For the most part, since the vast majority of us don’t really like to think too much, we tend to use a shockingly small vocabulary of words. It’s from this small ‘vocab-in-use’ that we draw for our daily communications, and so its probably not all that surprising that when we have occasion to express something that approximates surprise or amazement… we’re all pretty much stumped.
But there is one phrase that has come into such common usage that I am absolutely SICK of hearing it. It gets used with no thought….at all! Typically, you’ll hear it when some hapless punter is being told that they are staying on in one of these incessant reality TV shows. There’ll be all the hype about the fact that this ‘nail biting’ episode of ‘Master-Stiff’ or ‘Big Bugger’ with the typical American voice over from some fella that sounds like he’s just smoked 5 packs of Woodbines before stepping up to the microphone… and then a tottering woman (or man) with teeth you could use as a straight edge will reveal the result of some decision that the celebrity judges have lost sleep over. The punter will then – almost universally say: ‘OH MY GARD! Often they’ll say it, wait for the approval of all the other hyper cool people on the show before repeating it again….. and again….. and again!
Note that it’s not ‘OH MY GIDDY AUNT’…! OBVIOUSLY it’s not THAT! That would be un-cool wouldn’t it! Nor is it ‘Oh my abstracted concept of a benevolent higher being’ or even ‘shag me sideways with a ragtime players trombone’… which would have at least some small thing going for them! I mean the whole purpose of the expression is to communicate surprise… joy even! Usually, these hap-'free' contestants have had considerable time to conceive and mentally rehearse what they might say… and given that it will be seen by millions of other ‘Oh my god’ …ers, I’d have thought that they might consider something that flys a bit further…
But not only do we not consider words and phrases that are not in common parlance, but we actually try to stop others from using them too. I had a conversation with someone recently (ah my poor long suffering wife!) in which I recalled an incident during my MBA when during an online discussion I used a term ‘meta’ as in ‘meta-cognition’ (or something) to illustrate a point I was trying to make. I was squarely rounded on by another student for using language that was inaccessible, although I think he used the term ‘highbrow’ or something. What was worse was that the tutor who was the moderator of that particular online discussion agreed with the bloke.
So what does this mean?
Well I think that it is symptomatic of a reluctance to step outside of the normative behaviour that we use to define ourselves to the society around us. It is this same behaviour that I’m trying to work around (for my part) in the development of the Logan Creative Network….but lets not go there eh…or Bugger that for a fridge full of beer!
Monday, 29 June 2009
Friday, 26 June 2009
Out of the frying pan?
Crikey! Time's flown since I was last on here!
Been pretty busy at work, and some of the stuff I'm doing is great to be doing. Well most of it is really, even the less great stuff... like making lots of repeats of stuff. One of the guys there is a stereotypical 'whinging Pom' I'm sad to say, and seems to find things to complain about all the time. I told him that he should try being out of work for a while...
Having said that, I'm not really doing any repeats... only the more interesting jobs ...so far at least.
House sale
A few weeks ago we completed the sale of our rental house. We were finding it difficult to pay out, and watch all our hard work making the place presentable be trashed by the tenants who didn't seem to give a s**t about it, and were rude to us into the bargain.
After some difficulty, we managed to get figures from the bank that showed what they'd done with the money.
Now those of you who are familiar with the selling of property in the UK will know that when you exchange, the solicitors pay the dosh into your bank and the mortgage is paid off (you hope). Well guess what... ! They don't do that in Oz! Here, what they do is they put the money into the account and still charge you interest. OK... not a problem, you just pay it back right? Wrong! We had two thirds of the money that we'd borrowed as a fixed rate loan. We looked upon it as a mortgage, but here they call it a home loan. Ending the term early incurs penalties.
We understood this when we took it out, but figured that based on the sort of money these things had been in living memory... or at least financial market memory, which is considerably shorter than a small child's and fractionally longer than an ant's...it was worth it. We'd been led to understand that it would more than likely be around a couple of thousand to get out of it.
But of course we weren't counting on the interest rates dropping. Nor were we aware of how the banks (aka legalised loan sharks) think. The way it works is:
1. You enter into an agreement.
For us it's a loan of 'x' which we may or may not want for 5 years but which we are prepared to take a risk on the interest going 'in our favour' rather than theirs, and pay the get out if we need to sell the house before that. (It's worth noting that most people sell their house every 7 years on average in the UK)
For them, it's a guarantee that we will pay them a fixed amount for 5 years and apparently, the rate that they gave us ( a whopping 1% below the standard rate) is based on their being able to calculate their cash flows over this period.
2. If the loan-ees, (hereinafter known as the lambs) decide to close out the loan early, it is therefore perfectly reasonable for the bank to charge them (hereinafter known as the slaughter) a percentage of the interest that they had calculated that they would earn over the remainder of the term - EVEN though you've given the money back. The idea sounds reasonable enough until you see what happens in a recession!
Our locked in rate was a full 2.5% higher than it is currently. If they re-loan the entire amount that they loaned us to some other lambs, then they can only slaughter them for the lower (current market) rate. That leaves them a shortfall on their projections for that parcel of dosh that comes to....
wait for it...
$17,300!!!
Yup you read it right! That's how much it would have cost us to close our loan the day that they told us. The loan value (if you're interested and like the maths was $190k and we had about 3.5 years left on the fixed rate (hereinafter known as being tied to the rails) Since then the rate has got worse and better and worse again. The last time I looked it was about $14,600.
So we figured there were three options open to us.
Better get a move on and get the thing done!
To whit, it's in re-design, to be a stage build, so that we can build a slimmed down version, and get into it, with what we have available. I hope I keep working!
Been pretty busy at work, and some of the stuff I'm doing is great to be doing. Well most of it is really, even the less great stuff... like making lots of repeats of stuff. One of the guys there is a stereotypical 'whinging Pom' I'm sad to say, and seems to find things to complain about all the time. I told him that he should try being out of work for a while...
Having said that, I'm not really doing any repeats... only the more interesting jobs ...so far at least.
House sale
A few weeks ago we completed the sale of our rental house. We were finding it difficult to pay out, and watch all our hard work making the place presentable be trashed by the tenants who didn't seem to give a s**t about it, and were rude to us into the bargain.
After some difficulty, we managed to get figures from the bank that showed what they'd done with the money.
Now those of you who are familiar with the selling of property in the UK will know that when you exchange, the solicitors pay the dosh into your bank and the mortgage is paid off (you hope). Well guess what... ! They don't do that in Oz! Here, what they do is they put the money into the account and still charge you interest. OK... not a problem, you just pay it back right? Wrong! We had two thirds of the money that we'd borrowed as a fixed rate loan. We looked upon it as a mortgage, but here they call it a home loan. Ending the term early incurs penalties.
We understood this when we took it out, but figured that based on the sort of money these things had been in living memory... or at least financial market memory, which is considerably shorter than a small child's and fractionally longer than an ant's...it was worth it. We'd been led to understand that it would more than likely be around a couple of thousand to get out of it.
But of course we weren't counting on the interest rates dropping. Nor were we aware of how the banks (aka legalised loan sharks) think. The way it works is:
1. You enter into an agreement.
For us it's a loan of 'x' which we may or may not want for 5 years but which we are prepared to take a risk on the interest going 'in our favour' rather than theirs, and pay the get out if we need to sell the house before that. (It's worth noting that most people sell their house every 7 years on average in the UK)
For them, it's a guarantee that we will pay them a fixed amount for 5 years and apparently, the rate that they gave us ( a whopping 1% below the standard rate) is based on their being able to calculate their cash flows over this period.
2. If the loan-ees, (hereinafter known as the lambs) decide to close out the loan early, it is therefore perfectly reasonable for the bank to charge them (hereinafter known as the slaughter) a percentage of the interest that they had calculated that they would earn over the remainder of the term - EVEN though you've given the money back. The idea sounds reasonable enough until you see what happens in a recession!
Our locked in rate was a full 2.5% higher than it is currently. If they re-loan the entire amount that they loaned us to some other lambs, then they can only slaughter them for the lower (current market) rate. That leaves them a shortfall on their projections for that parcel of dosh that comes to....
wait for it...
$17,300!!!
Yup you read it right! That's how much it would have cost us to close our loan the day that they told us. The loan value (if you're interested and like the maths was $190k and we had about 3.5 years left on the fixed rate (hereinafter known as being tied to the rails) Since then the rate has got worse and better and worse again. The last time I looked it was about $14,600.
So we figured there were three options open to us.
- We could sue the major Australian bank, that would of course be in league with all the other major Australian banks - especially given how much money would be at stake if they lost and everyone else joined in.
- We could pay off the money and lie in a pool of blood and lambswool on the floor of the abattoir... or
- We could keep the money and get back to building our house. I mean, lets face it... they would never lend us money again under our current predicament with work being so intermittent and NOT A PROPER JOB - so the chances of us building our house any time soon are VERY slim... unless!!!!!!
Better get a move on and get the thing done!
To whit, it's in re-design, to be a stage build, so that we can build a slimmed down version, and get into it, with what we have available. I hope I keep working!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Dog-Cat
Today we went for 'breakfast' (late) into the forest. We'd thought that it would be nice to go where Tild and I went last week. So we packed up and set off, but realised that Jack was following us, some way behind.
He's a bit like Molly the cat used to be in London, where he used to follow Daile to the shops. Jack is very like a more feisty version of Molly.
When we got to the gates of the forest walk, we thought that he'd stop, but he kept on coming. He was on high alert though... jumpy at first, as there's obviously a fair bit of wildlife in there that could eat him... or at least give him a run for his money. There are Possums, (fierce) and snakes of all kinds. (Some are lethal). Kangas are glimpsed from time to time, and of course the Goannas.
He's following behind in this shot....
We went a pretty long way in, until we decided that we'd just stop and have our breakfast where we were, rather than go to the site that we were aiming for. We were thinking that if Jack did get scared and disappear that far in, chances are he'd get lost or eaten! So we made a stop and had bacon and eggs. YUM!
The light was gorgeous...
...and then we set off back, with Jack fully replete on Daile's milk that was for her coffee.
We have a blanket policy of killing all spiders in the house regardless of where they are or what they look like. Yesterday Phoebe spotted one in the spare room, but then said it was a fly. I didn't bother to look. It wasn't until they'd been playing alongside it for ten mins that Matilda suddenly realised that it wasn't a fly...it was a Redback!
...this was the first time that I've ignored the declaration of a spider... and the first Redback that we've found in this house. Aint that the way!
He's a bit like Molly the cat used to be in London, where he used to follow Daile to the shops. Jack is very like a more feisty version of Molly.
When we got to the gates of the forest walk, we thought that he'd stop, but he kept on coming. He was on high alert though... jumpy at first, as there's obviously a fair bit of wildlife in there that could eat him... or at least give him a run for his money. There are Possums, (fierce) and snakes of all kinds. (Some are lethal). Kangas are glimpsed from time to time, and of course the Goannas.
He's following behind in this shot....
We went a pretty long way in, until we decided that we'd just stop and have our breakfast where we were, rather than go to the site that we were aiming for. We were thinking that if Jack did get scared and disappear that far in, chances are he'd get lost or eaten! So we made a stop and had bacon and eggs. YUM!
The light was gorgeous...
...and then we set off back, with Jack fully replete on Daile's milk that was for her coffee.
We have a blanket policy of killing all spiders in the house regardless of where they are or what they look like. Yesterday Phoebe spotted one in the spare room, but then said it was a fly. I didn't bother to look. It wasn't until they'd been playing alongside it for ten mins that Matilda suddenly realised that it wasn't a fly...it was a Redback!
...this was the first time that I've ignored the declaration of a spider... and the first Redback that we've found in this house. Aint that the way!
Thursday, 11 June 2009
...and then there were two...or rather there weren't two!
The Feeb lost another tooth today...
The fairy did come the other day, so hopefully there will be a repeat performance tonight.
I just tucked them into bed and they're sleeping like... well er, like kids. (Which may mean they both get up and come into our bed) (Again).
... and when we all arrived in their room, Jack was asleep on Matilda's bed, with the little bear that Matilda and I made a while ago. Sweet init?
and just for fun... on the subject of teeth here's a thing about a freefalling Grannie!
The fairy did come the other day, so hopefully there will be a repeat performance tonight.
I just tucked them into bed and they're sleeping like... well er, like kids. (Which may mean they both get up and come into our bed) (Again).
... and when we all arrived in their room, Jack was asleep on Matilda's bed, with the little bear that Matilda and I made a while ago. Sweet init?
and just for fun... on the subject of teeth here's a thing about a freefalling Grannie!
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Lovely weekend...
On Sunday morning we went round to our new mates house for breakfast. Rather nicely, they live on the hill right opposite our land and we can see their house from our land... or at least we almost can, but for one of their neighbour's house which is in the way.
Here's a picture of them taken later in the day. From left is Ryan, Janice, Anna, Ewan and Jack. They're all lovely.
Daile asked me to sort out making a fruit 'thing'. I got a bit carried away...
...but it went down really well with the kids...and this is the aftermath:
Another person who lives at their house is called Gilly, and she's a Staffy.
That picture above is about the only one I've taken of her that isn't a blur. She's always moving, and really quickly... this is more like what I normally get...
After breakfast (full English) we all decided that we'd head off to the Southbank and check out the galleries. We went on the train... which was a great idea and we got a whole bit of the train to ourselves.
Percy pig came too.
Matilda seems to have taken to biting her nails...
and the results are not pretty....
.... thumb sucking is better!
When we got there we had sarnies and tea that we'd brought, and some nice cake. Then we did the water taxis down the river to the galleries.
Daile looks good in this eh? You know I think she got the 'enigmatic smile' off to a tee. (It was the only free thing at the Leonardo exhibition... which we swerved on as it was $50 per family, and didn't look big enough to be worth it... at least when you have tear-aways with you).
In the art gallery they have some neat air conditioning vents that kids love. Here's Phoebe on one, but I couldn't get her to do the Marilyn Munroe thing... she thought I was stupid! (Amazingly perceptive kid eh!)
Matilda and I went out for a bike ride... just us, on Bank holiday Monday. We went about an hour into the forest in front of our house. It goes for miles and miles and miles like this. We got to a car park, had a bit of chocolate, and came back. We both had a ball. I fell off when she chickened out of a steep hill, and I (stupidly) thought I could carry her bike whilst still riding mine down the hill at speed! Ha ha. I've got bruises on my bruises, on my calfs, knees and inner thigh. I was laughing so much that Matilda had to pull the wreckage off me.
This week FINALLY saw Phoebe's first tooth come out. She kept coming up and 'showing' me her wobbly teeth (there's another coming soon). Thing is I couldn't see them cos of her finger!
Anyway, this is what she looks like now...(tonight). The eye seems to be a LOT better thank goodness. I hope the fairy comes!
Here's a picture of them taken later in the day. From left is Ryan, Janice, Anna, Ewan and Jack. They're all lovely.
Daile asked me to sort out making a fruit 'thing'. I got a bit carried away...
...but it went down really well with the kids...and this is the aftermath:
Another person who lives at their house is called Gilly, and she's a Staffy.
That picture above is about the only one I've taken of her that isn't a blur. She's always moving, and really quickly... this is more like what I normally get...
After breakfast (full English) we all decided that we'd head off to the Southbank and check out the galleries. We went on the train... which was a great idea and we got a whole bit of the train to ourselves.
Percy pig came too.
Matilda seems to have taken to biting her nails...
and the results are not pretty....
.... thumb sucking is better!
When we got there we had sarnies and tea that we'd brought, and some nice cake. Then we did the water taxis down the river to the galleries.
Daile looks good in this eh? You know I think she got the 'enigmatic smile' off to a tee. (It was the only free thing at the Leonardo exhibition... which we swerved on as it was $50 per family, and didn't look big enough to be worth it... at least when you have tear-aways with you).
In the art gallery they have some neat air conditioning vents that kids love. Here's Phoebe on one, but I couldn't get her to do the Marilyn Munroe thing... she thought I was stupid! (Amazingly perceptive kid eh!)
Matilda and I went out for a bike ride... just us, on Bank holiday Monday. We went about an hour into the forest in front of our house. It goes for miles and miles and miles like this. We got to a car park, had a bit of chocolate, and came back. We both had a ball. I fell off when she chickened out of a steep hill, and I (stupidly) thought I could carry her bike whilst still riding mine down the hill at speed! Ha ha. I've got bruises on my bruises, on my calfs, knees and inner thigh. I was laughing so much that Matilda had to pull the wreckage off me.
This week FINALLY saw Phoebe's first tooth come out. She kept coming up and 'showing' me her wobbly teeth (there's another coming soon). Thing is I couldn't see them cos of her finger!
Anyway, this is what she looks like now...(tonight). The eye seems to be a LOT better thank goodness. I hope the fairy comes!
Friday, 5 June 2009
Nasty little bleeder
Last Sunday, I went to see if the girls were OK because we'd not seen them for a while. It's not normally something we worry overly about because they play with their mates in the street, or they go around to each others houses. We have the neighbours kids more than they have ours, but that's probably got something to do with the 'facilities' here... I don't know, but its what happens.
I found them at Tara's house, and Tara's mum, Tracy, pointed out that she'd just seen what she thought looked like a tic on Phoebe's left lower eyelid. I thought it was a 'jewel' cos Phoebe had got some little jewel stickers on Saturday, and had some elsewhere. However, when i tried to pull it off, it didn't want to come. I put my specks on and got closer...and it WAS a tick! Yuck...NOT yum! What was worse is that pulling a tick is about the worst thing you can do, as they inject their nasty tick-i-ness into the site (where their barbed mouth parts are buried) They can be there without you knowing because they numb the area - all very clever. I took her home and we decided to immediately get her down to the Chemist (the doctor was closed - Sunday - isn't it ALWAYS Sunday when these things happen!).
On the way there, I looked across at Feeb and the thing had gone... and she said her nose was itchy. We were at the lights so I looked up into her nose and thought I could see it... but had nothing to get it with. Then the lights changed. I told her to blow her nose and gave her an old oily rag ...all I had to hand. She did, bless her and when we got there I could see no evidence. The chemist gave me an address for a doc a little way away to check. He declared her all clear in the nose and the eye looked clean ...
But it obviously wasnt' because this morning they both came into us at 5.45 to show us Feebs eye.
Apparently it can take up to two weeks for this to happen... Daile had to take a day off to get her down to the docs... (Fortunately this time it was a Friday) and she's got anti-bio tics.
This is what can happen if it's not treated with anti-bio tics...
Nasty things eh!
On a more positive note, I've got on well this week with the work, and have had an opportunity to show a bit of speed and innovation... as was asked to turn around a tricky job from start to finish in a day and a half (should probably have been 3 days). I did it and the boss was delighted... not so much for the speed as the way I'd done it. Encouraging start. Lets hope it goes somewhere.
I found them at Tara's house, and Tara's mum, Tracy, pointed out that she'd just seen what she thought looked like a tic on Phoebe's left lower eyelid. I thought it was a 'jewel' cos Phoebe had got some little jewel stickers on Saturday, and had some elsewhere. However, when i tried to pull it off, it didn't want to come. I put my specks on and got closer...and it WAS a tick! Yuck...NOT yum! What was worse is that pulling a tick is about the worst thing you can do, as they inject their nasty tick-i-ness into the site (where their barbed mouth parts are buried) They can be there without you knowing because they numb the area - all very clever. I took her home and we decided to immediately get her down to the Chemist (the doctor was closed - Sunday - isn't it ALWAYS Sunday when these things happen!).
On the way there, I looked across at Feeb and the thing had gone... and she said her nose was itchy. We were at the lights so I looked up into her nose and thought I could see it... but had nothing to get it with. Then the lights changed. I told her to blow her nose and gave her an old oily rag ...all I had to hand. She did, bless her and when we got there I could see no evidence. The chemist gave me an address for a doc a little way away to check. He declared her all clear in the nose and the eye looked clean ...
But it obviously wasnt' because this morning they both came into us at 5.45 to show us Feebs eye.
Apparently it can take up to two weeks for this to happen... Daile had to take a day off to get her down to the docs... (Fortunately this time it was a Friday) and she's got anti-bio tics.
This is what can happen if it's not treated with anti-bio tics...
Nasty things eh!
On a more positive note, I've got on well this week with the work, and have had an opportunity to show a bit of speed and innovation... as was asked to turn around a tricky job from start to finish in a day and a half (should probably have been 3 days). I did it and the boss was delighted... not so much for the speed as the way I'd done it. Encouraging start. Lets hope it goes somewhere.
Monday, 1 June 2009
Liking work...
Today I went to work on the film. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!
It was great to be using tools again, and smelling all the familiar smells. Even some of the nastier smells smelt good! I start at 7 .30 and finish at 6, with 45mins for lunch, which is laid on by the production.
So far the lads seem like a pretty good bunch too... so lets hope it stays that way.
Now I have to get into the habit of getting a bit more sleep... so that I can function better than my normal self and impress someone!
... and that's all I'm saying for now... I think I'll go and rest my weary (unaccustomed) bones.
:-)
It was great to be using tools again, and smelling all the familiar smells. Even some of the nastier smells smelt good! I start at 7 .30 and finish at 6, with 45mins for lunch, which is laid on by the production.
So far the lads seem like a pretty good bunch too... so lets hope it stays that way.
Now I have to get into the habit of getting a bit more sleep... so that I can function better than my normal self and impress someone!
... and that's all I'm saying for now... I think I'll go and rest my weary (unaccustomed) bones.
:-)
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