Thursday 25 December 2008

Wishing you a very neutral summer solstice event


I hope your Christmas period is not this PC!


Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes
for
an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress,
non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice
holiday,
practised with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion
or
secular practices of your choice with respect for the
religious/secular
persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to
practice
religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and
medically
uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted
Gregorian
calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of
choice
of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our
country great (not to imply that Australia is necessarily greater than
any
other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age,
physical
ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely
transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies
no
promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for
her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is
revocable
at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform
as
expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of
one
year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever
comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or
issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message;
however, a
significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

Friday 19 December 2008

Always the Bridesmaid


Tonight son finally played his tennis grand final. This was two weeks late due to washouts twice in the last four weeks - who would've thought after the dry winter and spring we've had! Son left home tonight with four runners up flags from previous seasons. He ended the night with five runners up flags! He just can't seem to make it over the line. They lost quite badly, not helped by a player pulling out an hour before the game with an injury. We managed to get a substitute from a lower grade who hadn't played for a few weeks. They always have a little presentation after the game with the flags being handed out, which is particularly difficult for the losing team. I was proud of son who made a short but gracious and articulate speech as team captain. He sometimes does surprise me!

Wednesday 10 December 2008

Flexibility


I worked an extra shift last Saturday. When I got home from work on Saturday night, about 10.30pm, there was a message on the machine from the Admin Coordinator at my other work. She said it was about 4.30pm and if I got this message in the next half hour or so, could I please ring her. My mind did go through the possibilities of why she might be ringing. I ruled out some work related matter, as she would have rung me on my mobile. Along with her partner she also runs a catering/food store, from where I am ordering my turkey for Christmas this year, so I thought it might be something to do with that.
Anyway, I got to work on Tuesday and she explained that they were catering for a function on Saturday night, which included supplying waiting staff. At the last minute they had someone pull out, so they were madly ringing around seeing if someone could fill in. She said, ‘I didn’t know if you had any waiting experience, but I thought you’re the kind of guy who can put his hand to anything, so I thought I’d try you.’
I was chuffed to be thought of as someone who could put his hand to anything!

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Twas The Month Before Christmas


There are two things I like about Christmas - the food and the music. I do also like Christmas when there are young kids around, but mine is beyond that now. Whilst I like Christmas music, I only like it the two weeks prior to Christmas, not the two months prior! I can handle it in shopping centres and supermarkets because I can be in and out of them fairly quickly. I am back at the Nursing Home this week after a couple of weeks off for my placement and they have the Chrissie decs up and have carols going! So I'm going to have to put up with that for the next three weeks!
I've put myself down to do a nightshift on Christmas night. It will be very good money (relatively speaking!) which is what will see me through the night, that and me humming The Little Drummer Boy!