Technology is becoming marvellously intuitive. After booking a holiday with friends, we were surprised to discover Google had already added the dates and location to our Gmail calenders, in the blink of our eye once we confirmed the booking.
Convenient – if a little scary.
But smart technology can and does often make mistakes. We all know how digital images and news can be ‘enhanced,’ for nefarious activities.
Google Maps Fail
Years ago, when GPS navigation was in its infancy, Google Maps directed me to drive off the edge of a steep cliff, insisting that a road existed, only it didn’t. Naturally, I continued on the ‘real’ road, forcing the app to “recalculate [the] route.”
When the car repeated its deranged vocal message insisting I drive off the edge of the cliff, I stopped the car and asked a local resident tending her garden for directions. This was a much safer option!
Google Lens
Google Lens has also had difficulty identifying certain native Australian plants. Understandably, their unique weird shapes and forms confuse the megalithic search engine. This is called Banksia Giant Candles and once flourished in my garden.
However, I was quite surprised at Google, while looking at the following photo from yesterday.
It was taken at one of Australia’s biggest traditions, the soldier memorial ceremonies on April 25th, otherwise known as Anzac Day.
You see, each year, I write a post about Anzac Day and talk about the history, significance, various local ceremonies or Anzac Day Cookie recipes. This year, I didn’t want to repeat the same information over again and wasn’t even going to write at all, but then, well, Google did have to go loco on me.
And I had to say something!
As I glanced at the following photograph, my finger accidentally grazed/hovered close enough to ‘Google Lens,’ for a search listing to engage.
Up popped results of the photograph’s location, suggesting it was Cascais beach, Portugal, The Channel Islands or La Greve du Portieux, which I suspected was in France. Further investigation revealed that La Greve du Portieux was a bed of breakfast on the Eastern coast of France.
Seriously?
I admit, there is a association between Anzacs soldier in WWI and France, but given that location was enabled on the photograph, it was easy to detect to all and sundry that the photo referred to Redcliffe, a beach in Australia!
But it was nice to know that if I closed my eyes to the architecture, I could be on a French beach, or a bed and breakfast on the coast of France!
This begs the question:
Have you ever felt discombobulated with a Google Search or Google Lens result?
Has Google ever led you astray?
Does my photograph remind you of France or just any old beach at sunrise?
Earlier this year, on Australia Day, I wrote about how ‘dangerous,’ life can be in Australia. By employing a little common sense means nothing dreadful will happen, if you do visit our sun-drenched shores. Almost without exception, Australians live our entire lives without contact with a deadly snake, a Funnel-web Spider or a Death Adder.
So it came as a shock to find that …
Pottering in my garden might have inflicted serious injury or death.
[NB. this tale does not involve use of a power hedge trimmer, or chain saw].
Enter Australia’s Stinging Nettle Tree, or Gympie-Gympie.
Called the Gympie-Gympie, by the Gubbi Gubbi First Nation People, it is also known as the Suicide plant. For good reason –
Two species of the Australian Stinging trees– the Gympie-Gympie (Dendrocnide moroides) and the Giant Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide excelsa) are considered the most venomous plants in the world.
Unlike its European or North American Nettle counterparts, the Australian species are ‘particularly notorious for producing an excruciatingly painful sting.’ Covered in fine hairs like hypodermic needles, Dendrocnide species inject their toxins into skin, at the slightest touch or by brushing up against the leaves.
“Severe cases can lead to shock, and even death.
Horses have been known to die within hours of contact with this plant and one man was purported to have shot himself to end the excruciating pain. He’d inadvertently used the Gympie-Gympie leaf as toilet paper when camping in the forest.
Even inhaling the hairs of a dead 100 year old herbarium specimen caused sneezing, rashes, and nosebleeds and pain! This plant really is dangerous!
Entomologist and ecologist Marina Hurley who has been stung herself, likens the Gympie-gympie’s sting to “being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.” What’s more, the pain can last TWO YEARS!
And…..
Yesterday I discovered one growing in my Garden!
GASP!
Nature’s instrument of torture popped up along my garden fence, germinating shortly after Christmas, waiting to exact revenge on any life form that brushed passed!
That’s my dog’s furry ear is in the bottom right of the photo. How easy it would be to brush up against it while weeding! Being chemical stable, the toxins contained in the hairs are so minute, extracting them is difficult.
Needless to say, the M.o.t.h gowned and gloved up and disposed of the plant promptly. I am relieved the dreadful thing is bagged and safely disposed of.
Researchers are hoping to put this dangerous plant to beneficial use.
The poison works by binding to pain receptors in the nervous system, firing them up into a frenzy of activity. It’s hoped that working out how these proteins work may lead to the creation of new painkillers. [www.theguardian.com/e]
Supporting cast: Miniature Schnauzer Dog and Owners
Action: Curlew repeatedly confronts the Mini Schnauzer, screaming and batting its fully-spread wings. The Dog owners think this is mildly amusing. The Schnauzer is one minute brave, the next hesitant. The Bird follows the Schnauzer in a threatening manner, for around 3 minutes, before someone approaches:
Enter a uniformed bus driver heading home after finishing work:
“Leave the bird alone!”
“We are not touching the bird.”
“Step away from the Bird.”
“Listen, the Bird was the one attacking our dog.”
“Step away from the Bird!“
“We are not touching the bird.”
“I said leave the bird ALONE.”
Both creatures survived the encounter.
Curlew Conversation
“They have nasty claws.”
“Are you speaking from experience?“
“Yes, we used to put on hard hats to move around our workplace and run like hell, so the Curlews wouldn’t get us. They really hurt. They had a nest in our work compound that we had to pass to get anywhere.”
“It was just them just being super-protective, which is understandable. It was unfortunate that they decided to put their nest in the middle of our workplace.”
“I think Plovers are a bit the same?“
“But they screech…not mourn like the Curlews.”
“Given that they were just protecting their nest I understand their behaviour.”
Remember the self-sufficiency movement of the ’80s? That was my teenage dream, one that sadly never materialised, so the chance to meet a modern-day guru of sustainability got me super-excited.
You may have heard or even watched River Cottage UK, with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but did you know there was a highly successful Australian version of the show that has now spawned a sustainable food movement for city folks?
Today I was blessed to meet the host of River Cottage Australia Paul West, who spoke of the benefits of growing and cooking fresh, wholesome food and about Grow it Local. It is a grassroots movement that’s connecting communities across Australia, through urban farming, irrespective of the size of the land on which you live.
Paul’s message:- you can make a difference to the planet and to your own nutrition by growing your own food, minimising waste and connecting with other producers in your area.
Paul was a chef who trained at a hatted restaurant, but 16-hour days with no time to cook for himself left him thinking there was more to life. For a time he was a WWOOFer – a ‘willing worker on organic farms’ – on a Tasmanian property.
Required to work four hours in return for board and accommodation on the farm, he was inspired by the farmer’s good health and lifestyle to work over 8 hours each day. When Fearnley-Whittingstall was looking for a host of a new TV production, “River Cottage Australia”, Paul got the job.
Ten years after the first of four seasons of River Cottage Australia aired on Australian TV, Paul West is still that cheeky, charming, affable guy.
Paul’s not just promoting a gardening and recipe book, Homegrown, he thinks that a lot of problems could be ameliorated if people took time to grow their own bit of food (even a balcony garden), minimise waste, cook stuff from scratch and connect with the family and friends.
It is true that our fondest memories are often associated with family, friends and food, and sharing a meal together.
Many people who watch River Cottage Australia live in cities, and I want to show everyone that what I did on River Cottage is totally achievable in the backyard or on the balcony,” he says.
Paul West
My small but productive garden at the Home by the Sea sits on soil that is salty clay, remnants from a mangrove swamp in years past. That is not conducive to growing food crops.
With some help from worm castings and compost from garden scraps, we have feasted on home-grown lemons, strawberries, tomatoes, asparagus, choko and cucumber, as well as loads of herbs from chives to dill, parsley to basil and thyme. Paul’s presentation spurns me on to grow even more in my small space, and add more rosemary plants to the front garden and those so far untapped areas on street verges.
Connecting with others growers in my local area means I can swap ideas and excess produce for our mutual benefit.
Fabulous, right?
Paul’s book Homegrown covers many of the River cottage measures he used himself. Ones that are easily transferable for anyone to become more sustainable through a year of cooking, growing and eating. With planting notes, garden projects and recipes, anyone can share a River cottage experience, no matter how small their home or community is.
Who wouldn’t want food that is fresh, tasty and more nutritious than ever before?
Paul structures simple recipes around produce from each season and includes Zucchini fennel pizza, Homemade tomato sauce, Pumpkin and beef curry, Ginger beer, and delicious salads with basic ingredients sourced from your own veggie patch. There’s info on composting, maintenance, when to prune, DIY seed-raising mix, chicken feeder and pen, and encouraging bees (and pollination) via plantings.
Confession time: I admit to sounding starstruck at meeting a self-sufficiency hero. I’ve never followed celebrities at all, nor wished to do so. Thus, I was surprised I was ever so excited to meet this guy. He was just as he appears on TV: super cool, genuinely affable and kind-hearted. The sort of person you’d love to live next door to. And his message is a positive one that cares for the planet and for our health and that resonates with me.
If you were wondering, I did buy the book and Paul signed it! [Happy dance!]
It is lovely that we can help others, as long as it doesn’t disadvantage ourselves to our detriment. Conversely, it is good to remember to help ourselves as long as doing so does not disadvantage others.
With many economies struggling, workers are asked to do more and more tasks in a normal working day. Many of us like to help out and be solution-focused, but caring helpful people who are polite end up doing far more than their share, often to their own detriment in the long term. Bosses may wish to ensure targets are met and invariably rely on that person who agrees to do that little bit more. This can become a habit.
Repeated requests might easily spill over into taking advantage of a worker or in a family dynamic, a supportive family member. Academics and educators that work in an area of University/ education cutbacks shoulder more of their former colleagues’ tasks. In a workplace, an employer might believe working unpaid overtime will help productivity, but some stats reveal that may not always be the case, as work satisfaction levels and mental well-being are affected by extraordinary obligations.
Productivity of Australians Working Longer Hours
The Productivity Commission reported last month [Augu 2022] that Australians, rather than lifting productivity levels, are working longer hours than comparable countries. https://www.smh.com.au
The poll, which used a nationally representative sample, found the average employed Australian is working 6.13 hours unpaid each week in 2021, up from 5.25 hours in 2020 and 4.62 hours in 2019. By working an extra 319 hours a year unpaid in 2021, workers are doing the equivalent of an extra eight 38-hour weeks of work. Employers are benefiting from a total of $125bn of free labour, estimated to cost $461.60 a worker every fortnight.
When Senior Personnel ask, or expects, a staff member to go above and beyond, the junior staff member might agree, out of courtesy, or fear of job loss, or even to gain extra kudos, saying ‘Yes’, before they have thought it through and decide if it is right for you?
Short Responses to Decline Extra Work
Short responses are great to keep in your mental toolbox for those awkward situations where you feel obligated to agree to more work and responsibility.
Thank you but I have to decline that opportunity
I am not available to do that right now
Just say “No,” firmly, or “No thanks, but I appreciate the offer“
Sorry, I have too much going on at the moment or, Sorry, I am far too busy
Let me think about it. This gives you time to formulate an appropriate respectful response. Then, you could say, I have thought about your offer, but it is not right for me at the moment.
Thank you, but I am at my service capacity
Unfortunately, that won’t be possible with my current commitments
I am already over-committed
Thanks for thinking of me, but it doesn’t align with my current goals
Some people have made a chart and made it public, so everyone in your workplace can see what, and how much, you have been doing – you could do this for your team.
For persistent workplace devils that don’t accept “no”, some suggested responses include:
I just don’t have the bandwidth to give this project the attention it deserves at the moment.
Let’s look at what we can swap, so I can cover this while you cover another one of my responsibilities.
I am going to say no to this amazing opportunity unless it comes with a release from my other tasks/pay or with adequate remuneration
With my teaching, …., …. I am unable to add one more thing to my list of responsibilities at this time.
While I would love to do this new task, I have already said yes to this and this, so I have to say ‘no’ to Y until X is off my plate.
Stick to what you want to do: I am choosing to give my dog some quality time/I am choosing to make time for yoga, so I can maintain my flexibility and mental well-being, or even, I am choosing to be present with my kids while they are still young.
I am trying to work on my work-life balance, so I am afraid I will have to decline.
Thanks for the opportunity – it sounds really rewarding but (see reasons above)
Check if it is one of your responsibilities. Get tough and say: In light of staff cutbacks and refusal to receive adequate support, I will no longer be doing anything not required in my contract.
Could you send me an email that includes details and outcomes? They may not be as likely to follow up if it requires work on their part.
That looks like an interesting opportunity. What would you like me to drop/swap it out for in terms of what I have already committed to?Always throw it back onto them to solve not you. So-called ‘opportunities,’ are often positioned as something you may miss out on.
I personally like suggestions requiring the person asking to come up with a swapped idea, or task. This softens the blow of a worker feeling obligated to complete what a senior member of staff gives them to do.
Am I just like generations previous, who lament the ineptitude and inabilities of youth?
I guess it is just another sign of getting older and crankier. Whinging about the youth of today?
Who can blame the kids? The goal of our evolving human race appears to be to make our time here on earth as easy and as convenient as possible. In making life comfortable and so tech-focused, we might be creating a culture of lazy inadequacy, or at least one where many self-reliant skills are fast disappearing. They ask such funny questions.
“You mean you had to walk to the television to turn it on and off or change the station?”
Young people ask incredulously.
“Yes, such was the bane of my late 20th-century life,” I respond. “It was hell.”
“Are you serious?” they ask wide-eyed, “You had to walk outside in the cold to go to the toilet?“
That was hell. But you get my drift?
Today, I was at the local department store, no names mentioned, collecting a small product, I had ordered online. In my mind, Click and Collect is the most wondrous of tech inventions. Press a few buttons, wait a couple of days and hey presto, your parcel is wrapped and waiting for collection at your nearest store, all within walking distance from my home!
Fantastic. Like magic.
I don’t have to worry about the postage getting lost, or searching up and down aisles for products in-store. Nor do I have to chase around several stores to find what I am looking for. Such a time saver for busy people.
It would have been another delightful time-saving experience today if the process was not stymied by the young people who confounded me with the contradictions in their inabilities.
They know their way around a multiplicity of software applications, downloads, uploads, Apple Pay, Google Pay, smartwatch configurations and yet sometimes I despair for them. They lack initiative.
Heading for the store, I clicked the link on my phone to say “I am on my way” to collect my parcel. Wow, I thought, they will even have my parcel ready to hand to me. What absolutely marvellous technology. What a time-saver. Seriously. I smiled widely as I approached the store’s entrance.
I then clicked the button on my phone indicating, “I have arrived,” as I neared the pickup counter, grinning. Fantastic.
That’s when it all went a little awry.
The queue to the counter was long and while that didn’t bother me, the confused look on the attendant’s face when I finally reached the counter, showing him the barcode and Order number, as instructed in the email, was the first red flag.
He waved his scanner at my phone and an unhappy sound emitted from his screen.
“Hmm mm“, was the most conversation he could muster to allay his customer’s click and collect anxiety.
He scanned it again and again, saying nothing to explain what was happening.
“Is something wrong?” I enquired to break the silence.
“Oh, sometimes the scanners don’t like the orders.”
Don’t like the orders? I thought to myself. It’s a sales order, not a popularity contest, for goodness’ sake.
Minutes elapsed with no further progress. Another attendant, now finished with her queue of customers, leaned over his shoulder and suggested he scan the barcode. That would have been helpful advice, if he hadn’t already done just that, twice.
“Enter the number manually,” she suggested.
Shall I just say there was a lot of ‘rinse and repeat,’ happening?
“Oh it’s an order from Catch,” she says, – “sometimes they go missing, and we can’t find them. They say they have arrived, but we can’t find them,” she says thinking I would be satisfied with that explanation. I wasn’t.
“Could it be out the back in the storage area?” I asked, trying not to sound too much like a know-it-all.
“I’ll go look,” says the first attendant, but returns after five minutes empty-handed.
More discussions take place between the two before they announce, “Oh, it’s a Catch order?”
I thought we’d established that fact sometime last century, I think under my breath. Although I do have to give the girl credit for again checking the storage area ‘out the back,’ and calling the front desk to see if it had arrived there. Again without any positive result.
The first attendant finally started a conversation, not a fruitful one, but nevertheless, he was finally speaking more than a one-word sentence to me, babbling about how delivery might come in just as the store was closing. My blank look must have initiated some kind of higher-level thinking as he then responded,
“I will get the Manager. He will ah, you know, see what he can do.“
To be fair to these two kids, they looked no more than 15 years of age and it was likely their first job dealing with people. They were rusty on customer service and rusty on communication. The Store’s policy to employ a young workforce to minimise costs was a flawed business strategy that came at a heavy price. Unhappy customers.
When the Manager arrived, he looked only a tad older than them. But thankfully, after that, we did make progress.
The Manager looked at my phone barcode and then asked for my full name. Within ten seconds, he had turned on his heel, darted into the storage area behind the door and returned with my parcel in hand. My parcel was – you guessed it – out the back!
My faith in this wondrous technology was restored instantly.
“How come you found it so quickly when these guys, (indicating the two attendants), couldn’t find it – out the back?” I asked.
The Manager shook his head, I really [pause]… don’t [head shake]… know.” I guessed the pause was most likely replaced under his breath with a silent expletive.
With that, I thanked him, took my parcel and was on my way home.
A key reason why friendships with magpies are possible is that we now know that magpies are able to recognize and remember individual human faces for many years. They can learn which nearby humans do not constitute a risk. They will remember someone who was good to them; equally, they remember negative encounters.
Sometimes Australian Magpies will swoop on someone as in this video clip and tragically can cause injuries:
Why Do Magpies Swoop?
Only 12% of male magpies are aggressive. During nesting season, the male magpie is simply doing his job defending its eggs and chicks, which are in the nest for about six to eight weeks between July and November in Australia.
Female magpies don’t swoop at all. Magpies swooping usually stops once the young birds have fledged and left the nest.
Having said that, if you get to know your local magpies, they probably won’t swoop you at all, as they recognize that you aren’t a threat to their nest.
Since moving to the Home by the Sea, I have had a Magpie family who nests near our house. Our street is their territory.
They frequently pop in with their young ones to check to see if I have some titbits for them. One of the elder birds often swoops in to reprimand the young ones for socialising with me. His actions are most likely altruistic. He prefers the kids to be independent and find worms for themselves rather than become dependent on human handouts. Who can blame him? Such a sensible chap!
Should I be feeding them at all? If so what?
Might it encourage them to swoop in nesting season?
I decided to find out.
The website- Magpie Alert – comes complete with an interactive map for cyclists to beware of popular swooping sites.
Unfortunately, that was stretching the friendship a tad too far even for a bird-lover like me, so I had to ghost him/her for a while. We became friends again, but the addition of a lively puppy to the house meant this clever magpie now has a hunting dog to contend with and wisely he and his family now only greet me in the front yard – somewhere the Schnauzer has no access to.
What Can You Feed Magpies?
Lifehacker.com.au recommends feeding Magpies natural alternatives if you want to make friends with your local Magpies. This is much better for their tummies than chunks of bread or processed meat.
Rummage around in your garden; dig up some worms, turn over rocks, bricks, firewood logs, strip bark from trees, and you most likely will find some tasty tucker for the magpies.
The Magpieaholic warns us not to feed Magpies raw meat, cheese and bread and exotic animal vet, Deborah Monks said raw meat and mince, although popular, did the most damage to magpie health.
What does it mean when a Magpie visits you?
Magpies are highly intelligent and can make interesting pets.
Animal Expert Dr Kaplan claims that once a magpie gets to know you and judges you to be a nice person, you will have earned a friend for life. “They will form very long friendships, like dogs,” she said. “They will introduce their young, [to you] and they will be the most charming birds. My Magpie Mate certainly confirmed this theory. She returns with his young introducing me to them every year.
Magpies have excellent memories. They can remember a face for up to five years.
Deterring Magpies. How to Scare Magpies?
I’d rather make friends with them but if you have a rogue, aggressive Magpie that terrorises you, it is possible to use something shiny or metallic to scare them away.
Hang CDs, metallic balloons, aluminium pie pans, and/or half-full plastic bottles 3 feet above the grass near any plants that the magpies are disturbing.
How do Magpies Communicate?
Magpies sing to reinforce their claim on their territory, mostly at dawn and dusk. But while we are all familiar with the magpie’s melodious carolling, we are perhaps less familiar with their other calls. Magpies use many different calls, including grunting noises, to communicate. www.environment.sa.gov.au
Above all, they are considered a positive omen of good luck and are known as “birds of joy.”
I can’t recall the first time at all. Is that a sign of early dementia?
Early Memories of Lollies and School in Australia
I do recall buying a lolly, at four years. I was given a meagre amount of pocket money to buy lollies and firecrackers at the small old-style convenience shop next to my school.
I’d be considered a child at risk if I replicated that scenario, today. The frame of history makes that particular reflection socially acceptable. It is worth noting that the pocket money was also for the purposes of buying a slate pencil and eraser as that was of the utmost importance to my attending school. Such were the days.
It was the mid-1960s. We’d just moved interstate where I had already commenced school, as a pupil in level Prep. Perhaps my Mother didn’t want me to have me sitting around at home as we were, after all, living at my Grandmother’s house, temporarily.
Whatever the reasons, I was sent to school and placed in primary Year 1, as Queensland had no prep year at that time. I was still only four years old, and turning five soon. I had skipped a full year of school, which gave me the dubious honour of being the youngest child to ever attend that particular Primary School. Surprisingly, I coped.
But, I have digressed. Back to the lolly.
Lollies were often 2 for 1 cent when purchased individually from the corner stores.
My all-time favourite was an OSO lolly. It was oval and orange, about 3 cm in length. A flavoured gelatin lolly, tasting of orange favouring and an abundance of sugar, of course. It had OSO in raised letters on one side. The memory of savouring this is strong, even after 55 years.
Osos would slowly dissolve in the mouth into a sticky gooey mass. In the process drip feeding sugar to the body. Sucking it slowly was ideal for soothing an inflamed throat. Better still was that sudden burst of energy, the short-lived sugar high that was OH So Good. Is that where the lolly’s name originated? Oh….SO…. And the word, ‘good,’ was dropped as it was too long to be stamped into that size lolly?
For years, I have searched for replica versions of that sweet, even internationally, thinking that perhaps vintage-style lolly shops might stock my childhood favourite. Alas, I never have found any at all. Osos have been relegated to history. Obsolete.
In a nod to the Oso, I snavel every orange-coloured snake out of Allen’s Snakes packet and eat them before they disappear- oh so good.
Lollies have different names depending on where you live – sweets in England, candy in America and a range of crazy names in Denmark. The generic Danish equivalent of the word lolly or candy is slik, but individually the Danes have lollies or slik with some quirky names. Names designed to appeal to kids’ quirky humour, translated into Danish of course. Imagine entering a shop and asking, as Danish children do, for a few ‘Dog Farts‘. Or hearing children in a playground discuss their favourites – “I absolutely love eating Pigeon droppings,” – this is the translation to English, of course.
Danish Lollies
This reminds me of a story about children and Danish lollies.
Danish and possibly some Dutch lollies have a strong aniseed or sour flavour. I am not a fan, although the sour Danish lollies are fun, for a prank. Each year, my kind Danish friends and family would send bags of them to Australia, usually at Xmas, or Easter. It was a very kind gesture particularly as shipping became so expensive, in later years.
My son was the only family member who could, or would eat, the sour lollies, but there were way too many, even for his sweet tooth. He’d take them to school in his lunchbox. At lunch break, he’d announce to his ten-year-old classmates that he had lollies to share.
He’d be mobbed in seconds.
Kids would form a pack around him like bees anxious to reach the hive. “Only take one,” my son would warn, holding out the lolly bag out for them to help themselves.
The greedy kids suffered the most, determined to scoff a good handful into their mouths at once. They seemed frightened of losing one or two, to a fellow schoolmate if they held back.
Seconds later, they’d realise their mistake and immediately stop chewing.
Turning a murky tangerine colour, their face would twist into a grimace. Gagging noises resembling a meat mincer that’s jammed while processing a piece of gristle, could be heard across the playground. With eyes watering, the boys would rush towards the water bubblers to wash away the foul-tasting lolly.
Strangely, only one or two kids, came back for seconds.
What was your first memory of eating a lolly, sweet or candy?
Something to Ponder About 