Archives for May 2007

For you clever touch typists out there – a test

May 31, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

If someone were to ask me what was one of the best skills I learnt in high school I’d have to say it was how to touch type.

In year 10 or 11 we had one term of an elective – about two hours per week. I chose to learn how to type. Computers were probably around then but it wasn’t for another year or so that we actually got one at the school for students to use. So I learnt on an electronic typewriter.

Little did I know then that it would stand me in good stead in my profession and in my blogging. When I was at high school I had no intention of working in an office and I probably didn’t want to be a secretary. I’m no longer a secretary (not that I was ever really a secretary for very long), but I still work in an office. Mind you, I had no alternate plans for not working in an office.

So being glued to the computer like I am touch typing is invaluable. People are sometimes amazed at the speed in which my fingers whizz over the keyboard with fantastic accuracy. At my last typing test probably 15 years ago I could type at least 80wpm and my accuracy was about 98%.

Anyway, for those in the know a touch typists ‘home keys’ are the F and the J and the other fingers are placed in a line as the diagram below shows (from Wikipedia).

Underwoodkeyboard

If you move your right hand fingers over one letter to the left so the first finger is now on the H, not on the J, and you type as if you were typing ‘time’ you don’t get the word time but you get another word that makes complete sense.

For you touch typists, give it a go and see what you get. For you non-touch typists it might be a bit harder but you should be able to work it out.

Let’s see who the first clever bunny is.

Orange spider

May 30, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

The other night I went outside to fill up the rainwater bottle and did a double take as I nearly walked into this spider. I liked the contrast of it on the orange so I dashed back inside to get the camera.

A few blurry shots later I managed to take this one and the spider didn’t move at all. Talk about a good model.

This was before I’d eaten my first orange from this season, and true to form, my oranges are fantastic. I can never every buy an orange from a shop or market because they will never taste the same as my oranges.

I use the ground underneath the orange tree as a compost area and it must do some good, although the rats like it a bit too much.

Even with the severe lack of rain since last winter the oranges still taste pretty good, although I did leave the hose dripping on the roots a couple of times during this period.

Somewhat distorted

May 29, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

Back in February we went to a friend’s 40th. It was an afternoon/evening kid friendly show so I took JJ with me. It was also one of the hottest days we had over summer. It was supposed to start around 2pm but because of the heat was put back a bit. We got there around 4 and it was still very hot.

No kids live at the house it was at but my friend has a Macintosh computer. It has a built-in camera and you can sit in front of the monitor where the camera’s built in and take photos of yourself (Photobooth I think it’s called). There are different filters and the filters have different functions. Below is a selection of some of the about 500 that JJ took over the course of the afternoon and into the evening that my friend burned onto a CD for us.

It sounds like the computer made it through the hot afternoon, my son and bubbly soft drink being spilled on the keyboard. I don’t know who did that but no-one caught anyone doing it so if it was JJ then that secret will die with him.

JJ going through the vortex.

JJ no head.

‘My head’s about to explode. Watch out!

It was damn hot and it shows here.

I’ve heard of droopy boobs after childbirth and breastfeeding, but this is ridiculous.

Multiple personality?

Getting ready for school – from chaos to calm

May 28, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

JJ has been going to school for nearly a year now and getting him ready for school while getting myself ready for work used to be fraught with problems and lots of yelling and stress.

I get up at 6.30 in the morning, have a shower then go and walk my dog. By the time I do all of this an hour has passed and it’s 7.30. We just about one more hour to have breakfast, make lunches, get the work clothes on and get out the door for the short walk to school. I head off to work from there.

I used to concentrate on doing what I had to do, then ten minutes before we walked out the door I would be yelling to JJ to get his shoes on, clean his teeth, get his bag so I could put his lunch in, and run around trying to find his drink bottle. He never did things quickly enough for me and the end result was predictable, ie raised voices, crying, and lots of stress. Not a good start to either of our days.

This continued for quite some time. Some mornings were easier but mostly it was the same old pattern of my heart absolutely racing when we finally walked out the door and sometimes JJ had tears drying on his face because I’d been yelling so much.

While I was seeing the psychologist to discuss JJ’s behaviour at school and after school care inevitably his behaviour at home surfaced and we’d discuss that also. She suggested that we have a chart outlining the jobs he has to be responsible for, with tokens that can be stuck on the relevant chores once they’d been completed.

Getting tips like this and doing them are two completely different things and I’ll always do it really soon. Sometimes ‘procrastination’ is my middle name.

The beginning of the change from chaos to calm in the mornings happened after I’d asked JJ to put away the breakfast things. He argued with me that he’d got them out so he shouldn’t have to put them away. True to form we yelled at each other and yet again, we were off to a bad start to the day.

The next morning, I explained to him that it was his job to put his plate on the sink, and put away the cereal and the milk. He did it without much fuss and I realised that if I gave him his jobs to do then he’d know what was expected of him and if he forgot, a gentle reminder to do his job of putting the breakfast things away would suffice.

Of course, this was pretty much what the psychologist suggested but I just haven’t made it into a chart that we can both see.

I’ve since added to the list of jobs he has to do in the mornings (he’s nearly six by the way). Before he can play, he has to do the breakfast things, clean his teeth, get his bag out of his room and make sure the drink bottle is there and filled up, and he has to put his shoes on. Once he’s done all these things he can play until it’s time to go to school. Five minutes before I’m ready to go I ask him to pack up his cars or whatever he’s been playing with which he does without a fuss.

This morning we stood in the kitchen after a smooth morning of getting ready for work and school, his bag was on his bag and I was similarly loaded up with my bits and pieces. I said to him, isn’t it much nicer now that you know what you have to do in the mornings and I don’t feel compelled to nag you to get ready for school. He agreed with me and noted that he had five jobs to do and he’d done all of them. He was pretty proud of this.

It truly works a treat and he loves the fact that he knows what is expected of him. I love that he knows this and it runs smoothly most of the time and we leave the house pretty happy that we’ve had a calm day so far.

My son made me a beaded necklace

May 25, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

Over a period of two days JJ made me this necklace at after school care. Perhaps he’d seen me make my necklace and didn’t want to be outdone so he started his? I don’t know.

He gave it to me and I effusively thanked him because I know he’d gone to great effort and used up a lot of patience which he doesn’t really have. And it is made up of lovehearts so it’s really special.

Trouble is, that it’s been taken away from me a few times because I’ve been mean. I’ve given him consequences for behaviour that I won’t tolerate from him so his answer is to take the necklace away.

I’ve explained that once you give a present to someone you shouldn’t take it away from them but I don’t think that’s sunk in yet. The thing is, when I’m good again, I get the necklace back again. I currently have the necklace so I must be being good.

Learning to read while sleeping?

May 23, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

I can’t help myself. I continue to take photos of JJ while he is sleeping if he falls asleep with something in his hand, dressed up, or something next to him. See previous evidence.

I’ve heard of learning to read subliminally but I don’t think this falls into that category somehow.

Last week he fell asleep while wearing his new wizard costume. At least I was able to take it off him while he slept through the whole thing.

Couple not surviving in Big Brother

May 22, 2007 by Jen at Semantically driven

Yes, I still continue to watch Big Brother even though I know it’s quite contrived because of housemate choice and what’s shown on the daily show.

I have noticed recently when Gretel’s interviewed recent evictees on stage that she mentions Hayley and Andrew a lot and not in a positive way. I can’t remember verbatim, but she’s said things like they’ve got a huge advantage in the house. I don’t think she really likes them very much and this is unusual for Gretel because she comes across as unbiased (mostly). Although having said that she struggled with interviewing Michael last year becaue he didn’t like the way he’d been portrayed on the show and stuck to his guns, and she couldn’t interview Merlin three years ago because of his refusal to talk to highlight his free the refugees protest.

So last night I saw the beginning of the eviction show and saw Hayley and Andrew in the diary room being told that because of their advantage in being a couple, one of them will have to go. Of course it’s an advantage being a couple but it’s also a disadvantage because housemates can use this against them to nominate them and similarly people can vote to evict based on their coupledom.

Behind Big Brother have written about the ‘Suss Hayley eviction‘ and the bias against Hayley on the official Big Brother website. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the show’s production to see what really goes on.

The winners of Big Brother in 2005 were essentially a couple, being twins, and they obviously weren’t disliked or picked on because they were a couple. One of them won the show which I guess could be interpreted as they had an advantage which ultimately helped them win.

Hayley will be leaving the show tonight and Andrew is up for nomination thanks to Demet but I don’t think he will be evicted this week. Perhaps Rebecca will be as Emma has so far managed to escape eviction so must be pretty popular.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that this year’s Big Brother is more like that other reality show, Survivor, in that Big Brother contestants have an opportunity to discuss tactics while they are in the rewards room. There is also another similarly to Survivor in that whoever wins Friday Night Games effectively wins immunity for themself or for a mate therefore potentially changing who is evicted that week as happened this week when Demet was evicted because Andrew nominated her.

I guess I’ll stick out Big Brother this year and maybe glimpse it next year if it’s still on, but perhaps for my 7pm veg out in front of the telly viewing I’ll stick with Home and Away.