I wish you a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year ....

These words can make some people happy & make some people cry . . . .

The commercialism surrounding Christmas has always astounded me and this commercialism in turn puts pressure on families ‘to give presents’ and if you are not careful really useless presents.

In my family we discuss Christmas present giving, my Mother and Brother do not have money to throw around, we have a limit and the process goes on from there and everyone is happy and not out of pocket. The same works with my partner and I, this way presents are given thoughtfully & with enjoyment.

Sadly in some families this idea is not used and the expenses rise especially with children having to get the latest toys & gadgets.

Christmas is a time of year that records the highest suicide rate the next closest is Easter – notice a trend!

It would be good if we could go back to the essence of Christmas, not that I am Christian but this commercialism has taken the real meaning of Christmas away.

Christmas is supposed to celebrate new life but not so these days. Now days in some families, it’s a just time of year when there is the family get together with people you basically dread talking to and often can make people very sad & even depressed.

So I hear you ask, why write about this doom and gloom? Well, I guess I just wanted to remind everyone that it can be a happy time if you make it a happy time and try not to let others irritate you too much. Eat, drink and be merry :)

Merry Christmas and have a Happy & Safe New Year

YOU HAVE BEEN UPGRADED – MAGICAL WORDS TO A TOURIST...

Update - an increase or improvement in one's service, accommodations, privileges, or the like – eg: if the ship isn't full we'll receive an upgrade to a deluxe stateroom.
Recently I was in Sydney to take my beloved to the Airport for her long awaited overseas trip and when we checked into our usual apartments for an overnight stay we heard the above magical words. We were upgraded to a two bedroom apartment where each bedroom had an ensuite & we had this huge balcony with sweeping views over Coogee – absolutely fantastic!!!
This is not the first time I have heard these words, many years ago I was off on a holiday to Cairns & when I rocked up to the booking counter I was informed that there were no seats available in economy due to the Utah Mormon Choir taking up the whole economy section, well, my heart sank but only for a few seconds until the clerk informed me that I will have travel first class – damn! It was a wonderful experience I wish I could afford all the time, needless to say I rolled off the plane at Cairns a very happy traveller.
Another time was more recently when I was travelling down to Victoria to visit my best friend and her daughter. Usually I book a medium sized hire car that way I am not travelling in a baby car as I call them but a reasonable sized car. At the counter the lady takes my booking and with a very stern apologetic look on her face informed me that there were no cars available in the size I had requested and I was being upgraded to a 2009 Ford Mondeo – again damn!
This car was a dream drive, it had cruise control, surround sound stereo and the best feature (so far as I am concerned) was the automatic windscreen wiper that detected rain on the windscreen and swept it away automatically – very cool :)
So as I finish this article I wish to you all the hope of hearing those magical words in your travels –
Au Revior :)

WHEN YOU CANNOT SAY ‘I DO’
Recently in Australia the subject of same sex marriage has been brought up again, this time as a result of a cutting remark from a potential senate candidate Wendy Francis from the Family First Political Party.
It is ironic that the federal government will not move with times, I believe that Australia is the only major commonwealth country not to legalise same sex marriage. Canada, New Zealand & even the old dart England have civil unions that are recognised as marriage.
Many years ago our legal system moved to change laws to support same sex marriages regarding de facto relationships relating to property and other everyday issues.
Even Centrelink has changed the rules regarding same sex relationships relating to pensions allowing same sex couples to receive a couple pension and other joint benefits.
It seems we have the cake but not the icing due to a bunch of antiquated politicians who refuse to move with the times. This includes both sides of the federal government – sadly even our partnered, childless atheist PM will not outwardly support same sex marriages.
There is an argument that the politicians have to follow the party line and I guess we will really never know until they retire what their real views are on any subject.
My research has found that gay marriages have been in existence for thousands of years (http://www.gaychristian101.com/gay-marriage.html) this article confirms that it is the current patriarchy that prevents the recognition of marriage in Australia and indeed throughout the rest of the world.
The Christians maintain that parenting is best done by heterosexual parents - this does not mean that their children will turn out any different. Whether you are raised with two parents of same sex or male & female, it does not influence how the child will ultimately carry on in their adult life. How many Christian children have taken up alternate religions, found that they were gay or just totally turned away from religion altogether, hmmm.
It should be noted that the majority of murderers in the world come from heterosexual parents, it seems that no one can determine how a person will turn out.
In the end I cannot work out why that last step cannot be taken - who will it hurt!!

Throughout our life time there are significant events that occur

Throughout our life time there are significant events that occur - being born, Man on the Moon, Women get the right to vote, the end of Apartheid, Black President of USA to name a few!!
However, one change that never ceases to amaze me in when a female is voted into a position of power – Indira Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, former NZ PM Helen Clark, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and of course Australia’s first PM Julia Gillard.
You could hear almost every female roar 'hallelujah' throughout Australia and I say almost because I don’t dare presume that all females would be happy about Julia Gillard being PM. Not only is she female but she not married, has no children & is a non-practicing Baptist.
Her words in an article regarding religion were true to her, "I'm not going to pretend a faith I don't feel," she said. "For people of faith I think the greatest compliment I could pay to them is to respect their genuinely held beliefs and not to engage in some pretence about mine." The article goes to report that Ms Gillard never thought it was the right thing for her to go through ‘religious rituals’ for the sake of appearance.
I can hear the Christians crying, in fact, they have already made a statement regarding the PM stating that they hope that the values of a married man with children will be the same as hers, eh what?
Yes, the former PM, Kevin Rudd was a Christian & attended church, so therefore, he must have the right values. Well, we all know that being a Christian married & attending church does not always mean they have the right values. How many supposed Christians have strayed, the public list is long & I am sure there are many more regular Christians that have done the same thing but I digress from my point ...
Basically, I hope one day there will be many women in positions of power such as head of corporations, companies & political parties and the like. It was a brave day for the Labour Party when they chose Julia Gillard to be PM, so here hoping she will be voted in by the masses.

THE KITCHEN OF LIFE

Recently Anique, who is an avid cook, was cooking up a storm in the kitchen and she asked me to get down the Sunbeam Mixmaster and as I opened the pantry door I stood there in awe at the amount of kitchen appliances that we own.
The list is long we have Coffee Plungers in three different sizes, Coffee Machine, Juice Processor, Food Processor, Rice Cooker, Mixmaster (that doubles as a hand mixer), Bread Maker, Citrus Juicer, Blender, Toaster, Kettle & Microwave – not all in the pantry & yes, we do use them all most of the time!!
We asked ourselves when did this happen? We recalled that when we first started living together, we did not have much just the usual suspects – Kettle, Toaster, Microwave, Blender & Sandwich Maker.
We pondered how it came to be, did the equipment produce the extras themselves and what happens at night-time when we go to sleep – eek!!!
Do we have inter-machine sex going on? We remembered that the next appliances we bought were the Food Processor & the Juice Processor - is it possible that the Food Processor & the Juice Processor got together to create more appliances, so they would not get lonely or are they planning on taking over our kitchen !!
Scared! Now have a look in your kitchen - scary isn’t it!!
Our most recent acquision is a Mandolin; I can hear you say, what is a musical instrument doing in the kitchen? Well, nothing is sacred from appliance manufacturers. This device does not sing the vegetables into submission but nicely slices food into various sizes, julienne’s, shreds and the list is endless. Anique even has two of these, one big & one smaller - so that she can get different sized slicing & shredding etc.
I ask - what will these two appliances produce? (they are from the same family of Mandolins - hopefully not to close) Will they get up to no good at night like the Processors – what will the next appliance be & how will it make its way into our kitchen, will the Mandolins bring in another appliance under the pretence of a song !!! Watch this space ...... :)

MORTALITY – THE FINAL FRONTIER

This year I have been, either directly or indirectly involved with a few people who have passed away, one as young as 27 and another closer to my age - she was 54.
When these things happen, it makes you realise and remember that we are mere mortals on this Earth and it can be your time at anytime.
In these reflective moments, I am reminded of my own shaky start to life and wondering why I was chosen to survive and of course still live to survive – I am a cancer survivor.
At the tender age of 5 months old I was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of cancer – Neuroblastoma of the Liver! This aggressive cancer does not relegate itself to the liver only, it can attack anywhere in your body and luckily the treatment I received at the time obviously hit it on the head, as I have been in remission for 50 years.
Sadly my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1975 and my brother more recently in the last few years. My mother has been in remission for over 35 years and my brother for about two years – it is obviously not their turn either!!
I think my attitude, hopefully, keeps my alive – each day as I rise to go to work say a blessing that I am healthy, wealthy, wise and lucky to have my life.
I thank the goddess each day that I have a wonderful wife, my family and all my friends for without them life would be lonely.
So I guess it was not my turn way back in 1959 and I personally hope it’s not my turn for a long, long time.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT TURNING FIFTY ….

Last year I turned Fifty & very proud of it but I felt compelled to write about all the things that happen when you turn fifty.
The vent that started this thought was cards & wrapping paper for birthdays - I used to get my presents wrapped in cool wrapping paper, now I get flowers & a similar pattern that I always associated with getting older (than I am now). Cards are the same except my friends & darling goddaughter who insisted on giving a on masse pink card (she is badly into pink)
Next was the mail turning fifty generated - I did not realise I was on so many Government databases, all of a sudden I get mail to check my internals shall we say and that vicious thing called a Mammogram & the doctors saying – now that your Fifty & list these complaints that are associated with getting older.
Mammograms - believe the hype - it hurts, our breasts were not made to be squished like that. On this occasion the boys have it easy all they need is a blood test.
To continue - there's the reading glasses, the aches & pains that seem to be more often. The mornings are not getting easier, my favorite is 'Mornings were designed to ruin a perfectly happy day'
Then there are life’s decisions - the word retirement keeps popping up, I have never been able to plan one year ahead let alone ten or more.
Oh well, life goes on & so will I be planning, planning and more planning, hoping to get it right for later in life.