Thoughts and stuff

Re: Re: try it out for yourself!!

2011-09-30T15:00:00.001+10:00

Hi friend...
literally don't tell yourself you can't do this before you have even tried
http://portalbbbaovivo.110mb.com/NicholasMorgan14.html
see you

Bicycle Races

2010-01-07T00:14:00.001+11:00

A sense of wonder often occurs for me when I look at sports people either elite or your Joe average.

Here we have a fit healthy person spending alot of time exercising to build a healthy fit body so they can run a little bit faster than another person.

Is this a thing that we should admiring. The energy, dedication and drive that people put into these activities glows from the human heart. It can show the very best traits in perseverance and mental strength. Or should we be wondering what happens to these gains in physical condition when the person ages, and can no longer exercise at the level they were. Should this energy be put into something more worthwhile, such as finding a way to empower the downtrodden. Or maybe developing more energy efficient means of transport or energy generation.

The human condition is transitory, we live, we die and that is it. How vain are we to think that we can reach for immortality through money earned, records won or genetics passed on.

Life is a bicycle race, for all the pedalling you do, for all the stages you win or lose. We all finish at the same place, the end.

Pedal at your own pace and do what you have to to make it worth your while.

New technology

2010-01-04T23:39:00.001+11:00

Have just downloaded a blogging tool for my PDA. Seems to work fine, but would like a few more bells and whistles.

Might even encourage me to write a little more.

Avatar

2010-01-02T19:55:00.002+11:00

Recently went to see Avatar, was a very good movie. I enjoyed it very much

while the story line was a little predictable, the special effects were spectacular. Suspending belief to believe that there was floating islands in the sky and blue people wasn't difficult. The concepts were astounding and created lots of discussion in the car with my family aftwerwards. I would recommend you see this move. Hopefully more indepth discussion will follow later once I have thought about it further.

Tolerance

2008-08-13T18:26:00.001+10:00

How many times do I need to relearn that being tired stops me from being patient.

As we progress into week 3 of of the semester and the workload begins to build, work continues to expand and we all get busier at home. I am beginning to increase my tiredness and it alters my perspective of my surroundings. Sitting in class today with someone I respect did the noisy whiney thing that he has been doing for the last couple of years I finally snapped and was quite mean to him. While I am not proud of it I did feel a certain level of satisfaction at finally having said something. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been tired.

closure

2008-08-03T21:44:00.002+10:00

Well I have finished my 350 metres of fencing. It was a real family effort with the four of us carrying, winding, straining and working for the last 2 weekends, but now it is done.

I am officially the worlds 3rd worst fencer, ( I have yet to teach my two children everything I know)

But the feeling of having finished is a great sense of satisfaction. Yes there were some difficulties along the way, one of the end assemblies decided that it wanted to life up out of the ground as we strained the wire. Probably because of the hill, and the sloppy ground. Thank goodness for the rain!

My 11yo daughter and I built one of the end assemblies together. It was the first time I think that we have been able to work as equals (neither of us knew what we were doing) and it was really nice. I was so please to rediscover that my daughter is a nice thoughtful insiteful person. These are things that I knew, but in the business of life miss from time to time. We talked about school, her friends where she was at, what she was doing and wanted to do. It was fabulous. I believe I will remember that day forever. At those moments there is nothing better than being a Dad.

Age filters

2008-07-30T22:24:00.001+10:00

What happens when we age, why do we change? What part of ourselves do we lose, or is it more a case of we lose that which isn't essentially us.

Mental acuity is an important part of who we are, I know that when I get older the possible loss of being able to think and work out stuff for myself scares the living daylights out of me. I can't imagine being myself if I couldn't express myself as well as i do now.

I see old people struggling with concepts and ideas that they must have coped with when they were younger.

I see them react as if they no longer have filters to moderate their behavior.

So, have they lost or found themselves?

TALKING TO KIDS

2008-07-22T21:57:00.002+10:00

I had to speak to a group of teenagers tonight, telling them stuff they didn't want or feel they need to hear. How do you get through to them? Well, I tried a range of things, unfortunately it was a pretty dry topic, but they had lots of questions and that was helpful. What they really wanted was to head off and do neat stuff, but instead they had to listen to a boring old fart like me.

They were really good and paid attention but I think I need to pay a little more attention to my presentations with young people.

I will need time to do this so
PLEASE PLEDGE TIME SO THAT I CAN DO THIS

New Old Age

2008-07-21T20:52:00.003+10:00

It is an established fact that we are all getting older, and we are all very different from the old people that exist now. Sound ageist? Damned right, I am an individual the same as everyone else!

ha

But on a serious note, think of what our grandparents were doing when they were our age and compare that to what we do. I can see huge differences, my Parents were coming to terms with television, and now when you go into a nursing home (as I have to do from time to time) there are rows and rows of old people staring at the television, lost in thoughts drool dribbling down wrinkles in their faces.

Now what am I coming to terms with? Computer games, I am learning to play guitar hero with my son, and kingdom hearts 2 with my daughter, so when I am an infirm old fart in a nursing home will I be playing computer games? will the controls have developed to the point where I am connected like all those bodies in the Matrix movies? Will I live an eternal youth until I fade away and my hard drive stops?

I started thinking that this would be ironic and sad, now with a little reflection I am quite hopeful. I don't think that would be too bad, especially if it was interactive with others.

Bill Gates and his neophytes will save my future!

2008-07-20T21:08:00.001+10:00

When I look at the way many of us live our lives I am often astounded at what I feel is the shallowness of people. But then I wonder about my own perspectives.

Recently went to a joint kids birthday party at a friends family members place. They are a very sporting family not so much in playing as in watching. They have great knowledge of various sporting teams and codes, andto listen to them is fascinating. But I can't help but think why is this all important . Who cares what footy team wins

2008-07-18T21:36:00.001+10:00

I have 350m of fencing to do next weekend, and it is very daunting. Not wanting to be too naggish folks, but this little exercise will require more time so please make your pledge of any time you can spare.

2008-07-17T23:20:00.001+10:00

It's tax time again, and bugger me dead if this wasn't the easiest lodgement yet. The online system worked very smoothly and I even had all my papers. Yahoo! Sorry, this blog is part of Google, not sure what exclamation to use.

On another note, have a look at the clever cartoon system below. I have had a little go with it and might play some more when I have some time.

Speaking of which. I have yet to recieve any donations. I am sure there are many of you who like me are 'FullOfIt' but also have too much time on your hands. Please donate, add your pledges (and yes I will take even single minutes) to the comments so that I can have more time which I will spend doing whatever I want!

2008-07-17T21:30:00.000+10:00

2008-07-16T22:31:00.002+10:00

Okay, so we have 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week. That makes 168 hours. If we work for 40 of those and sleep for 56. That should leave us with 72 hours per week to do what we want. That is a hell of a party. I could get nearly halfway across australia in that time. I could watch the entire Star Wars series 4 times and pause for toilet breaks.

However that isn't how it works.

So to help me and others like me out please donate any spare time you may have. We can't promise to spend it wisely. It may go on cheap alcohol, but if you aren't using it, I am sure I can put it to good use.

So please donate your few minutes of time through the comments

Bloody Management

2008-07-15T20:10:00.003+10:00

I had a long weekend just gone, with Choir concert Eeling and just having a good time. So when I had to go to work today it was a quite a shake up. Suddenly I am accountable for every minute of my time, in a way that makes every thing that has gone before seem silly.

I wonder some time about the way the pendulum swings with new management. I know you all have been through this too. We are encouraged to behave in a specific way doing our jobs to the best of our ability, taking advantage of our independance to best tailor the support for our communities. New management and budgets come in, and suddenly everything that we do is being watched and we often have to spend twice as much time writing up and justifying what we are doing as doing it.

Oh boy I just read my little whinge up there and it really shows how frustrated I am with all this. I better just buckle down and ge the job done I guess, it is what I get paid for. I do welcome your comments though, have you been through this cycle & how did you deal with it?

Being a Parent

2008-07-14T22:11:00.001+10:00

I just had a bath. Very enjoyable, but I had lots of little red spots on my legs. ??? I thought to myself. Then it dawned on me. Bloody gorse and thistles.

It was curriculum day today after two weeks of school holidays and my son had decided he wanted to travel 300km's to go fishing. We cancelled that and went eeling on a neighbours property. Took the dog, the rods, and some scraps of meat, waded through the gorse and thistles both on our property and theirs then spent 2hrs lovely hours on the side of a river bank. We caught nothing. My sons casting skills have improved dramatically though. We had a nice time. Good Father and Son time.

We came home and had lunch, then went and picked up my daughter from from her sleepover with a friend. She was quite insistant that I share some time with her so we played one of her favourite PS2 games, "Kingdom Hearts" We had good fun.

It makes me think that it is important that I continue to spend time with them even as they age.

First bowling tournament

2008-07-14T21:04:00.001+10:00

I took my son to his first bowling tournament. he did well and I am very proud of him. but there was this one couple, and I guess they would say that they bowl as a family. But the newborn baby was handed off to someone else to look after and the ?10 year old was Sent off to the play room and wandered back from time to time looking very bored.

All this while Mum & Dad Carried on. everyone Knew about every ball they threw down the lane yelling and Calling out. I don't know what normal behaviour is at a tournament but these 2 didn't impress me much!

the really sad thing is that this tournament is run by a coaching clinic to expose kids to tournament type events before they get out into a real tournament.

Vey Sad, as there people are is their late 30s at least!

they need to grow up. Not a good example

Will we go to another tournament? I think so, everyone else Seemed really nice. It was just a few silly people that seemed to spoil it for others.

a test

2008-07-14T20:48:00.000+10:00

just checking the email blogging system

Lets try again

2008-07-12T21:04:00.003+10:00

This is yet another attempt to regularly journal and document my life.

I guess the first thing to discuss is the weather. Why the weather? It is the place most conversations start, the beginning of the inane from which meaning grows.

It is cold, bloody cold. about 8 degrees during the day and much colder in the evening. I am finding it very difficult to get out and do the jobs around the place that need doing, because it is just too cold.

The gorse is growing, even in this cold temperatures, and I see the area that has been groomed growing and spreading. It is an amazing thing to see, it spreads and grows, wider, higher, greener and with a beautiful spread of golden flowers. Damn shame it is a noxious weed. Come Spring I will get out the poison and spray all this regrowth. A good thing and I will be exhausted and stinky, but I love waiting and watching the green slowly fade and the plants die giving opportunity for the native plants to grow. watch this space I will put up some photos as I go along.

Tic Toc Chapter 1

2007-10-20T08:28:00.000+10:00

Chapter 1
The soft soles of her shoes made little sound as she carefully moved down the corridor. Jakes heavier boots made a small thump with each step, but still they managed to remain unnoticed as they moved through the ship. They were near the dining room now, it was the most dangerous part of the mission, but the timing was set, everyone should be either eating or at their work stations.

The central spine corridor went the length of the ship, broken in a number of points by airlock doors and monitored by cameras all the way through, people were continuously moving through. Staying out of it had been difficult to plan, they had used the basic design layout, but after spending a few days on the ship, it was obvious that this craft had been altered significantly since it first left the build dock. It took another week of wandering around to figure out the new plan, and they were still uncertain about the secure area and the escape pods.

“Last turn” Jake whispered.

For the 5th time Marle sighed in frustration and slightly shook her head, Jake just didn’t understand that things that might have worked in jungles and urban battles would just make them seem more obvious here. They couldn’t creep around looking suspicious, they needed to look like they belonged, and they did. They both had valid tickets and cabins, they just weren’t here for a holiday like their passports said, it was about business, all business.

Glancing around the corner Marle spotted a camera above the hatch she reached into her bag for her PDA with which she took an image of the camera. Selecting the cameras lense on the image she then beamed a design for a sticky aerofoil onto the film with its target imprinted, it only took seconds for the nano film to transform, and she flicked it into the air where it flew directly to the lense which it folded over. They waited 3 minutes for an image to be absorbed then Marle beamed an instruction up to the film. It began to display for the lense an empty corridor as Marle and Jake walked up to the hatch unobserved. Setting her PDA against the controls of the door, it’s lock pick program ran and there was a quiet click as the door unlocked.

Moving into the room, Jake headed straight for the white boxes with the large Red Cross on them. He quickly checked the item number against the one he’d been given and began to fit them into his back pack. Marle moved around looking at the other goods in the secure area. There was a case marked with the Diamond Merchants Seal, and another with the Technology Group Seal, she quickly tucked those into her bag and Jake was ready to go.

“Are you right?” she asked

“Yeah” Jake grunted as he set the bulging back pack more firmly on his shoulders, “but let’s not take too long, I want this out of here”

Marle led the way out the hatch relocking the door behind them, when they had turned the corner she beamed back with her PDA, and the nano film slipped off the lense then dissolved into the atmosphere as it fell toward the ground.

Back through the ship they went, carefully moving through the outer corridors until they came to the nearest escape pod. Marle opened the hatch and slipped in, Jake quickly following. Moving to the controls Marle connected her PDA to the AI control and started altering the commands to let the capsule drop out of hyperspace so it could be picked up by their own ship the “Goanna”.

“Right, that should be it, time for dinner” she sighed and they moved back to the hatch, only to find it closed and locked.

A solid clunking sounded and they felt the pod lurch as it was released by the ship.

“Aaargh” Jake cried “Belt in, I have been through this before, it is going to hurt when the boosters kick in”

Strapping in, Marle tried to work out what had gone wrong; she knew that she had set the timer for the launch to go off in 3 hours time, while Jake and her were to be dancing in the lounge with a very obvious alibi. This didn’t make sense. The escape pod lurched then stopped. Marle and Jake looked at each other; Jakes left eyebrow rising as he waited for her to explain what was going on.

“ATTENTION THE ESCAPE POD” a voice boomed out of the speaker. “you have no reason to be in that pod, and we will not be recovering you back to the ship, until we dock. You are under arrest for piracy and theft. We have been following you since you broke the seal on the secure area. Clever bit of work that, we wouldn’t have known you were there but for our backup systems”.

Marle and Jake looked at each other and started to unbuckle, “Aaargh,” she cried, I think I am having a fit, and my medicine is in my cabin, you have to get me back or I will die”

“Oh my gods” Jake said urgently, “she is turning purple, quick bring us back, quick”

“We have a video feed inside that capsule” the voice said with a trace of amusement, “you will be remaining there”

Tick Tock Hobbit Universe

2007-10-06T17:08:00.000+10:00

This is my little play with the Dragon page Tick Tock Hobbit Universe. http://www.dragonpage.com/2007/09/14/dragon-page-challenge-the-tick-tock-hobbit-universe/

Go Mike, Mike and Summer!!!!!! You are all sweeties, (M&M’S I guess)
It isn’t fully developed and far too broad. But I am going to play there, I think I left myself enough leeway to go all sorts of places.

Enjoy.

“Granpa, tell us why we can’t go outside.”
“Oh now come on Freddo, you know the answer to that” the old man said as he sat next to the glow basket and looked at the group of children surrounding him.
“But Granpa it is a neat story” they cried.
“It is more than a story little ones” he said “it is a legend that is real and it affects you...”
“Ooohh” the children said and wriggled nearer

“Back when I was your age, we lived outside, I used to catch tadpoles and we would collect the sweetest crispest apples that grew on trees taller than the biggest cave is high. We kept so many pigs that we had bacon and eggs for breakfast, ham for lunch and pork for dinner. “
The old man paused and looked at the children, they were poor malnourished things. There just wasn’t enough food in the caves to feed everyone. He could hear his own stomach growl just thinking about the old times.

“but Granpa, that was a Hundred Eleven years ago, when you were young, that was forever ago”

“Don’t be cheeky; I am only a Hundred and eleven now. The Tic Tocs were tools that we made to help us live better lives. My dad had a boat with a tic toc paddler, which moved it through the water. He carved all the parts by hand from the strongest wood he could find. It was his pride and joy. My mother had a Tic Toc she carved when she first got married that would spin in a bowl and mix cakes. It was a wonderful time and we lived a lovely life.

One day there was an enormous boom from the sky” the old man’s hands darted out and up emphasising the sound” clouds, flame and noise came screaming at us. We lived in the swamp on the edge of the great forest and this cloud and flame came over the forest toward us, where it passed over the forest it knocked over trees, and as it came closer to us the trees began to spark and burn until a great fire followed it along the ground.

We all ducked, I was knocked out of my father’s boat as the flaming object passed overhead and splashed down into the mud. The steam and heat was incredible and I watched the water boil and the object which we later learned was a spaceship baked the mud that surrounded it as it cooled. There was a new island in the deep swamp and the sound of boiling water and cooling cracking clay suddenly replaced the roar that had deafened us.

My dad hauled me back into the boat and we watched for the rest of the day until eventually a small part of the hill began to cave away and the tallest people you could ever imagine came out of the hole. They were a shiny metal colour with glass faces, I had never seen anything like it in my life. There were two of them and they walked across the water, you children would be amazed, I certainly was.

But it got more strange, when they got to my Dads boat, the tallest one took a box off his waist and looked at it, he waved his hands, then took his head off!”

The children gasped in awe as the old granpa twisted his head around like he was removing it. Little Freddo watched with a thoughtful expression.

“And they had a second head underneath, and they had a box that changed our words to theirs and their words to ours. It was very strange. We brought them back to our village, and fed them, they didn’t eat much and were obviously a couple. They were fascinated by our tic Tocs and wanted to know how we powered them. Over the weeks we explained to them the great mysteries of the magic inside us and how we tapped into it. They were able to tap into the power too and even made some very simple Tic Tocs. Then one day, they disappeared. We couldn’t find them and my father’s boat had disappeared as well.”

The children crept even closer and the shadows on the walls of the cave seemed to flicker ominously.

“We found them eventually they were pale and dying at the island, they had tried to reanimate their ship with the magic from within but had drawn too much. They told us they had succeeded and their ships brain was now working, and it should be able to heal the ship so they could get home. But the power they had drained was too great and they died.
We hadn’t told them the full story though, that the magic as all connected. Slowly the ship seemed to become more self aware, we heard sounds from within. Some of us would venture inside and speak to the machine and it told us that it was trying to get home. Then one day there was an enormous roaring and the ship tried to lift up and go, but it couldn’t, it was baked too deeply in the clay to get out and it was stuck there forever. We visited again and the ship seemed to be crying, it was lonely. We tried to be friends with it, but it was mechanical too, and thought that we were being cruel to the Tic Tocs. It started to hate us. I think it was because we could travel around our world. Slowly our Tic Tocs began to behave strangely in the swamp near the ship. So we stopped going there, then Tic Tocs disappeared, my father’s boat wasn’t there one morning, but it was seen from time to time ferrying Tic Tocs deeper into the swamp. The ship had reached through the magic and was beginning to control the Tic Tocs. It’s power began to spread until it started to attack the villages, driving us deep underground where we can hide away from the attacks.

We are lucky little ones, it can’t make other Tic Tocs, and eventually our attacks will destroy all the Tic Tocs and you will all be able to play outside, won’t that be wonderful?”

“Yes, Yes, Yes” they little ones cried as they jumped out and raced down the tunnel leaping and flying as if they were outside.

The old man stared into the glow basket, and thought to himself, but what about the criminals that were broken free, the ships tame Hobbit tribe?

A bit of relief

2007-06-29T22:22:00.000+10:00

Well, I still don't have my exam results, and won't for a couple of weeks, but I caught up with a fellow student and she was stressed because she felt that she didn't know many of the answers. Cool. I felt that I knew some of the them so that puts me well ahead of her. But how did I do? watch this space I am feeling a little better about it now!

done for now

2007-06-27T19:38:00.000+10:00

I sat my first formal exam for 24 years today. Quite a triumph for me, (ok, that may be preemptive, but preemptice works for George Bush) depending on the marks that is.

An interesting experience, sitting in an exam hall with 2-300 other students of all ages and subject types. We stood in cold and rain (yes I know I am in Australia in the middle of a drought but we stil get the bad weather), everyones discomfort about their exam was emphasised by the weather. No one got snitchy, and we got through it okay.

If I do well in my exam I will post the marks here. If not, then don't expect me to discuss it again!

FICTION:- Camping on high

2007-06-25T23:17:00.000+10:00

Camping in the hills above town had become a rite of passage for the young people from Dovet. They went up and lived off the land for a couple of days, maybe kill a Roo to eat, but probably just lived off the food they sneaked out of their parents kitchens. James, Paul, Jason, Mark and Andrew had grown up together, they made this trip two years ago when they turned 14, they enjoyed it so much they did again, and this was their third trip. They hiked up past the old road, around the swamp, followed the dry creek bed up to the waterfall, then climbed the rocks up to the cave and platform that looked out over the bay into the inland sea. From there they could see or miles, further than anyone down in the village.

James sat out on the edge of the rock platform overlooking the land stretching out into sea. Down there he could just make out the houses in the village, the open fields with crops growing, and the dock where the trading ships, and sometimes the navy came to dock.

“Damn, this wood just won’t burn” Paul said “Andy why did you get wet wood again?”
“Wet wood my bum” a voice called out from the cave, “that wood has been sitting here in the cave drying out all year. You just don’t know how to start a decent fire, what sort of man are you?” he laughed as the tall broad form came out of the cave. Looking down he frowned, “I’m sure that’s not the wood I got last year, hang on.” He went back into the cave, and looked closer at the pile, “shit this is all wattle, I got gum, I know ‘cause we spent that afternoon chopping up that big gum just over the other side of the ledge then lugging it all up here cause you said it would make it easier this year. Remember?

“Bloody good plan, I thought” Paul said crouching down to look closer at the wood, but someone has swapped our wood over, hell this stuff is still a bit green. No wonder it won’t burn”

James stood up and walked back toward the cave, “ Maybe we should scout around a little and see if we can make out any tracks, this all seems a little odd, we can all bring back some dry wood, to get the fire going, the wattle will burn once it has some heat under it.”

The boys moved out, James took what looked like an animal path between some trees, he didn’t see any tracks, and there was something else wrong too, he walked for half an hour, but he still couldn’t place what was wrong.

Coming back to the camp, the others were there, they too hadn’t found what was wrong, and no one had brought back any wood.
“That’s it,” James exclaimed” there isn’t any dry wood up here, it’s all gone, and there were tracks but no animals. I normally scare a rabbit or too, when I move around up here.”

“I wonder if someone is living up here, maybe permanently?”

“who’d live up here?” Andy asked, “It is in the middle of nowhere. Hell, our town isn’t even near one of the big settlements, it would be awfully lonely up here” suddenly the boys looked at each other with a little fear, realisation coming on them.

first stuff

2007-06-25T23:07:00.000+10:00

Okay, this is my first attempt at a blog, and I will evolve as I go along, bit like life I guess. Nothing exciting about this so far, so read the later blogs (when they arrive) I might have something to say by then.