Reading the Bible

In Bible Study a while ago we completed the book “Postcard From Palestine.” It is a hands on guide to reading and using the bible. Upon commencement of this study I was a bit taken aback. I was reminded of HSC English and how I was supposed to read all those books that didn’t appeal to me at all. Extracting every ounce of meaning out of a piece of text was something I found difficult. I wasn’t inspired then to read the books and didn’t end up reading any of them. How I ended up passing the subject is beyond me (and Mum). York notes and Cliff’s notes were very sufficient.

All the books I had to read for Yr 11 and Yr 12 are:

• Fringe of Leaves – Patrick White
• One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest – Ken Kesey
• Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austin
• Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

Luckily for me, 3 out of the 4 books have been made into very good movies.

I have never been a big reader. I have 2 bookshelf units but the books that have been read fully would fill only one shelf. I must have a chronic condition. I might be reading a book but when I reach the end of the page I realise that I have been daydreaming the whole time. I would end up reading the same page 2 or 3 times before sometimes just giving up through obvious lack of interest.

So how does one get inspired to read the thickest book with the smallest writing and then understand it? Especially now that Postcards from Palestine recommends the use of other really thick books to help you (i.e. commentary, bible dictionary and multiple versions of the bible). It’s very intimidating.

Swans New Recruits

Footy season may be over but there is still plenty going on for those of us interested in the off field occurrences, and I’m not talking about the stories in the gossip pages of footballers late night escapades. On Saturday 25th November all clubs met at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne for NAB National AFL Draft. It is where all the young players in Australia hope to be recruited by AFL clubs. Positions in the draft are generally determined by where you finish that season, although the order might change after teams decide to trade draft picks for current players during the trade week. Sydney obviously finished second so they have later picks in each round.

The player they ended up choosing are:
15 – DANIEL O'KEEFE, Geelong Falcons Vic (pictured)
Good sized midfielder
49 – DANIEL CURRIE, Northern Knights Vic
Developing ruckman
65 – PETER FAULKS, Calder Cannons Vic
Key defender
79 – JESSE WHITE, Southport Qld
Future key position player

Look out for these young men, as they are the future of your club.

Public Vs Private

In my current job I am increasingly seeing the advantages of having top private health insurance. I have visited a lot of hospitals, both public and private along with a lot of Nursing Homes and Hostels. It is not very hard to tell anymore which places are public and which are private

You pick up a vibe from the people around, the patients, the nurses and their environment.

Firstly the patients, they almost expect to have to wait all day in a public hospital, they are resigned to the fact. If they are in for elective surgery they have more than likely had to wait for years. Whereas Private patients go straight into surgery when they are ready and then most are taken to a Rehab clinic afterwards. Don’t expect that sort of care and efficiency in the public system.

I have experienced this sort of efficiency personally, which is why I’m such a big Private health advocate. I needed elective surgery on my right ring finger as the joint was infected when I was a baby and grew bent. When the doctor said it was time to operate mum jokingly said, “How about tomorrow?” To which the doctor replied that it could be done if the paperwork could be put through that fast. Instead I went in the next week at The Hills.

Secondly the nurses, some appear very cynical and downtrodden in both systems but generally I found that the nurses at Private Hospitals are much happier with their work. Some of this I think can be attributed to my third point, the environment. Private hospitals have a warmer feel to them, which lends itself to a more comfortable and friendly atmosphere. Little things like wide corridors which are uncluttered, lighting, carpet on the floors, private rooms and most importantly bigger TV’s (some private hospitals even have Foxtel).

I know of some naïve young adults say, “But I’m healthy, when will I need to go to hospital?” But isn’t that the point of all insurance, that you don’t know when something will happen. We don’t know when we will get sick. We don’t know when something we own will be stolen. We don’t know when that car will drive up your rear end. We don’t know so we need to prepare for anything.

Those that expect to rely on the public system for everything I say,
What do you expect for nothing?!

Mollycoddle

Mol-ly-cod-dle [mol-ee-kod-l]

Noun
A person, especially a man or boy, who is being pampered or over protected

Verb
To be overprotective and indulgent towards

Dictionary.com

I used to think this was a word made up by mum when I was a child. Surprised was I to find that it actually had a dictionary definition. Excited was I to find that it could actually be applied to something very relevant.

You see, the Teachers Federation is promoting a no comment approach and no grading philosophy to teaching. Both of which I believe will mollycoddle our next generation and turn them into social misfits, or milksops (another interesting word I found when looking up mollycoddle).

No Grades
This is referring to A – E grades. The Teachers Fed believes that this sort of labelling of a student diminishes their self-esteem. But so does telling them that they’re doing ok then they finally realise they don’t cut it in the big bad world.

No Comments
As far as I know the Teacher’s Fed only wants its primary teachers to comment on numeracy and literacy, and not all the other subjects that they have to teach. It’s part of the job to fill in paperwork and parents expect it to be done well. This is not a dictatorship, the consumer of this product is the parents. If they want comments, give them comments, simple as that.

If they go on thinking that they will be eased through all of life then they will be severely mistaken. The Teacher’s Federation is sacrificing real academic achievement in an effort not to harm the students self esteem. But when they leave school and realise they know nothing because they weren’t taught anything, I don’t think their self-esteem will be too high then.

As a wise man once said
Life’s Tough
Get a Helmet

iTunes Music Store – 100th Purchase

I waited anxiously for the opening of iTunes Music store in Australia and soon after it’s first birthday I complete a transaction of my 100th song.

I mainly enjoyed using the music store for classic 80’s stuff that I could only find on an album. I was able to pick only my favourite songs from musical acts such as ABC, Madness, Suzanne Vega, Elvis Presley, Roxette, 10cc and The Beach Boys.

As well I was able to get particular singles of modern day artists that I just don’t like enough to buy their album. These artists include Eskimo Joe, The Whitlams, No Doubt, The Dave Matthews Band, The Killers, The Fray, Yellowcard and Bernard Fanning.

There are also some music videos that I have purchased, only the good ones of course.

Let’s not forget all the great Podcasts now available. I would probably download a lot more if it weren’t for the lack of hard drive space. Over the year I have downloaded podcast from Triple M, Sydney Anglicans, 103.2, ABC, Triple J, Network 10 and of course the Bible Talks at TAC.

Fashion Beefs

Under the footy crazed veneer is a fashion critic. I’m not too sure what made me think I could comment on fashion. I think it was Trinny & Susannah’s “What Not To Wear” which is made in the UK by the BBC and then syndicated to cable stations such as the Lifestyle channel in Australia. They have formed quite a following about telling (mainly) women bluntly why their clothes make them look bad. In each episode they get their victim to handover their entire wardrobe and they then critique everything and point out where they have been going wrong. It shouldn’t be surprising that there are some tears, you know how emotional women can get. In the end they have an entire new wardrobe of funky clothes that make them look classy and sophisticated and at the same time have boosted their self-esteem.

Watching this program you learn some very simple rules that will no doubt make shopping for clothes with a female more comfortable and I won’t have to be so conscious of saying the right thing, instead I can say what I think, using just a little discretion.

Some Simple Rules

• Don’t mix patterns – instead go for plains and patterns with similar colours
• Bright colours with black cheapens the colour and makes you look tacky
• Dress your age – this is the best way to look younger
• Know your body shape and dress accordingly
• Only one statement piece at a time

I also like to rave on massive fashion mistakes that I see perpetrated by females across this great country, hence the title “fashion beefs.” I think I have developed a fashion catchcry of, “fashionable and practical.” Meaning that clothing that is fashionable should have a practical purpose and be comfortable. For example, I have noticed a lot of girls wearing shorts instead of skirts, fashionable and practical. There can’t be anything more comfortable than shorts in the summer months.

My Top 5 of fashion mistakes include:

1. The ‘Muffin Top’
2. Ugg boots with mini skirts or scarves with tank tops
3. Ugg boots worn among the general public
4. Visible underwear
5. Skimpy clothes in the middle of winter

Interesting Rates

Another interest rate rise and another bunch of moaners come out of the woodwork.

Yes, it’s true, I don’t have a mortgage. In fact, I don’t have any debt to speak of.

This said I believe that if everyone had a basic knowledge of economics then the aforementioned moaners would know why interest rates had to go up, therefore making the moaning unnecessary.

Try and digest these details:

1. Interest rates go up and down
2. The economy works in cycles (booms/recessions, up-phases/down-phases)
3. Bigger the boom = Bigger the recession
4. We want the economy to grow but an economy with high inflation will inevitably lead to recession
5. We want to slow down inflation to avoid a harsh recession
6. Raising interest rates decreases inflationary pressures by limiting the amount of new money coming into the economy.
7. If interest rates are not raised now, they will have to be raised by even more in the future.

It’s a Big Place

While performing my job I am discovering a few things.

There is a lot of this city we call Sydney that I have never seen or even thought of going to visit. My driving partner mentioned a famous walk from Coogee to Bondi and I had never heard of it. Put in context he did live in Bondi for a period of time and I have lived nowhere near it for my entire life. But it still might be worth doing at some stage.


This led me to a crazy idea that maybe people should choose a random suburb to check out every now and then. Just walk around, check out the architecture, do some shopping, have a picnic in a local park and soak in a different kind of fresh air. This sort of activity is probably more suited to the spontaneous type, which is probably not me. Some early suggestions might include Bondi, Coogee, Leichhardt, Ryde, Eastwood and Epping. Just chosen randomly of course. Some research may be required to ensure no dodgy suburb is chosen at random.

The Race When I Slept

I don’t know why but this year I have taken a complete disinterest in the Melbourne Cup. Other years I have at least shown enough interest to want to spend some of my hard earned on a horse or in a sweep. I was actually trying to avoid it as much as possible. This is very hard when all forms of media are dominated by the horsy news, and everyone you bump into wants to ask you if you have a fave in the Cup. Even a lot of the Nursing Homes and Hospitals I went to during the day were having mini festivals with posters all over the place and all the ladies wearing hats. It was unavoidable.

At least I had control in whether I watched the race or not. I spent those few minutes laying down on the back seat of our van waiting to get a job dropped down. Unaware was I that the people at the board may have been slightly more interested than me and were watching the race instead of allocating jobs. It didn’t worry me, I just stayed in the back of the van until they were ready.

Swearing is Swearing

There seems to be a swear word of choice among some Christians. The word is of course C-R-A-P.

Look it up in the dictionary and, depending on which one you’re using, it will probably say “offensive” or “colloquialism” which places it with all the other swear words that we don’t need to use. So if we are condoning the use of c**p then what’s wrong with s**t or f**k? It’s all swearing.


To me, swearing is unnecessary and we don’t need to delve into the gutter to make a point. There are plenty of other lovely words in the English language to describe all kinds of emotions.

I’ve heard my fair share of foul language from being part of a footy club. If some of the players eradicated one little F-word from their conversation lexicon, they would make much more sense and would make their point much more concisely.

I know some people who, being aware of someone holding this opinion, avoid saying the word around that person. Or they say the word and then apologise. I would suggest that if it is worthy of an apology to some people then it is not necessary to say to anyone.

If you don’t agree with me then I invite your comments to tell me my opinion is s**t, because swearing is swearing.