V- DAY – The Conspiracy Revealed.

I have a problem with cynicism, there’s not enough of it; commercialism, there is far too much of it; conspiracism, that comes in the form of bogus ‘holidays’ and there is nothing more bogus than the Hallmark Holiday Valentine’s Day aka ‘Single Awareness Day.’
To prove my point with the three C’s, and because I had nothing better to do until the cricket started, I conducted a survey. My randomly contrived survey produced some interesting fac…

You know it is Christmas time when the departing Year Sixers ambush you in a one sided water fight and you find yourself wet. Unfortunately in a one sided water fight there are no rules and even if there were I don’t think eleven and twelve year olds hell bent of wetting any adult within a five kilometre range is prepared to hear the rules let alone obey them. So it wasn’t unusual to find myself wet what I did find interesting though was the fact that the same eleven and twelve year olds can…

“Why do I have to vote?”
And with that my reminder of the up coming Federal Election hit home.
“It is your democratic right and your civic duty,” I told her.
She heard, “I am eighteen I am going to the Sand Bar. See you later.”
And they let this person vote.
She finished her HSC exams, turned eighteen and got to vote all within a two-week period.
The big day arrived and I was up early. I was showered, dressed, had breakfast, managed two loads of washing, vacuumed and washed th…

Saturday night on the Queen’s birthday weekend when I was growing up meant cracker night- we had a roaring bonfire, one of which you would spend the entire day building. Then it was time to line up the six glass beer bottles, one for each child and yes back in the good old days we were environmentally aware we had glass bottles that we recycled from dad. The box of matches from the highest shelf was next on the agenda followed by retrieving the suitcase full of fireworks from under the bed. Th…

Many Happy Returns.

Giving someone a call for their birthday was once a pleasant experience. You would dial the number and find yourself smiling for no particular reason as you waited for the phone to answer. When it did you would put on that bizarre voice, the one that is a few octaves higher than your normal voice – again for no particular reason- and believing the birthday recipient had suddenly become hearing impaired you would bellow down the phone, “Happy Birthday.’ Some even manage…

There is a reason Christmas is called the Silly Season… actually there are probably a dozen reasons but the main one is due to insanity. The Silly Season that once used to start in December can now put in an appearance as early as September or whenever the retailers can get their decorations up. And it is no coincidence the moment those bells start to jingle peoples nerves begin to fray.

Peace and goodwill lasts up until someone cuts you off and pinches your parking space. Then sanity takes…

“What are your expectations?”

Stepping off the train in Amiens, France, I was excited if not a little anxious as I made my way out of the station to meet our guide, Sylvestre and his question that I was expecting.

Did I have any expectations? Should I have any? It was obvious I had more questions than expectations. “I don’t know,” I replied with a hint of embarrassment. He shrugged.  I guess I wouldn’t be exceeding his.

I sat quietly in the vehicle pondering. The two letter…

Sometimes you can open a parcel or a letter and be surprised at what you find. And then from out of the blue you are handed a suitcase and you look to the tattered old brown suitcase in front of you and a million things race through your mind. I had been pre warned what it contained but nothing could prepare me for the treasures it held. And what treasures they are.

I stared into the little suitcase and all thoughts of the luckless day I was having left. The contents more than made up for the…