make up for what is obviously a lack of post, I give you this highly hilarious music video.

Machine Man

What a novel idea for a novel.

Max Barry, one of my favourite author/writers, has just started a real time story.

It comes in lots of little parts. It’s “real-time” because you read it as I write it. This isn’t a novel that’s been gathering dust in a drawer, pining for a publisher.

So basically, everyday, I get a new email in my inbox containing one part of the story - Machine Man. And it's really quite amazing because I know that the story was written "fresh" on that day.

I think this is an incredibly brave move.

Can you imagine starting a novel, and letting all your fans in on it, but without actually having a real good idea of where you're going with it?

No editors to correct your mistakes, no going back to change a plot line, no changing your mind period!

You start it, and you're committed. I shudder to even think about following in his footsteps.

And if you're curious, more hilarious FAQs to the idea here.

Machine Man was only started being written yesterday, so it's not too late to join the fun.

Get it sent to your inbox/feed reader.

Phones

Why do we have this irresistible urge to pick up the phone when it rings?

When I'm in someone's office and the phone rings, the conversation gets put on hold while the person answers the phone.

And just now, I had someone in my office and my phone rang. I halted (prematurely ended) the conversation and picked up the phone instead.

Why can't we just let the phone ring out?

We often say that person to person contact is much more important, but the fact that we pick up phone calls even when someone is with us may prove that something else has priority.

You want something done?

Don't go into a person's office.

Call them instead.

The point of children

This is not a blog about why I don't want children. We've heard that all before.

This is simply me wondering why people do have children.

I'm not passing judgement on people who do, neither am I saying that it's wrong for people to have children (I am in fact rather grateful that my mother decided to have children). I'm just wondering what the point of it is.

Why do humans have this urge to spawn future generations?

I know God has said in the Bible that we should go forth and multiply, but surely that's not the only reason why people have children.

What is the difference between having children and buying a pet? It seems to be about raising someone/thing that is totally dependent on you. Is it merely an ego trip, to help you realise just how "dependable" you are?

I've heard people tell me they want children in order to raise them to know God. Plenty of orphans out there that you can adopt to do the same.

Maybe we merely want living, breathing "dolls" to manipulate and mould into the image that we want them to be?

The world seems to be overpopulated as it is. Why do we keep bringing more in?

I know this post sounds a little offensive to those who want or already have children. I'm not trying to offend. I'm simply trying to figure out the point of having children.

And at the moment, I cannot.

I need your help.

Why does God wait?

Walking to work this morning, I came across a sign outside the local church that said:

What does God want?

But for some reason (probably short-sightedness), I read it as

Why does God wait?

And suddenly, I started wondering.

As a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, I believe that Jesus (God) will one day return to Earth to renew it. Pain and suffering will disappear, and we will live with Jesus for all of eternity in what is essentially heaven.

However, the reason why that hasn't happened yet is because God is waiting for the good news of his salvation - that Jesus has died for our sins and all we have to do is accept Jesus as our Saviour in order to obtain eternal life - to be shared with all the world.

I believe that.

I also believe that as Christians, we have a responsibility to share this great news with everybody.

But I still wonder, why does God wait?

It's easy to say that he's waiting so that everybody will have a chance to hear of the good news.

And yet, for every day that he waits, a few million more babies are born, most of who probably have no opportunity to hear about the good news.

In waiting, we may eventually end up with even more people who need to hear the news than those who have actually heard it.

So why does God wait?

Change

How many times have you heard someone say "I hate change" or expressed some form of fear related to an anticipated change?

And then how many times have you heard people complain that they're "stuck in a rut"?

It just seems somehow ironic to me that people hate change, and yet feel stuck.

I suppose there is a desire to do something different, and yet possessing an irrational fear of the unknown.

Somehow reminds me of a quote I heard once - what people don't know, they fear. What they fear, they destroy.

And that is why we destroy everything that remotely reminds us of a change, and then mourn the demise of any glimmer of hope of having a different life.

I realise I am in the minority when I wonder why change is so scary. Honestly, I don't understand the fear of change. I crave change.

But I don't think this love for change is all about an inbuilt DNA to want something more, something different.

To me, it also has something to do with the fact that I know God is looking after me. And that if I am called to do His will, I have to be willing to go wherever he wants me to, knowing that eventually, it will all work out.

Slurp

Jervis Bay

Fire

Irony

Broken dreams

Survivor

Negotiation for amateurs

If you have need to talk someone from jumping, this technique seems to work.

The Lord gives, the Lord takes away...

Lake Eyre lies in Australia’s dead centre. Dead, somewhat because of its geographical position, but mainly due to drought that has ravaged the isolated, near desert region for years.

But yesterday, the area’s rivers, creeks and even Lake Eyre itself began filling up. And with it came the camels, pelicans, gulls and other wildlife, drawn to it by the rare scent of fresh water.

Water hasn’t reached the lake since the year 2000. So now, local farmers are rejoicing, and suddenly, life is returning to the area.

Australia has been pretty hard hit by natural disasters over the last month. Floods in Queensland and northern New South Wales and bushfires in Victoria. The loss of property, the loss of lives, the tragedy of it all.

Ironical that the same flood waters that destroyed towns up north is now causing one of the most barren area of Australia to explode into new life.

And I cannot help but recall a verse found in the book of Job 1:21 where it says, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

The mysteries of God and suffering may never be explained, but perhaps Lake Eyre is a reminder that He hasn’t forsaken us.

Photo gallery of the lake filling up.

News article.

People and the media

How is it that people can be so wary and suspicious of the media, and yet be so proud and delighted when they are featured in the very same media?

Valentines

This is what happens when you do not want to support the commercialisation surrounding Valentine's Day and yet feel like you ought to do something special for that someone.

Find scrap yarn you have lying around and make little hearts.


D had been overseas for work for the last eight days, so I decided to make eight little hearts to represent every day he was away.

Attached little notes, ala fortune cookie style, for each day.


And then strung them all up and hung them by his bedroom window.


What did the notes say, you wonder?

You will never know....

Heart pattern from here (only available as a Ravelry download).

Fortune cookie template from here.

Victorian bushfire appeal

The craft community has banded together to raise funds for the Victorian bushfire appeal.

They've donated (really gorgeous) items for you to purchase.

Free shipping. And sales from all items will be donated to the Australian Red Cross every Friday.

Have a look.

Quote

The big lie, the glamorous career. By the time we hit our thirties we find out that a job, even when it is fun, is just a job. Terribly useful when it comes to paying for holidays, shoes, the rent, food, that sort of thing, but it's not really the stuff of soul. In the back of our minds is this nagging question: when we decided to throw our lot in with careers and to hell with everything else, did we lose something?

It's my party and I'll knit if I want to! by Sharon Aris

Is it a worry then, that I realised this about my job before I turned 27?

Victoria bushfires

I suppose I'm pretty lucky to be living in Sydney, away from the devastating bushfires in Sydney. It's been raining here for the last three days, for crying out loud.

But you can't live in Australia and not be somewhat impacted by the bushfires.

I don't have family or friends immediately affected, but you really cannot escape watching, reading or even hearing about it from somewhere or someone.

It's bad. It's really bad.

Almost 200 people dead so far, and more than 700 homes destroyed. Whole towns/suburbs wiped out.

What really baffles me is the realisation that some of these fires were actually deliberately lit.

Yes, arson. An entire town population decimated because some idiot decided it may be fun to light a fire. I mean, honestly? What were they thinking?

It feels to me that committing arson like this is far worse than being a serial killer.

I cannot understand it. I simply can't.

And I suppose all those affected by the bushfires cannot even understand why them. Why such a terrible thing could happen to them.

Is this a time to start blaming God?

As a Christian, the natural answer is "no", but it's normal for people to start wondering, "Why God? Where were you?".

I don't have the answers, but things like these are true indications to me that there has got to be something better, something more than this life.

I have had my own personal tragedies, deaths of loved ones that I've had to handle, so I'm not trying to be flippant about the issue.

All I'm trying to say is that the Bible teaches me that this is not a perfect world, and it isn't so not because God allowed it so, but because we made it so.

And despite it all, there is still a saving grace. It's not only about the fact that Jesus died to save us from all our sins - having a faith in God does make things better.

During times of despair, it's the knowledge that God is still looking after me, the knowledge that there is something better in store for me, knowing that my purpose in life is not about me but about serving others, these are the things that help.

It's not about asking "why me?", it's about continuing to stay focused on God.

Perhaps it doesn't really help when you're in the midst of tragedy, but that's when others come in. Others who are similarly touched by the beauty of God (Christian or not), who will be there to help, support and rebuild.

I can only imagine how terrible it is to lose everything you own, have, love. And even in my imagination, I can feel how horrible that would be. But when you have lost everything, at the end of the day, the only thing you can do is trust.

Grieve, but also trust.

NZ prisoners escape

Those living in Oz will probably have watched this ad nauseum but others may not have been quite so lucky to have had the pleasure.

So here's a look at what's happening in New Zealand.



And in the words of those at my favourite TV show, "because they fell into each other, they will be rewarded for foiling an escape attempt" (or something along those lines).

Experiments in dyeing

It had to happen. I had to attempt dyeing my own yarn. And to my pleasant surprise, hand-dyeing is a really easy process. Squirt colours here and there, pop it in the microwave, rinse, dry and viola! Custom-made yarn!

I really enjoyed hand-dyeing the yarn. This could possibly be a new addiction...

Vanguard

I can't say enough just how much I love this colourway. It's just so bright and fruity. It's probably a little too loud for some, but I simply adore this colour. The yarn was originally white, so no wonder it turned out almost neon.

Whimsical

This was originally a dark grey yarn. I wasn't quite sure what kind of colours I would get and to be honest, I'm not quite happy with the colours I've got. They're a bit brown/burnt orange and it's not really my kind of colour. But I like how there are faded and darker areas.

The process:
Colour recipe:

Red - 5mls dye, 20 mls water
Yellow - 5mls dye, 10mls water
Orange - 5mls red dye, 20mls yellow dye, 50mls water

I love the brilliance the dyes had on the white yarn, not so much the grey one.

Instructions from Pea Soup and the ladies of From the Dyepot on Ravelry.

Differences

How tolerant are you of someone who doesn't share your likes in colour, clothes or food?

What about someone who doesn't agree with you?

How about a person who puts demands, requests on you or makes suggestions that you simply cannot comprehend?

We like to think of ourselves as tolerant and understanding people with a wide variety of friends. And most of the times, it's true. I mean, I have friends who don't like spicy food, I have friends who don't believe in the Christian God, I have friends who even don't agree with how I do certain things.

But are we really that different from our friends?

I've recently had the privilege of associating with people of completely different economic and social backgrounds. People whom I would probably never have met in ordinary circumstances. But for some reason, our paths crossed. We started conversations.

And that was when I realised, birds of a feather really do flock together.

My friends may be different from me, but essentially, we agree on more things than we disagree on.

These other group of people however, have a completely different outlook to life and a totally different way of understanding things.

In all honesty, I don't see them as friends, more than people I have to associate with.

And they come up with things I would often label "ridiculous", "silly", "strange", "weird" and perhaps even "stupid".

But are they really?

Just because they're different, does it make them any of the above words?

I don't really have the answer to this, besides the fact that I've often pondered it. I mean, I may think they're so wrong in seeing things a certain way, but to them, they're right.

Does it make them right? Or wrong?

I know they frustrate me. But is it simply because I lack patience and understanding? And even Christian love for them?

Because in all honesty, I don't think Jesus would dismiss them as easily as I would and do.

And yet, I remain thankful for the friends that I have. Friends that can agree with me. Friends that share the same outlook as I. Friends that are, in my view, on the right side of sanity.

It takes all kinds to make up this world.

2009 calendar

What happens when your work/daily task calendar runs out and you just cannot find one in the stores that suit your needs?

Make your own.


Calendar template from Home Life Weekly.

Background graphics from aprintaday and LollyChops.

Dyslexia

Why is the word for someone with a reading/writing disability so difficult to spell even for people who don't usually have any spelling issues?

Felted hair clips

What do you do when you have these?


Perhaps you could wrap the ribbon around the hair clip and come up with something like this?

But the flowers are oh so pretty too!


Managed to indulge in a little craft project that had nothing to do with knitting on Sunday.

These cute little hair clips are making their way to a friend soon.

Now to make some for myself.

Project was based on this tutorial.

Pink scarflette

I never blogged about this did I?

This was a quick little knit that I whipped up for a dear friend for Christmas.

Since it was meant to be a surprise, it had to be a stealth job. But she's received the present now, so it's time for all to be revealed!


Real fun, real quick knit.

I have the same yarn, but in orange. I want to make one for myself. I've even bought extra black buttons already! I love those buttons. They're really plan and simple, but it just looks gorgeous to me.

I'm beginning to fall in love more with scarflettes nowadays. They don't have the extra peripherals that scarves have, that may cause your scarf to soak up your soup or dinner.

Pattern here.

Art attack - photo play

This art attack from X facta actually had a deadline, which explains why I got my act together so quickly.

We were meant to choose a photo and alter it, and since I'm not so much a print and canvas kind of girl, I decided to go with the good old fashioned Photoshop way.

This photo was taken late last year, when we took D's brand new (to him, it was a second hand Ebay steal) catamaran on her maiden voyage. This was just after we finally set her up, ready to sail.

Before

After

Added a red tinge because I always think there's something magical about a red sky. Also gave the photo a kind of grainy wash so that it looked like an old photo, but the effect may not be picked up because the photo on the site is too small. But trust me, it's there, and it's cool.

And also gave us a bit of a highlight so that we won't hidden in the shadows too much.

A simple alteration I suppose, but I had fun nonetheless. I wish I could spend all day digitally altering photos...

Tennis

The Australian Open has been happening in Australia for the last few weeks.

Watched a very exciting match between Jelena Dokic and Dinara Safina last night.

But if there is one thing I don't understand about tennis, it is the scoring system.

Follow my logic for a moment:

When you win the first game, you score 15.

When you win the second, your score increases to 30.

(That kind of makes sense, since it's an increase in multiples of 15.)

But when you win the third, your score then increases to 40. (What happened to the multiples of 15?)

And finally, when you win the fourth, your score becomes 45.

(Now it utterly and completely does not make sense. How does a score increase by 15 twice, then 10, then 5? And why?)

Isn't it better to simply score 1, 2, 3 and then 4?

I don't understand.

Ash & raisin

After the long and tedious task of knitting with fingering weight yarn, I needed some instant gratification.


This cowl/beanie certainly fit in the category, and I ended up not only with one item, but two!

And the yarn, oh my goodness, the softness and warmth and cosiness of the yarn...not particularly suitable for wearing right now since we're getting like 40 degrees heat lately, but come winter, I know I'm going to be real snug.

I initially was going to knit this for a friend, but even though I like it, the funnel/chimney thing at the top of the beanie may make it a little weird/funky for some. So I'm keeping it for myself.

Pattern here.

Stick to a reward program

D and I love drinking from Boost Juice.

Unfortunately, after the kerfuffle involving their reward programs, I'm not sure if we'll be visiting again any time soon.

The management of Boost Juice just cannot seem to be able to decide on the reward program that they want, and constantly change it, much to the chagrin of their customers.

Reward program 1

A simple cardboard card and stamp system. You buy one drink, you get a stamp on the card. When you get ten stamps, you get a free drink.

That worked well until one day, without seemingly any forewarning, they moved on to Reward program 2.

This pretty much meant that any stamps that you might have accumulated prior to the move was null and void. Tough if you had nine stamps and was waiting for that one stamp to qualify for a free drink.

Boost Juice has moved on.

Reward program 2

A little key ring sized card that you show whenever you purchase a drink and you immediately get a 10% discount.

This worked well for a few months until suddenly, Boost Juice decided to move on yet again.

Suddenly customers are left hanging on to their now useless key ring decoration, and instead given a cardboard card that looked remarkably like that in Reward program 1, and worked suspiciously like it too.

Oh wait, the reward program has indeed changed back to the old buy one drink, get one stamp, collect 10 stamps, get a free drink system.

Woohoo.

And then on Monday, D and I were at Boost Juice again. As D was about to pay for the drink, he hands over his card, that already has eight stamps, thinking that he was two drinks closer to a free drink.

Surprise surprise.

Reward program 3 or is it 4, considering, there was a 3, but it just looked like 1.

The cashier explained, quite patiently and nicely, that Boost Juice has changed reward programs and no longer accept the cards. Instead, "here's a new plastic card that gives you so much more benefits".

I'm not sure what the benefits were, I tuned out by then.

She also very briskly made the cardboard card disappear (no, it wasn't returned to us, not even as a keepsake). It was as if she wanted to make sure the previous reward program never existed.

D looks at cashier with tears in his eyes, exclaiming, "Nooooooooooo! My free drink!!!!!!!"

Ok, he didn't do that, that was just for dramatic purposes. But I'm sure he thought it. I did.

So now, Boost Juice has moved on again. Frustrated by the fact that Boost Juice just cannot seem to make up their minds, D writes them:

Hi there,

I've been enjoying Boost juices and smoothies for a number of years now but have a little gripe with my visit to the Hornsby store today.

I'm not sure when I last got a Boost juice - possibly in November 2008, but I don't recall seeing any signs warning of the discontinuation of the Frequent stamp card, so it was a bit of a surprise when I presented my card today I was informed that the Frequent stamp card had been discontinued - the program where after each juice you buy you get a stamp on a little circular card, and then after 10 stamps you get a free juice.

The sales assistant explained it well, saying that a new program was starting and gave me the plastic eftpos type card, and gave me a discount of 45c on the original sized Janine's Favourite from $5.75 to $5.30 - however, I had 8 stamps in my card, and as I had not seen any warnings about the closing of this program, I was a little disappointed as in my mind I was 8/10ths of the way to a free juice, not a mere 8% discount. Anyhow - that's just my gripe of the day.

To their credit, a reply came rather quickly:

Thanks for your email.

We launched a new VIBE hard card on the 5th of November 2008, with the same benefits as the stamp card (buy 10 and get the 11th free). Customers were given until the 31st of December 2008 to use their stamp cards and this was communicated via flyers in-store, emails sent out to the Boost database and in the terms & conditions on the website.

Franchisees are not obligated to honour stamp cards after the 31st of December 2008 given the 2 month grace period awarded to customers. However, I do understand your frustration as I know you have collected a fair few stamps. If you post your stamp card to the following address as proof of this along with the details on your new hard card (Boostie number, verification code, full name, birthday and email address) I can certainly credit your hard card with the stamps on your old card so that you don’t lose out on the change in procedure.

Boost Juice Bars - Customer Relations Department (Stamp Card)
Level 1, 173 Burke Road, Glen Iris, VIC 3146

Please note that you will have to register your hard card as per instructions on the card before you are able to redeem your free drink, and that we will need 5 working days from when we receive your stamp card for the points to be credited. We cannot take any responsibility for missing stamp cards, so we strongly encourage you to use en express post or registered post envelope when sending this through.

Hope this helps, thanks and have a great weekend!

It all sounds nice and everything, until you consider.

1. D and I walked past the Boost Juice stall several times between November and 31 December. Not once did either of us see any "flyer or poster". Maybe we were blind and simply missed it. Perhaps.

2. Buying the stamps to send something via express or registered post will probably negate the cost of a free drink.

3. The lady at the Boost Juice place confiscated our stamp card!!!

Why, oh why, can't Boost Juice just make up their minds regarding a reward program?

Twisty optimist

So, I've just finished knitting something for her.

But because I know she reads this blog, the only thing I will reveal about the project is this.


She knows it's a pair of fingerless gloves, and she's already seen a photo of the yarn that I was going to use, but how does it actually look when worn?

You'll just have to be patient, Faith.

As much as I love making gifts for people, I am never going to knit with fingering weight yarn again. So thin, so small, just so difficult to knit and so time-consuming! I love the gloves and the pattern, I just didn't appreciate the slow going-ness of the project. It nearly drove me insane.

Only 8-ply weight or above yarn for me in future!

Oh, I'll reveal this too. A sweet label design from aprintaday that I managed to adapt for my own use. You can download the template for yourself too.

Update: She got them!

Thankful

Just read in the papers that some 44,000 full-time jobs were lost last year.

All I can say is that I'm thankful that I'm still employed.

Considering I'm in Australia on a work visa, I am extra thankful that I have not lost my job, since that would essentially mean that I'll have to leave the country.

And despite the drought, despite the bush-fires, despite the shark attacks, despite the sometimes crazy rainy weather, I really really do like Australia.

Top of the foodchain

Those living in Australia will surely have noticed the increase in news reports on shark sightings/attacks over the last few days.

Then there's the story about how dogs have killed a child and mauled her younger sister.

Now, I agree that it's horrific and terrible that people should be attacked/killed that way.

However, I also cannot help but ponder the arrogance of the human race, simply because we're at the top of the food chain.

What I'm talking about are the typical cries that we need to "put the rouge animal down" after it attacks someone.

Shark bites human? Kill the shark!

Dog mauls children? Kill the dog!

Snake attacks locals? Kill the snake!

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill anything that harms us!

I just have a simple question - do humans get the death penalty when they abuse an animal, maim it, starve it, hurt it, kill it?

I'm just not quite sure it's fair...just because we have the power to decide an animal's life and death doesn't mean we should use it so frivolously.

Christianity and politics

Let's start 2009 with a rant.

I simply cannot tolerate people who label themselves Christians, but who do not want to stand up for social justice issues.

I'm not talking about complacency or being apathetic.

I'm talking about those who know that human rights atrocities happen but fail to take action simply because they think it's being "too political".

They don't make a statement about a government, because they believe one should "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's".

These pseudo-Christians choose to bury their heads into the sand and pretend there is no war, no genocide and that people are not suffering because of their inaction.

And the worse thing? They berate other Christians for taking part in activism, for standing up against the wrongs in the world, and even for simply stating that Robert Mugabe is a less than desirable ruler of a country.

It is one thing to stir the hornet's nest and manipulate state of affairs by being too involved in politics. But it is quite another to simply ignore the slave trade, evil dictatorship and mass genocide because that would mean being "involved in politics".

Aren't we Christians called "to act justly and to love mercy"?

So why do we immediately cower in fear and become cowards when someone in church declares that the world needs to take action because dictators like Robert Mugabe is bringing Zimbabwe to ruins?

Why do we choose not to write letters to governments and sign petitions, pressuring the government to be accountable for human rights issues and even environmental issues?

It's like one of the pre-requisites of being Christian is to live in bubble wrap, pretending that the world is made up of rainbows, blue skies and sunflowers and that we all live in perfect harmony.

I say wake up and smell the reality.

This world stinks. People are suffering.

And Christians are the very group of people who are meant to stand up for the poor and suffering, help the widows and orphans, take care of the environment and reflect Christ to the world.

When you show people you care, that's when you become a true Christian.

Why bother to call yourself a Christian when all you want to do is live in your comfortable world, pretending that nobody is in pain or suffering, sometimes because of the government, and criticise others for actually trying to make a difference in the world?

So long, farewell!

Aussie Adventures is now officially on a break till I return from holidays next year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everybody!

Thanks so much for reading and for being a part of the Aussie Adventures community!

How well do you know the Bible?

A friend sent me this little game that I thought I should share with all of you who believe they are fairly familiar with the Bible.

There are names of 16 books of the Bible mentioned in the paragraph below. See how many you can find. A minister found 15 books in 20 minutes. But it took him weeks to find the sixteenth one. Let’s see how much time it takes you.

“I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu: kept people looking so hard for facts … and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalised. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of herbal tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph.”

So far, I've only found seven eight, but then again, I've got no patience and only spent about five minutes on it.

How many more can you find? Leave a comment and let me know!

Paper Flower CD Case

More Christmas presents being packaged!

Seriously, I think I give presents just so that I can gift wrap stuff.

Anyway, this is a present for D's mum and what better way to spice up the packaging than with a Paper Flower CD case, courtesy of Nick and Norah?


It was pretty easy going once I actually found a protractor, which I had to borrow from my workmate.

I felt like I was back in primary school though, working with angles and using a ruler and pencil and what not.

If I were to do it again, I would use slightly stiffer paper - gift wrapping paper is simply too flimsy.

However, I had fun, and once I find some big enough heavier card stock, I'm going to make a template so that I don't have to borrow that protractor all the time.

Solo necklace

Simple, understated, classic.

A real breeze to make, once I found a bead actually big enough for the rope thing to thread through!

I had to throw away another bead because I tried to thread the rope thing with a needle and it got stuck in the hole of the bead. It refused to go through completely and was not coming back out as well. So I ended up with a bead that had a needle sticking out the middle. Probably not too pleasant to wear.

Had fun making up the gift pack though.


The gift bag was made from an envelope that was lying around. (Tutorial here.)

And the gift tag was printed on my computer using alongthedottedline's free template I got ages ago.

Christmas gifts

As with most people, I've been thinking alot about Christmas presents these last few days.

I'm making a list, checking it twice...

But the thing is, I don't want to simply go out to the shops and buy someone something.

I just don't like the consumeristic nature of it (K-Rudd may differ in opinion since my way is technically slowing down the economy...).

You go out there, you buy something without much thought, you give it to the person, the person says thanks and it just sits in the person's cupboard growing mildew or something. Perhaps it'll get recycled as a present for someone else, but then it will just sit in that someone else's cupboard or so on and so forth.

Unless of course the present was honestly bought with much thought for the person, and is actually something that person would love and use. Now that's another story.

But if you really want to give someone a present, why did you have to wait till Christmas to give it?

I like giving gifts, and I may wait for birthdays and such to give them, but that hasn't stopped me from also randomly giving presents to people just because, well, I want to.

And that's why I like making my gifts from scratch.

I like to think I'm creating a unique gift and am having little impact on the environment if I use recycled materials. But best of all, I'm not supporting blind and/or mass consumerism.

The only problem? Hand made gifts take far too much time. If I start making presents now, I think I'll have them in time for Christmas 2009.

But then there are these gift ideas from the Tree Hugging Family.

Giving the gift of experience or a gift of necessity is not only more useful than giving a product gift, but both use fewer resources and thus, are eco-friendly.

Gifts of experience:

• Tickets to a play, the ballet, a concert, or art show.
• Season sports team tickets.
• A trip to the zoo, beach, art museum, or national park for a child.
• Movie tickets.
• Enrollment in a class - places like community colleges offer low-cost art, craft, and computer classes that people may enjoy.
• iTunes gift certificate.
• A gingerbread house making day.

Gifts of necessity:

• Pay someone’s mobile phone bill for two months.
• Offer to change someone’s oil, breaks, or other car issue.
• Give babysitting certificates.
• Organize someone’s garage.

What are you giving for Christmas this year?

Link.

101 reasons to buy handmade.

Pensionbook

Facebook for pensioners...


Note: I didn't actually create this. It was sent to me by a friend.