It strikes me as rather odd that each year we celebrate all these commercial events like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, St Patrick’s Day etc, yet every 4 years we have a day that occurs but once that seems to be missed.

I did ask in our morning meeting if salaried team members (ie management!) were getting a day in lieu for working an extra day. Someone took me seriously and said they would look into it. What the!

Perhaps we should consider it a bonus day? Why is there no global call for action? Leap Day cards, special birthday greetings… I knew a guy once when he had had 4 and a bit birthdays and I was 16 or so. He kinda acted his birthdate on occasion too…

O well did nothing exciting today. Will have to wait another 4 years to think of something to do. Perhaps I can commercialise the day and make some moula…

from xkcd: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

And no, girls do not suck at math! Miss almost 10 has been having great fun with multiplication of 11s up to 6 decimal places!

I love numbers! Loved maths at school until year 10 when the teacher told me differential calculus was hard and I believed her. Can’t even remember her name to curse her!  Must go back and master it though one of these days…

Miss almost 10 has developed a love of maths too. Actually I think it is more a logical problem solving thing she has happening. Last year she was in the Math Olympiad at school and out of the 30 kids in year 4-7 all solving the same problems, she came 7th. Not bad for a fourth grader!

Anyway, she came home from school with this way cool multiplying by 11s trick and we evolved it further today!

So, for instance 35 x 11…

Basically to multiply by 11 you take the number you are multiplying (35)and split it…

3    5

The middle number of the solution is  the sum of the 2 numbers so in this case 3+5.

So the answer is 385.

But what about 3 digit numbers I hear you say!

Piece of cake!

231 x 11…

2       1

But what goes in the middle? Well you add the first 2 numbers together for the first number…

25   1

Then the next 2 numbers together…

So the answer is 2541.

Now with some twitter help we worked out how to solve when the sum of the numbers is greater than 10…

So, for instance,  96 x 11…

Now you still put the 9 and the 6 down… 9      6

But then you add them together (15) and you have to work out what to do…

Basically you put the 5 in the middle and add the 1 to the first number. So the answer is 1056.

658 x 11 is a little trickier…

6      8

Now we add the 6 and 5 and we have 11 which translates to 71    8.

Then we add the 5 and 8 (13) and again add the 10 to the previous number.

So we get 7238.

I love numbers!

All this post-structural reading and I have created my own binary regarding Valentine’s Day! Doh! Finally at 8.30 I have realised it is not either be loved or not be loved. Even if I didn’t get the roses my colleagues got or the chocolates or the fluffy toys it doesn’t mean I am a failure. Well that’s what I am telling myself anyway!

Oh… and even the Hallmark writer admits there are crap cards out there! I did get some nice ones though! Thanks friends!

I only caught bits of the Prime Minister’s speech during my morning tea break at work this morning. The bit I saw was good, but I kept thinking, why can’t he be an orator, why can’t he be more like Jed Bartlett?

When Bringing them Home was released in 1997, I was living in Meningie. Across the road was Lake Albert, the end of the Murray River, top of the Coorong (Mr Percival country) and home of the Ngarrinjerri people. Remember the Hindmarsh Island Bridge? Our next door neighbours were on one side of the argument and other people in town on the other. It was tense. There was a riot in the main street, just down from our house. At the time I didn’t take a lot of notice about the issues and remained very ambivalent about it all. I can remember having dinner with a teacher from the school who was telling me about Indigenous kids getting free breakfasts, but this service was not available to the non-Indigenous students. This made me angry and I was telling her how unjust it was until she pointed out that there were far more Indigenous students at school without breakfast, let alone with a lunch than non-Indigenous students. I could kind of see her point, but preferred to stick my head in the sand and pretend it didn’t affect me.

Fast forward a few years and I was in Adelaide. I had returned to uni and as part of the degree we had a compulsory Indigenous studies subject. I chose to sit it externally and was not sure what to expect. The book of readings arrived and I sat in the library one afternoon and started to read. It was part of Bringing them Home. I sat there and cried. For our two essays I chose to research Indigenous health and also welfare and the effect on Indigenous people. I actually received very high marks for both of these essays, but more than the marks I developed a profound sense of sadness that the Howard government refused to say sorry.

Then the move to Cairns. Living close to the CBD and next to the church I met a lot of people who needed some form of help. I discovered first hand that there was little assistance in this town for those in need, especially after hours. We always had an absolutely no money policy and really only gave out tins of baked beans and small cartons of breakfast cereal and longlife milk. I say we, but really I was the one who usually answered the back door. 90% of the people who needed help were Indigenous Australians. We got our regulars. One guy who lived on The Esplanade and had schizophrenia would come and tell me that he was taking his meds. He also knew that I would share home cooked food with him. He told us when he got in trouble and reported his court visits.

We had other regular visitors too. A large number of Torres Strait Islander people would come for assistance, usually when they were down visiting family members in hospital. I drove a lady back to a family member’s home late one night when she arrived in the middle of a tropical downpour.

Only once was I threatened. I was cooking dinner and suddenly a drunk man appeared in my kitchen demanding money. I told him I didn’t hand out money and offered to give him some tinned food. He got very abusive and fortunately my ex decided to come and see what I was raising my voice about. He took him outside where I could hear him yelling that he was coming back to burn down the house with his wife and kids in it. I rang the police to try and get an Indigenous Liaison Officer out, but none were available so i left it. He was so drunk I doubt he could have remembered his threats, let alone carried them out.

So what should sorry mean? Well to me it means that we acknowledge that a lot of what has been done to Indigenous peoples over the last 220 years has not been in anyone’s best interest. The stolen generations are one example, one only has to look at Indigenous health, life expectancy, housing, education, welfare dependency and the percentage of Indigenous Australians caught in the criminal justice system compared to non Indigenous Australians.

My hope is that in saying sorry we can admit that wrongs have been done. When I first saw the text of the apology, I thought it read like a confession. But it is more than absolution that is being sought. It is what the future brings that is important and that is what we now need to work for.

I put in my ideal contract today at work. Basically over the 4 week roster period I have asked that I work every second weekend, then the weekend I work have the following Thursday and Friday off then work Saturday and Sunday then have Monday and Tuesday off with the following weekend off. One week will only work Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday giving me a 3 day weekend. We’ll see if they agree.

My reasons for doing this is so I can complete my honours thesis. Working like this means I work maximum 3 days in a row so I can spend more time in my office at uni writing.

I have tried to talk myself out of teaching in recent months. It has now been almost 3 years since I did my final prac and I feel out of touch with the classroom. I found myself tonight commenting on this post at KensingtonVictoria.com thinking of myself as a teacher. Actually picturing myself in a classroom.

Who knows! At least when I finish my thesis I will have more options than retail. Especially the dreaded stocktake! 6.30 starts and 12 hour days is not fun! Not to mention dealing with teachnology that was modern in the 70s and 80s.

I don’t think Gershwin ever visited Cairns in the summertime! Jasper made a comment yesterday about our ‘Hot Summer and our Cold Summer’ in Cairns. When I quizzed him further he said that we have our hot summer in summer and our cold summer in winter. Maybe he is right. Some people say that you put up with the 4 months of wet for the other 8 months of the year.

I actually love the wet. I planned on going to bed half an hour ago, but then the heavens opened and the music of a tropical downpour commenced. Having a tin roof helps, but the rain through the leaves and puddles of water having more water spraying into them really adds to the symphony. We even got a bit of thunder tonight.

I tried to snap some shots, but I think the darkness won. Here goes anyway:

The view from the deck

The other end of the deck. At least the flash hides the mould on the white posts!

Under the deck the drains have overflowed and there is muck everywhere.

Water, water everywhere…

Aprés moi…

Don’t ask why the chair is in the garden bed. I think the mower man put it there. The back yard is pretty much under water at this end. Front yard will be too, but there is no light out there to see. The council put out a map last year of the safe places to be in case of tsunmi. We are one street back from safety. Hope the same map applies to flood waters.

I was thinking last night that I haven’t got my cyclone kit prepared yet for the year. Need to get some batteries, find the transistor, get a new torch, stock up on bottled water and baked beans. Oh and have an extra bottle of gin in there!

I grew up in a very Anglo-Catholic family. We were Anglican with the Catholic rituals, well those of the pre Vatican II days. On holidays we would trudge off to the local Anglo-Catholic mecca, be it St Peter’s Eastern Hill or Christ Church St Lawrence… Fish on Fridays in Lent, church attendance on all high days and holy days. These were usually saints days and I would usually be forced to be an altar girl (apparently I used to like it!) The main thing I remember about these days were the homilies on the saints. Some of these were pretty cool dudes and dudettes! Of course we never had services for the popular saints though- Valentine, Patrick and Cecilia.

What I find now as a born-again agnostic, or person with christian-ish values is that society has taken on saints like Valentine and Patrick and run with it. Apparently the Catholic church dropped them many years ago. But these saints continue to be the popular ones in society today. Is this the church being even more distant from sociey or society using old Christian traditions to make money?

At work I walk past the stupid teddy bears clutching hearts, or devils saying ‘Be Mine,’ or chocolates in heart shaped containers, or the most revolting velvet flowers that are meant to smell like roses and think pass the bucket. Then there are the cards. These come in around 3 categories. The first is the soppy ones that have pretty pictures on the, or sometimes just lots of hearts, that say how wonderful the other person is. Some of these are even in the traditional anonymous ‘Be Mine’ style. The second is the comedic one that basically revolves around sex. The third is the bizarre category- ones for or from pets, ones for ex-es (what the!) or even those that try to be funny and soppy at the same time.

Florists are also full of red (do red roses sell or simply die faster?), the local balloon shop is covered in helium love and even the local Auto Barn has something about getting the right thing for the one you love. Yep, a spanner and a few liters of oil should win the say to any girl’s heart.

Last year I was in the middle of a marriage break-up, but even before that he never got into Valentine’s Day. Don’t think I ever got flowers or a card from him. I do remember a memorable dinner at Stephano de Pieri’s restaurant in Mildura one Valentine’s, but that was more fluke than planning.

In High School we used to buy The Herald Sun on the way to school and all flock around the classifieds trying to work out if any of the messages were aimed at us. I remember seeing one to a Fiona from a Greg and thinking it must have been from the boy I liked at the time, until it mentioned the bit about the baby due soon and we soon realised it wasn’t me. Debbie got one though- hers had her surname. And she didn’t even like the guy! One year we almost put one in for the music teacher we all had a crush on, but someone refused to fork out their share and we didn’t have enough money.

Ah money! Valentine… Is there a connection? Well duh! But perhaps for some it is more than that. I never believed in Mother’s Day until I was a mother. Perhaps I will never believe in Valentine’s until I am in a ‘relationship’ but even then I don’t know if I could get doe eyed about it all.

Today at lunch one of the ladies was saying how her husband of some 35+ years always buys her lovely chocolates on Valentine’s Day. How sweet was the general consensus around the table. I mentioned I knew I was going to get a card. Of course they asked (and assumed and it was very interesting to hear their assumptions too!) and I told them that one of my best friends at school and I have been trading valentines almost every year since year 6- 1984. Makes me feel very old actually!

I had thought before lunch today that Valentine’s might just be for young ones. Those sending SMS messages instead of looking at The Herald Sun classifieds. Last year at work a number of young girls had roses delivered to them at work. But then again another older colleague had a massive bouquet delivered too. Is it just a day for the girls though? Am I ‘meh’ about the day because a lot of the gifts are aimed at women? I got my ex a number of Valentine’s gifts- red satin boxers he never wore, books he hid on the shelf (perhaps giving a vicar a how to sex guide was a bit out there…)

Commercial smercial! I don’t know if I am feeling this way because of a conditioned pattern around the day (never being the one showered with gifts) or because of my current situation, or if this is one and the same. Of course if you would like to test the theory, cards and presents (did someone say Bombay Sapphire?) can be sent to PO Box 809, Ealrville, Q 4870 and flowers delivered to Myer, Cairns Central might be able to convince me otherwise…

It was my boss’s birthday today. It is actually a little strange thinking she is only 5 months older than me yet has been with the company since she was 17.

For her birthday I told her I would bake a cake. Now I adore cooking. I find it the ultimate form of relaxation, well apart from sitting in front of computer… When I was a vicar’s wife I loved cake stalls. I would bake for days and days and turn up with at least 8 different types of cakes, most of which had been doubled or tripled or more. I don’t bake regularly for my colleagues, but when I do it is appreciated, recipes asked for and ideas given!

I have often thought how wonderful it would be to have a café somewhere and actually bake the cakes to serve with the coffee instead of the mass produced crap that most places provide. Just imagine, decent coffee, homemade goodies, free wifi, varied lunch menu, good service… One day!

Back to the cake! I knew I wanted to bake a chocolate cake, but which one? I figured for a birthday it needed to be a double layer with chocolate icing. So I settled for Nigella’s ‘Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake’ from Feast. It is delectably easy- everything in a food processor (or in my case I just used Priscilla and the whisk attachment) and blend for a few minutes. Icing is a fudge icing with chocolate, butter, golden syrup, sour cream and icing sugar. I never thought I was a cake decorator, but the comments today suggest otherwise. Amazing what some sugar flowers can do!

Of course with this detox, I didn’t eat any, but the comments were pretty good, well comments and oohs and aahs! Plus the office team wanted me to bake something for them as they missed out. Think I might be able to arrange that! Plus the kids have asked for some more baking… Might be a relaxing couple of weekends.

I think I have fallen for a fad.

I have always seemed to fall outside the healthy weight guidelines, except for a period when I was about 15-17 when I was a gorgeous size 10-12.

Then life intervened. Deaths, marriage, infertility, mental illness… I have had my fair share of downs. And during this I have tended to eat.

18 months ago I again set my mind to shedding some kilos. And I have. In that time I have lost over 23kg. But for the last 8 months it has been at a standstill. At least I haven’t found it again!

So when a colleague said she was going to do the 4.3.2.1 Slim and Detox™ “a new way to help slim, cleanse, purify and tone your body in just 10 days” I said I’d go along with it. Originally she said no steak, but all it says is a calorie controlled diet. So I am going the no caffeine and no alcohol for 10 days and eating as unprocessed food as possible. Whilst I usually eat fairly healthy for meals, snacks can be another thing. Then there is caffeine… I usually have at least 1-2 coffees and 3 cans of diet coke a day. I have been known to have alcohol free days, but recently I have not been known to string too many of these together.

Today hasn’t been too bad. I did want a coffee this morning and another this afternoon, but drank the detox solution instead. And it doesn’t taste too bad. Food has been fine, but then again no real challenges today. I am baking a cake tomorrow for the boss’s birthday on Tuesday. That should be interesting. Had to hide the gin bottle in the bottom of the freezer…

I suppose if I can kickstart things in the next 10 days (I doubt I will lose the 28kg needed to put me in the healthy weight range in this period!) then I can carry on with perhaps a coffee and a can of diet coke a day and a gin or a glass of wine at night. I am doing what a friend does and throwing all coins into a jar at the end of the day. He ended up with a few thousand dollars over the course of a year. Doubt I will be that lucky! But it may get me to Melbourne again…