Decoration....its a personal thing!

A couple of days ago, I managed to put all the accumulated crap from the yard into my new trailer, as well as putting the rusty old one into the truck, (what was left of it), and trundle down to the reclamation tip. This is, by comparison to many that I've been to, a civilised affair with plenty of space to manoeuvre. Given my deplorable skills in reversing a trailer, it was gratifying to arrive there and find that no one else was around to see me screw it up several times. I mentioned in an earlier post that trailers are common here, not to mention the ubiquitous Ute, and testosterone is a natural rather than a manicured phenomenon. It is incumbent on any self respecting Occa, Ute driving, beer swilling male, to be able to reverse a trailer through the drive in bottle shop with ease, and....well, lets just say I'm not quite there yet. (An Occa is defined by many as the extent to which a man measures up to the legendary and late Steve Irwin R.I.P, a bloke who was quintessentially Australian by all accounts).
Once I'd off-loaded the concrete bits, the broken garden sunshade, the various other non metallic stuff, I drove round a bit further to the metal skips, where I discovered no less than 3 other trailers with assorted bits that I could have had off them if I'd timed this better. One in particular had wheels on with a LOT more tread on than the ones that I inherited, and I wished that I'd had some tools with me to remove them. In the end, I pulled out an old lawn mower that seemed to have compression, and a frame from a kids kart, with no wheels and no seat!
When I got home, I tried the mower with Wayne standing there... all skeptical, wondering what kind of Son in Law he'd got, a man who went to the dump and brought junk back! I put a little 2 stroke mix in it (provied by Wayne, who was prepared to suspend his judgement that far at least!) and after 3 pulls it burst into life and I thought YES!!! now I'm really cocking a snook.... and then it died. 'No probs Wayne, I'll have it sorted, don't you worry, this is a POSH mower this!' I stripped it, scraped out a couple of buckets of compounded grass from behind the carb, and unblocked tubes etc. With each thing I found, I felt more confident that I'd fixed it, and that I was going to look good. Sadly, so far its failed to start.



Never mind. So what of the other find? I showed it to Phoebe since she's a little less critical than Matilda (who was at school anyway), and hasn't learned much about my limits yet. She instantly and to my delight said yes it was a great find, and that obviously it would need to be decorated. I agreed, thinking red paint would do nicely. Not what she had in mind, as you can see below. I found this later when Daile arrived and Phoebe explained to her that she and I were making a cart, and that she'd decorated it! Nothing left to do! :-)

A Blaze, a Belly, and a Box trailer

Today I went to work. At 3.30 am.

Quite early, but the more so since last night we went to see Ian's team (that he manages) the 'Gold Coast Blaze', play 'Brisbane Bullets'. These are basketball teams, and neither of us had been to a basket-ball game before. Quite an interesting experience. It was a good atmosphere and I enjoyed it...even going beyond myself as our team began to lose to scream 'Come on the Blaze', and 'Come on Ref!!!!!' and 'YESSSSSS' and.... well I'm sure you can imagine!

After the carnage was over, we went out to a local Turkish restaurant, which was fantastic. Fantastic food, fantastic music and fantastic BELLY dancer:



She was really good, both at the dancing, and at getting the diners to get up and have a go. We were very impressed.

Ian had booked a suite of rooms at a posh hotel for the team members, (its a professional team) and some of the team had elected in advance not to avail themselves of the rooms. Daile and I had the best one, from which this was the view.



Shame that I had to leave it at 3.30 for the Gold Coast Convention centre - and my first proper work since I left Complete Fabrication at the end of August!

I got there a little late, cos I couln't find my way out of central Brisbane, a maze of one way streets and drunk party goers (including young girls out alone and in pairs!). When I got down there, I found that they were struggling with a short order of joists that go under the floor of the stand that we were putting up. I ended up cutting up joists into blocks to get the thing down, and made a reasonable impression it seems, whilst working up a proper sweat, so that it was literally dripping off my nose.

A fair start me-thinks.

When I got home, I finally got around to painting the underside of the trailer that I'd made last week. Tomorrow I'll get it registered, or at least start the process.



In Australia, the trailer has to be registered like a car is...and it has its own number plate, and..... guess what? You have to pay road tax on them! Aaaah they got me again! This system gets you in lots of strange ways, whilst the actual rate of taxation is officially lower than in the UK. On balance, I think its still less than the 50% that you end up shelling out in Blighty.

Oh, and by-the-way, Labor won the election yesterday if you hadn't heard. Many people that were at the job today were very pleased about that. I suspect however that the growth that Australia has enjoyed for the last 10 years is not sustainable, and that when things turn, the voters will too, blaming the changes on the government and so we'll probably see the Liberals in again next time. Such is the nature of the fickle vote. ...enforced or not.

Note about blog layout

Just changed the layout back to 7 posts showing at once. Now that I've found out how to move the links to the side, I think its all a bit better that way.... OK?

Oriah, Mountain Dreamer.

I came across this tonight, and for some reason it made me think of Molly, and all the stuff I want her to know. It’s a very moving piece (for me), written relatively recently by someone referring to themselves as ‘Oriah, Mountain Dreamer’. Don’t be put off by that….

Molly this is for you:

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

I liked it and that’s what counts! Nothing to do with Oz, but very thought provoking you must agree.

Ha ha, this is what i've found! It even looks like me!

Why do we REAP while our beds are burning?....

Here we are on the other side of the world but the TV is the same, and so are the politics. The TV is actually quite largely the actual programs that we watch in the UK... One of the most popular is 'The Bill'. Another is 'Grand Designs'... and there are LOTS more. One of the things that is, well 'disappointing' is that some of our programs are 'the same' except that they have been sanitised for the USA before we get them here. Take Noddy for example, or Harry and his bucket full of Dinosaurs.... English stuff, with American accents. WHY? One of the things that I loved about the Noddy series was the faltering voice of the English boy that did his voice. It made it special. Or what about Oswald the Octopus? Don't you love his voice? Try that in full on Californian! OH MY GARD!!!! Did you know that 'Harry and his bucket full of Dinosaurs' is by Tony Collingwood - the guy that I was at Marist with? His company is called Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment. Look for the link below for a picture of him...he's at the top. He's fixed up with a Harvard business graduate... and now he's MEGGA!

Anyway, back to Oz, and what about the politics? Well there's a general election on Saturday. Its a two party race, pretty much like it is in the UK, but at the moment its the Liberals, let by John Howard versus Labor (note the Yankee spelling) led by Kevin Rudd. Rudd is in the lead in the polls, and the Liberals have pulled off the gloves and now its all low down and dirty. If Howard were to win, it would be his 5th term. If he wins he'll hand over the reigns to the second IC who is a guy called 'Costello' as in Abbot and Costello. Many people here see it pretty much like that, and the fact that Howard will not do the whole term, means that they are voting for two unknowns....which is probably why the Labor party are getting a toe in... OK, there is the natural turning over of power that happens despite being good at the job, and that is a fact in any country.

One thing that's different here though is that its against the law NOT to vote! (Unless you're not a citizen) so Daile has to go out to vote. One of the things that the Liberals reckon they believe in is: '...preserving Australia's natural beauty and the environment for future generations'. So what's this about then....



..this is Sovereign Island, (the one we sailed round Gill, on the first day you were here in 2002) which is an 'gated community', only accessed by a bridge. Its an exclusive development, for people with money, not for 'future generations' unless of course they have money. Note that its been built in a rather 'naturally beautiful' place... stuff the rest of them... lets make some money eh! Socio-spatial exclusion, established and maintained through subtle, but non-the-less effective, creation of social and physical landscapes that are so imbued with a sense of prestige that they arguably initiate a process of 'self-othering' amongst those beyond their margins. OK, its nothing new from a social perspective. People have been making this kind of thing for as long as there have been 'star bellied sneetches' but why is it that governments insist that they are green when they are patently far from it. I accept that this is a morally relative point, and that there are always social and cultural pasts that provide the context out of which these thing arise, and that as such it is not a fault in any one administration per se....but on the other hand, the will to save ourselves will not come from more of the same, more stuff, more bullshit, more meaningless discussions about discussions. Moral relativism will taste pretty salty to these wealthy land owners when the sea level rises no doubt, and they'll blame it on whoever it is that is in power at the time. Like I say, the politics is the same here as it is in Blighty.

So what of Labor? Well, do you remember Peter Garrett and the band Midnight Oil? He's now a senior politician in the Labor party and famous for his gaffes, a bit like Prince Philip is. He's heading up the Labor environment bullshit and this is some of what they are saying: 'Increasing storm activity and sea level rise from climate change is threatening coastlines, property, habitat and the financial viability of local councils. The Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council estimates that 700, 000 coastal addresses are at risk from long term sea-level rises and large storm surges'. OK that seems to be concurrent with the things that i've read... so what are they going to do? 'A Rudd Labor Government will invest $100 million for a 5 year Coast Care Program as part of its Caring for Coasts plan to help local communities protect the Australian coastline and prepare for the impact of climate change'. So, lets see....even though I'm really crap at maths, I reckon that thats er....100,000,000/700,000 = $14.28 per at risk coastal address. This is from a country that (don't forget) is in cash surplus. (For context think about the fact that the US is $12,000,000,000,000 in deficit).
Ah yes 'why [indeed] do we weep while our beds are burning' Mr Garrett? Am I ranting yet?

Trailer trash

Well this weekend I decided that I should finally get around to doing that trailer that you may remember from the early posts on this blog. I went out late Friday afternoon to get some steel box section and some mesh for the sides. I'd decided that I was going to make a high sided one with mesh on the upper sides to contain the piling up of cut twigs and branches from our land. I've seen this kind of trailer on the roads and, like Ute's they're quite common. However, when I actually got down to it, I decided that it was almost sacrilegious to attach brand new steel to such old and rusty stuff, especially since it was quite a lightweight build in the first place. So I scrapped all the metal off it, and I've used the axle and the tow hook, and that's it! Now I have a very substantial frame built, but I've run out of steel to finish it. I'll post up pics when I've got near to finishing it.
Sadly, although I blathered my arms with factor 30, I still got weld burn on them. Quite red and sore they are.... Probably a combination of the sun, which was out all day, and the weld arc. I really enjoyed it though...

Now the more observant may notice that there is only one post here, as opposed to the normal 7. This is because I wanted to draw your attention to the list of links that you'll find below. Some of these are old faves, and some are just quite interesting. I'll add more with time...but for now, if you HAVE time, you might like to take a look.

Mid day stop press...

Daile woke up on Monday morning and told me that this week I'd get a job. She was right. I was offered a Project management job just now (Friday) with the company I mentioned 'Moreton Hire' until a 'better' opportunity comes up, which they say will reveal itself early next year. In the meantime, I'm to shadow the other project managers, and find ways to improve the work that they're doing, from the inside as it were. The job that's due to come on stream next year is a new company that is being developed by the entrepreneurial owner of the company. He has several other successful companies already, so it sounds promising. Apparently the reason for the vagueness is that they don't quite know the shape of the role yet. I expect that it depends on how I do in the first role...so its sleeves up time!

The other really good thing that happened today (so far) (its only 2pm) is that Phoebe has got into the Kindergarten that Daile really wanted her to get into but which we were told there was a 2 year waiting list for. Obviously they liked Daile, since they found her a space.

Good eh??

'Nice bit of dirt' (as they say in Oz)

Today I went up to Boxer Ave, as I did yesterday and the day before. I've only managed to average fairly short hours each time, because I've usually had something else to do before or afterwards. I'm firmly of the opinion that we've bought well here. When you're on the site, listening to the cacophony of bird song, its truly magical. I'm finding it to be a tonic to work there. What I've been doing is clearing the site of all the fallen timber that was cut down as some kind of marketing exercise in order for the punter to be able to envisage what the site could look like with a house on it. Its sad that so many had to be cut to achieve this, especially as they claim to be so tree friendly.





Within all this fallen timber there is, as you might expect a fair amount of insect life, and you will by now have realised that I find them really interesting. The idea that some of these critters are likely to be very painful or even lethal is partly scary and partly fascinating. Not that I'm taking any risks... I'm just very keen to find out about this stuff, call it self preservation I guess.
The other day, when Daile, Phoebe and I were up at the site, Daile pulled a bit of bark off a big log, and under it was a scorpion. She had not been wearing gloves, so the discovery was the more worrying. The girls are advised about the dangers, but they don't seem to be all that worried, which is scary too.

Today I had 3 interesting encounters. The first was a really fierce looking hornet that was hovering around the outside table, and which I decided to remove. Here it is around Phoebe's leg...



Given the size of it, (it was big, or perhaps it just felt big because of its fierce colour) I was a bit worried about the sting. When I caught it with a tennis racket, It was madly trying to sting something, and its sting must have been a good 3 or 4 mm long. OUCH! It also had quite terrifying looking jaws. I put it into a jar, where it carked it in about 10 mins. As it shuffled off its mortal coil, it thrust out the sting in one last defiant effort to hurt something. The photo that shows it with the sting out was at the moment that it stopped moving.





While I was at the site later, I was just sharpening and setting the teeth of the chain saw, when I heard a noise behind me and when I turned slightly ... there looking at me was a Kangaroo. I just carried on sharpening, and sneaking looks through my legs and out of the corner of my eyes. She (for the sake of argument since I didn't see anything hanging down...as they do with Kangas...) seemed to relax. She appeared to have noticed me at the same time that I'd noticed her. I slowly made my way over to my bag, but by the time I'd got out the camera, she was moving away.



Later, whist I was in amongst the timber with the saw, a little critter came scurrying down the trunk of the tree that I was chopping up to 'fend me off'. It lept over the slot that the chain saw was in, missing the blade by a couple of millimeters only. I switched off the saw and took these. It was a mantis. Only it LOOKED more like an ant. I prodded it with a stick and it reared up! Apparently not dangerous to humans so it says on the net... http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_hoppers/BoxerBarkMantid.htm





So far, everything that I've come across at the site scurries away when disturbed, with the exception of this one, so it was a relief to know that its not dangerous, though it might hurt a bit I'd guess.



I had a successful interview yesterday, in as far as they seemed to like me and take me seriously. No job from them yet, but they are checking out the other companies in the group, so hopefully they may find me some slot to get going with. If you're interested they are called Moreton hire, and their web address is www.moreton.net.au - this is one of their 'tents'.



Finally, here's some pics of a little walk we did with the girls on Sunday to show them what a subtropical rain forest is like. This was just a little (1km ) walk that goes to a little fall and back. It was enough cos it was raining and they were not properly kitted out for that. Some of the trees are truly spectacular, and the roots are complex and spooky looking.







This pic is of a tree that has been got by a strangler vine,





and this is one that has had the vine removed...leaving deep tracts of damage.



Good though eh? When they're bigger we'll do some serious walking in this. Its a spiritual experience.

Seeing things?

OK I'm taking a bit of a risk here...but I've come across these pictures of animals. I'm stretching a point really but do you reckon that this looks like Nick's 'Photo face'? You know the expression he always pulls just before you press the shutter...?



And there's something about this mouse that reminds me of Joe...can you see it too? Not the fact that its a mouse or anything like that, but just 'something' about the expression. Probably a memory from when I used to pick on him as a kid....



Ha ha...sorry lads. It was just a moment I had.....
(Any similarity between actors and real life is purely by chance and you can't sue me...or take offence)

Gill? Ha ha... Could use some trendy specs really....



Me? Not for the skinniness, just for the inclination of the head?



Got any better ones? Send them to me and I'll put them in.

Here's another funny thing I saw today from a local school....

Duality versus Monism

This week has been one of thought and frustration for me. Thought about what I can do to make a living here, and frustration at the difficulties that I'm facing. I wish that I had a speciality of some kind, and that I could capitalise on it. The nuts and bolts of the problem for me is that I'm a generalist, and I've done fine out of being one for my whole career. The jobs that are advertised on the mainstream recruitment web sites are all, well er....mainstream! I'm realising that I've got to carve out my own job somewhere, because the systems that 'human resource' [sic] departments use to filter applicants don't have the subtlety to see generalists as anything other than 'unsuitable'.

Part of me wants to just get a job...any job really. Another part of me realises that at 47, I'm not going to get too many more chances to change direction and that whatever I land on, is going to probably be a significant factor in my future. Our societies are driven by commerce and the pursuit of profit... and its not pretty. I'm tired of the profit motive and the holy grail of 'efficiency'. I'm tired of TV and advertising. I'm bored with the trappings of this 'life' and material things, and yet I'm unable to get away from the obligation to be a part of it. Ideally, it would be great to have a job that one could feel was in some core way a contribution to a sustainable future for our kids, rather than a continual closure of mind to the growing environmental imperative. But environmental jobs are few and far between, you have to have a doctorate in rocket science and be prepared to work for air and a wet down. Think I'm kidding? Check out this advert...one of many that I've seen recently:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environment Management Officer

• Passionate to ensure environment protection standards are maintained
• Problem solver?
• Effective communicator?

Working initially as part of the City Standards team, you will contribute to the environmental management of the City particularly with respect to vegetation and waterways compliance. You will also be integral to the auditing of development permit conditions requiring protection of the environment.

You will hold tertiary qualifications in the field of Environmental Management, Environmental Engineering or Environmental Studies and have experience in environmental management, solving complex issues and communicating with a wide range of people. Well developed research, analytical, organisational and project management skills are also required.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I forgive you right now for thinking that the job is a high payer...you'd expect that it would pull some serious hitters wouldn't you? I mean 'well developed research, analytical, organisational and project management skills are also REQUIRED.!! Not 'desirable' note...but 'REQUIRED'. Go have a guess. £65k? No? Got to be at least £40k...even though its a government post....? Na...think again. This demanding post is worth precisely $44k (dollars). That's £19,246.90 thank you very much. The same skills in the commercial environment would be worth more like $75 to $95k. Still not masses, but realistic perhaps. Its not easy to make a living, but was it ever?

So, I'm seriously considering sales. The thing about sales is that you can do it off your own bat and the company that you're selling for doesn't have to take too big a risk on you because they're paying you a low base salary only, and the rest is commission. I HATE the idea of sales 'per se', partially because I think that marketeers are the spawn of the devil (sorry Bill) and the whole mess that we're in globally is largely a result of marketeers and salespeople persuading the gullible public that they need things that they really don't. I'd probably do 'OK' at it, and I'd give it my best shot, but what worries me is that I'd wake up each morning hating it a little more than i did the day before, and if I were actually able to make some decent money at it, then I'd feel torn up inside about not being able to let go of it. Does any of that make sense?

Consider this by Wendell Berry, an essayist, social critic and farmer, who finds sufficiency in the discipline of work. His immediate context is agriculture not the production of crops as much as the husbandry of the land.

"The model figure of this agriculture...." Berry writes,

“….is an old man planting a young tree that will live longer than a man, that he himself may not live to see in its first bearing. And he is planting, moreover, a tree whose worth lies beyond an conceivable market prediction. He is planting it because the good sense for doing so has been clear to men of his place and kind over generations. The practice has been continued because it is ecologically and agriculturally sound; the economic soundness of it must be assumed. While the planting of a field crop, then, may be looked upon as a ‘short-term investment’, the planting of a chestnut tree is a covenant of faith.

Nearly all old standards, which implied and required rigorous disciplines, have now been replaced by a new standard of efficiency which requires….a relentless subjection of means to immediate ends…instead of asking a man what he can do well, it asks him what he can do fast and cheap. Instead of asking a farmer to practice the best husbandry, to be a good steward and trustee of the land and his art, it puts irresistible pressures on him to produce more and more food and fibre more and more cheaply, thereby destroying the health of the land, the best traditions of husbandry and the farm population itself.”

Wendell Berry - 'The logic of sustainability'


This is where I am in my heart. I'm not afraid of hard work, just of destructive work. I'm worried about all our children's future. I'd like to do something positive, but I can't find an outlet without relative privation, and that's hard to do when others don't agree with me, or feel so certain of the future outcome of non action. Aaagh, what to do? Sell out a bit more...just a little more? No doubt I AM a romantic about this, but I cannot afford to be a romantic 'poseur' as one of my favourite authors Thoreau has been called.

Not much of a bugger really....

On Saturday the tree in the drive lost a branch and Matilda was on it with gusto, looking for bugs.



This particular tree which is a Hibiscus with yellow flowers, attracts a form of bug that Wayne calls 'Ladybirds'. In fact Brisbane ladybirds look pretty much like British ones and perform a similar function for the plant, namely feeding in one form or another on the bugs that eat the plant. One such ladybird is called the Mealybug ladybird, and it lays its eggs with the eggs of the Mealybug. The gestation period of the Ladybird is shorter, and it hatches with a fierce appetite for.....Mealybug larvae...Nice. As it turns out, these bugs that the girls were pulling off the tree are called Harlequin bugs, and they come in lots of varieties of two basic colour schemes. The males are blue with orange spots and the females are orange with blue spots. Canny that eh? But far from serving a similar function to the Ladybird, they actually suck the juice out of the plant. We saw the ants having a passing nip but not really moving them on.

Another couple of Brisbane bugs that we've not seen but are part of this family are the 'Metallic Shield' bug:



and the 'Green Jewel' bug:



I've tried to put some of the bugs we've found into a box so that i can pin them to a display at some point, and the Girls keep finding dead ones for my 'collection'. But as yet, every time i find an unusual one, and put into a container, I feel bad about it and let it go. Don't think I'm going to get much of a collection. I might try to get a butterfly net though if I see one. Crocodile Chris I'm not!



A temporary home for 'spot'...



The ants got this one....




Later on Saturday, we went to the circus. I don't remember having been to a circus, so if I have Mum, put me right. Anyway, I duty fully took my camera, thinking 'Blog' of course....and it ran out of battery very early on. So you've only got a few pics of this, instead of the choice ones that I'd imagined that you'd have of fantastic feats of daring. As it happens, it WAS a fantastic display, although some of the acts were a bit tired. The Lion tamer was so on top of his job that Andrew commented on his demeanor to Daile, saying; 'Looks like he's getting a lot of job satisfaction eh?'. On the other hand, the man that you see holding the balloons was the star of the show, performing with acrobat kids, juggling with fire and all the usual, plus an award winning troupe of dogs that he had. Anyway the kids all loved it, and that was great.













Tomorrow we're off to the airport (Daile and I), and we've got to get up at 3.45 as she's flying down to see here sister Leanne in Newcastle. The kids have got little 'I love you' bits of paper that they'll find over the 3 days that she's away. Nice when she does that sort of thing....such a nice Mum. They always love it when they come across one.

Better go, or I'll not wake up. :-)

'ternal animals

Just a quick one tonight, cos I HAD to tell you what Phoebe said! She declared when she and I were out in the truck yesterday that she knew that birds were 'ternal animals'. I said 'they're what darlin?' 'They're ternal, and Bats are NOT ternal !' Ha ha. This is a case of deductive reasoning at its most flawed methinks. Makes you wonder how they're seeing things at the same time that you're assuming that they are seeing things in the same way that you are.... I wonder what she was deducing at this moment? 'NOT-sure'? (Click the pics to get a better look)



..or this one, which was shot in London (before you worry about our parenting out here!).



Hopefully 'NOT-dangerous' is not embedded as a cognitive short-cut in this case!