life, work, family
The more I think about it, the more I understand how who I am now has been shaped in significant ways by my school days. I’ve remarked elsewhere about how Abbotsfield Primary School shaped me. When my family arrived in Australia in 1965 they were advised that, as I was not yet five years old, …
It has been 29 years since I was last in Hobart, and 44 years since I moved to the mainland. People on the mainland are often bemused that Tasmanians call it that, like it’s some weird chip that islanders have on their collective shoulder. But it’s really just a practical term, like the difference between …
I miss my dog. Two days ago, Monday 3 April 2023, we took our border collie Scout to the vet. She was unable to put any weight on her left hind leg and couldn’t walk or even stand. I feared the worst, and that’s what transpired. After scans and x-rays, the vet’s assessment was that …
I’ve spent a good portion of this week writing about WCAG 3.0, the third version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. As the name states, WCAG is a set of guidelines – not rules – about how to implement digital accessibility: making websites, apps and other digital products accessible to people with disabilities. Nevertheless, it …
24 November is always a sombre day for me, being the birthday of my mother, who died in August 1981 at 61 years old, when I was 20. Probably more than my own birthday or Christmas or New Year’s Day, it’s on this day I think about where my life has gone and is going, …
In early 2015, I joined a Facebook group called “I drank at the Sydney Trade Union Club” because, well, back in the 80s, I did. When other venues were mentioned in that group, I brought up French’s Tavern, which I frequented even more than the TUC. Liza, a former staff member at French’s suggested we …
It turns out we have more public art in Corimal than I’d previously noted. This is a follow-up to a previous article.
In the early hours of 20 February 2022, my brother Harry, born Harmen Jelle, passed away. It’s thought the effects of his cancer chemotherapy plus kidney failure left his immune system unable to fight off the effects of Covid, despite his being fully vaccinated. Harry’s partner Maree was with him in his last hours, and …
Corrimal is quite a suburban kind of suburb. We have a Woolworth’s, a Coles and an Aldi but on the other hand we don’t have a stand alone greengrocer. There’s pretty much one or two of most shops you need (if you count hardware superstore Bunnings in the next suburb over), although there’s also 14 …
I was listening to ABC radio this morning, where Simon Marnie was taking calls about people’s jobs when they were at school: newspaper deliveries, chemist’s assistant, golf caddie and butter stacker (!) among them. It reminded me of the side hustle – I can’t really call it a job – that I had during the …