| Pinko socialist buys into, eh, buying |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|09:16 am] |
Life is fairly uneventful, in a good way: we clean, plan, look at furniture, continue to live in sin and enjoy it, have conversations on a variety of topics from the perspective of HELLO WE MAKE BABBY. And, um, are a little bemused by the way my nipples are leaking colostrum. It's perfectly normal, I hear, but whoa!
Also on the To-Do List: dentist today, gynecologist and big ultrasound tomorrow. OMG.
( Furniture love & baby stuff ) |
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| Happy Bastille Day! |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|03:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  artistic | ] |
This is how Red Dusk Jewellery is celebrating!
By wearing a beret (of course!)
And, introducing the Eiffel Tower navel ring!
Isn't it gorgeous?
Covered in silver rhinestones, it will make you say 'oui! oui!'
Now available from Red Dusk Jewellery
xxx
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| LMAO |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|03:23 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
This cracked me up. It's an ad for a Nintendo DS game. Accents are New Zealander, for the Yanks who don't know such things.
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|12:06 pm] |
I'm actually doing something today.
Organized for my mattress to be cleaned tomorrow. Long overdue. Embarrassing actually, which is why I'm doing something about it.
Provided nothing stands in the way, I've booked myself an appointment at molescan on the 27th. Complete body scan of moles and stuff. I've got a spot on my face that I'd like to get checked out. Most likely nothing, but I'm no expert. They are.
Slowly getting my life cleaned up. It's about time!
Now I just need to push through the 'I want to go to sleep at midday' feeling. If I make through till 8 tonight, I might even sleep through the night. Wouldn't that be nice?!
Nothing else to really report. I have a nothing life at the moment. |
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| Thank you! |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|11:40 am] |
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Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts about my mom. She seems to be doing better, but still is in a lot of pain. They're doing more tests etc to make sure they havent missed anything and hopefully the ER doc is right and it is "just" kidney stones and sciatic combined. |
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| Livid! |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|11:32 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
I logged on to KodakGallery (originally ofoto.com) yesterday to look up an old picture I wanted. All of my images, dating back to 1999 were gone. I received an email a few months ago telling me i had one year to make a purchase (amount based on number of images stored, i had over 2,000) once the TOS went into effecty on March 19th. I know math isnt my strogn suit but um March 19-July 12? thats just under 4 months not a year.
I emailed them.
This is what I got in response:
( responsibility denying corporate drivel )
I am going to buy archive disks and close my account.
I am so incredibly pissed.
So if you have an ofoto/kodakeasysharegallery/kodakgallery account you might want to make sure your images aren't "in queue to be deleted".
ETA: My best friend had the same thing happen to her and got the same response. Classy. |
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| A letter to a Senator |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|11:38 pm] |
This is the letter I just emailed* to Senator Judith Adams. Senator Adams is not only one of my local Senators, but she's on the Community Affairs Committee to which the pertinent Bills have just been referred. I will be making a more formal submission to the committee itself, so thought I'd take a more personal angle with this one.
"Dear Senator Adams,
I am writing to you with regard to the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009 that is currently subject to an inquiry by the Senate Community Affairs Committee. I write to you not only as a member of this committee, but also as one of my local Western Australian Senate representatives.
This Bill, and the two related Bills, have been lauded in the press as improving maternity care and choices for the majority of Australian women. That may well be so, but it is removing a choice that a minority of women feel is the only safe choice for themselves and their babies. Homebirth with an independent midwife will become illegal if these Bills pass as-is. Presently, only about 1 per cent of Australian women birth at home. Surely, however, it is not acceptable in a free country, to discriminate against these women because we are few in number?
I have three children. The first two were typical Australian hospital births – induced, vaginal births with an epidural. Somehow I thought there must be a better way, and I discovered that there is a government-funded homebirth program available in Western Australia: the Community Midwifery Program, run out of King Edward Memorial Hospital. I applied, and was accepted, but this program proved itself a bureaucracy at heart and failed to provide me with the continuity of care I was promised. They fired my midwife when I was 36 weeks pregnant and failed to inform me of this fact. Now quite attached to the idea of homebirth, I hired an independent midwife. I went into labour at 43 weeks and 1 day, a point at which I would have long been pressured into another induction in the hospital system, and we had some foetal heartrate decelerations in labour which indicated a need for transfer. I consider myself both an advertisement for the safety of homebirth (because we transferred when we thought the baby might need it) and the necessity of having homebirth as an option. My hospital experience was extremely traumatic, and nearly a year later I still have flashbacks and nightmares relating to it. Going anywhere near that hospital brings on a panic attack. If I have any more children I probably will not be eligible for the Community Midwifery Program, so if this legislation passes I will be faced with the choice of a 'freebirth' (having had two post-partum haemorrhages I would far prefer to have a midwife there), or going to hospital – a place that literally terrifies me.
I accept that I am in the minority; that the vast majority of Australian women will choose to birth in a hospital or hospital-based birth centre no matter what choices are available. However, I am incredibly saddened, angered, and scared by the fact that the Health Minister and the Labor Government think it is acceptable to remove my right to birth where and with whom I choose.
I submit that there are at least two solutions to this unintended consequence of these bills. An exception could be made for midwives in private practice, to not require indemnity insurance as long as they only wish to register to attend homebirths (that is, they do not wish to practice in or with a hospital, prescribe medicines, etc.) Midwives in private practice (MIPPs) have been operating without indemnity insurance for a number of years. This way, whether or not they take on a client with a certain level of 'risk', as defined by the obstetric model of maternity care, is entirely between the client and the midwife, as ideally it should be. My midwife was perfectly clear with me from the start that she operated without indemnity insurance and that in turn was a risk I took - that if something did go wrong and I sued, I wouldn't come out with much because she couldn't pay. There are only approximately 100 to 150 MIPPs in Australia, so it is a very small group of practitioners.
A second option would be for the Government to assist MIPPs in obtaining indemnity insurance, as I understand the Liberal Government of the time did for obstetricians after the indemnity insurance crisis in the early 2000s.
I will be making a submission to the Senate inquiry that will deal more with the facts, but I think the personal stories bear telling. I know many other women across Australia with similar stories.
Yours sincerely,
Georgina Ker
[address]"
* email is not generally the best way to approach an MP, apparently. They attach more credence to proper letters, and in person is even better. However, when I rang Senator Adams's office to try and arrange a meeting, her aide said she is in hospital but reading her email, so I went with that. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|06:09 pm] |
Interesting article comparing US policy on gays in the military with those of its three closest allies - Israel, the UK and Australia.
Allies' stance cited in US gays-in-military debate
When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the world's proudest, toughest militaries — and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
In the United States, more than 12,000 service members — including dozens of highly trained Arabic linguists — have been dismissed since 1994 because it became known they were gay. Current targets for discharge include a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran, Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi, and a veteran of combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach.
In Britain, on the other hand, gay and lesbian service members marched in crisp uniforms in the annual Pride London parade July 4. Gay Australian soldiers and sailors had their own float in Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras parade. In Israel, the army magazine earlier this year featured two male soldiers on the cover, hugging one another...
The main thing I got out of reading that article was how fallacious the arguments are for the anti-gay crowd - blatantly fallacious arguments that seem to be made merely to excuse a prejudice. Gems like this:
"We are the military leaders in the world — everybody wants to be like us," said Brian Jones, a retired sergeant major who served in the Army Rangers. "Why in the world would we try to adjust our military model to be like them?"
Personally I think the Australian example shows a very valid point:
The lifting of the ban on gays was preceded by years of heated debate, yet the change itself was relatively uneventful aside from a few unexpected coming-outs of high-profile commanders.
"Everyone said, 'Good heavens, that's a bit of a surprise' and after five minutes the conversation reverted back to football," said Neil James of the Australian Defense Association, a security think tank. "After a while it was met with a collective yawn."
It would probably be like this for the US too - the years of heated debate are happening right now, but once the policy is changed it would prove no more controversial than racial or gender integration is today.
Hopefully they'll get with the 21st Century. |
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| being in shock |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|12:53 pm] |
We lost on the weekend but it was one of our smallest losing margins. Our first half was great, and we kicked a goal but the goal umpire called it a behind, and Sammy kicked an awesome goal. Then the second half we got blown away... end score 87 to 7.
I got alot of tough in-and-under ball and the backline got excellent support from the midfielders, especially jack and vash. I got it out to one or the other more than i dare to remember and ran up from the back pocket to half forward because there was noone to lead the race to the ball... brie was there but we both knew she wouldn't make it. Also covered the square when Maggot ran the ball out of full back. The problem with our team is that Tiff coaches for the first half and provides focus and leadership and rings the changes, but when the div 1 players go off to get ready we are left to our own devices. We also have 3 bench players at the most, so the lack of rotations leaves the backline buggered. We have a few awesome midfielders at the moment, and a strong backline but we need leadership and rotations and we would be closer to winning.
ANyway I got a best on ground prize, I think for my run out of the backline, the free kicks I earned and sheer weight of possessions. First time ever! When Brie said my name I was shocked. Lil Eagle laughed and patted me on the back. Eagle is one of my idols!
I got slammed into the ground alot and as a result I have a very sore left wrist. Im typing one handed and took a sickie from work. My legs for once feel ok - think i might just go running tomorrow night at training! |
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| Home! |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|11:28 pm] |
The flat is so clean I have to take pix for the generations to come.
I really missed the foot massages. Also: the Schnitzelmann is cooking! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|09:02 pm] |
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal — yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! |
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| Good morning! |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|10:37 am] |
Mom taught me the basics on knitting (well, some) on Fri evening. Baby stuff! Yarn! I love it all!
Lou is watching the morning's kiddie programs while I think about packing. Mom's coming back from morning-after-date-night with her man-friend in a bit to make the cake (her birthday's tomorrow) and relatives should show up in a few hours. No hurry...
And then Lou's mom will give me a lift to the airport. Woof! Munich! Home! |
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| Interstate pet transport. |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|12:28 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  busy | ] |
Hello hello :)
I'm currently living in Toowoomba QLD, moved here from Perth almost a year ago. Except I had to leave my cat behind with my mother, with the intention that she was to stay there. Now she is going batshit crazy and attacking my mother, so now we want to send her over here.
My question is, anyone know of any reputable pet transport companies that do interstate? Sure I can go on Google and look some up, but I'd like some recommendations if possible. I don't want to go with one that turns out to be dodgy and I never see my cat again :(
Thanks! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|08:59 pm] |
I've been trying to be a bit more interesting with cooking, and to try new recipes.
On Wednesday night I made couscous stuffed eggplants. Thursday night I was home late so I just did a quick chili con carne. Tonight I tried another new recipe, tagine with pumpkin and chickpeas (a Moroccan dish). It was really yummy! And cheap ;) I also made jam turnovers for dessert tonight, last night I made a rice pudding with the leftover rice, and now I'm making garlic & thyme crescents for a friend's blessingway tomorrow. AND tonight's dinner was a huge batch so I've put some in my freezer and have some to take to a friend who recently had a late-term miscarriage. So I feel productive, heh. |
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| Writer's Block: Economizing |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|04:40 pm] |
Logistically - probably my car. It would be sad to see it go, but it would make the most sense.
Next would have to be the food budget and entertainment budget. Neither of them are particularly inflated but every bit counts. |
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| my whoring years |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|09:27 am] |
Sometimes I am struck with nostalgia for a time when I was much fitter, much cuter, much younger than I am now. I wonder then, when I'm older, will I be looking back on this time and thinking the same thing? I despair at the potentially slippery slope that ageing brings. We live in a youth-oriented society. So as you grow older you seek to attain things that you didn't have in your youth - success, knowledge, money, power. But the excess fat stores and dwindling fitness levels as well as softening political views are also a symptom of the easier life, in which I have a desk based 9-5 job. Back when I was young and fit, it was a real buzz to have my own desk. I should have realised it was more like an anchor!
I saw Katie a couple of weeks ago, and she introduced me to other friends, "we were student radicals together." I laughed. Oh how unradical I have become! Katie has a baby now, and I haven't met her yet. I wonder if she'll grow up and be a radical like her mother, pondering how Marxism and Wicca piece together. She's too young for us to speculate. We discussed briefly the rigours of house-hunting, and she briefly suggested I should look around her 'hood. Problem is it's not easy to get into the city every day from where she is. Maybe geographical closeness would make it easier for us to catch up. Or maybe not. |
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