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You are here: Home / 2012 / Archives for August 2012

Archives for August 2012

An oasis on the way

August 13, 2012 by Jen

When I was learning to drive one of the first things my dad made me do was learn how to change a tyre because we had no roadside assistance. He also taught me to check the radiator and the tyres for air. So tyres filled with the appropriate amount of air meant we were ready for our little road trip. Old habits die hard.

We were on our way to visit my sister who lives nearly two hours away. It’s normally a pretty boring drive with not that much to look at along the way.

Port Wakefield is about half way from here to there so it’s a good place to stop, have a toilet break, a stretch, and maybe buy something to eat. There’s petrol and food stations all along the highway part of Port Wakefield and normally I don’t stop there for very long. It’s not the most attractive place.

It does, however, have a really good bakery which I often stop at. Normally I eat my purchase at the bakery then hop back in the car to be on my way.

But if you take a left just past the bakery as you’re heading north, and keep driving a bit you’ll get to a lovely spot to get out the car and eat your lunch.

The first thing JJ did was go and sit on the boardwalk that spanned this river and eat his pie. I stayed with Monty while I ate my pasty. Then we both went for a bit of a wander.

I think we stayed for about half an hour which is something I’m normally in too much of a rush, for whatever stupid reason, to do. Why is it that once I start driving, I need to be at my destination as quickly as possible following speed limits and so on of course.

Sometimes I make a conscious effort to not stress about taking some extra time out of the journey to enjoy what’s along the journey. Sometimes I don’t take the freeway, but the back roads up the Hills to enjoy the autumn colour. And I’m always glad when I do.

I know JJ really appreciated it. He loves pottering around in or near water. There’s always a good stick to be found that will be used to prod things. Monty got to get out and have a bit of a stretch too.

And with a nearby toilet it’s quite perfect really.

And being able to climb a canon and pretend you’re shooting stuff is the ultimate.

We hopped in the car after lunch and it was like the previous driving to get  there hadn’t happened at all as we were refreshed enough to be on our way.

What about you? Do you stop along the way to enjoy the scenery or must you get to your destination as quickly as possible.

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Life in Canberra in the 1970s – part 3

August 10, 2012 by Jen

If you missed part 1 of what my life in Canberra could have been like in the 1970s then go and see it. It saw me moving to Canberra to work in a great job with the Australian government in a secretarial capacity.

Part 2 explored the great things I could do outside of work including shopping in air conditioned malls.

This is the final part of the series.

The wide range of activities continues. One day sees me in an olympic sized pool having a swim, or horse riding, or at one of the many sports clubs available.

Lake Burley Griffin provides a great opportunity for sailing, and it just so happens that friends of mine have a sailing boat. How handy. After a spot of sailing go to the park with my boyfriend and smile sweetly at him while holding a flower.

So are you convinced that moving to Canberra is a good idea? No, not yet? Oh, come on! You can request further information about working in Canberra by writing a letter. Telephones were around but making a call cost a bit too much for an out of work secretary so that wasn’t an option.

And just in case you’ve forgotten what you can do in Canberra if you come to live here, below is a reminder, or you can look back through part 1 and part 2.

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What’s around the corner?

August 8, 2012 by Jen

The Photographer. Day 205/366.

Tis not often that I have a picture of myself and even less often that I take one of myself.

I am in a good mood. I feel excited by what’s around the corner even though I have no idea what that is.

And if you didn’t read my oh so helpful post about changing banks then you totally should.

And hi to all the others who do Wordless Wednesday. And I know my contribution nearly always ends up being a bit wordy. Probably because I’m a bit bolshy.

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Changing banks – things to remember

August 6, 2012 by Jen

Jade plant

I recently changed banks – something I’d resisted for a few years but caved in and refinanced my existing mortgage and financed a new one. It’s the only reason I changed but there’s things to remember as I’ve outlined below.

The photo above is to remind me to keep calm as I create this because it’s not a breeze to change banks and non-fond memories are being served up but this could be a useful checklist for someone else – hopefully not me again.

Firstly, you find a new bank who will give you a really good deal because you’re a new customer and they marry you to their bank by offering a sweet honeymoon deal. It might cost as much as a wedding by the time you pay discharge fees from your existing mortgage and pay fees for the new one. Well, not quite – unless it’s a cheap wedding.

You ring up the old bank to see if they can match the great deal you’re being offered. You say that you’ve been a loyal customer for years and surely they can match it. You really don’t want to change, but you give them the ultimatum. Lower your fees or I’m leaving.

And you sign that discharge form while you write a list of other things you  have to do as a consequence of changing banks.

Afterall it’s not just a home loan that you’re moving, it’s a savings/offset account and a credit card and there’s lots of automatic things happening in the background you have to rearrange.

Trap number one. Remember to close all accounts at your old bank otherwise you’ll be surprised by a credit card bill that you thought you’d paid off.

It does help to have a mortgage broker because they know the ins and outs of the system. You could do it yourself but every bit of help you can get doesn’t hurt.

You go through old bank statements to find out what’s being directly debited and find a couple of things you’d forgotten about. Even after this process more things will turn up, like automatic web domain and hosting renewals, and computer virus software renewals.

Small Agave

Remember we’re keeping calm. Carry on. Deep breath.

You’ve been approved for your new mortgages and the ball is firmly on the roll.

You start making phone calls and sending emails to change over bank account details. This involves any government benefits like family tax benefit etc. It’s so joyful dealing with bureaucratic government departments to update your details when a simple phone call to a non-government organisation suffices.

One of the first things you do is organise online banking. Of course it’s completely different to what you’re used to. The terminology is different even though they both pretty much do the same thing.

Trap number two. Check your online banking and paper statments religiously the first few months. If you don’t you might realise that your automatic credit card payments are not working and you spend too much time on the phone trying to sort it out. At least they realise you’ve stuffed up and refund you late payment and interest fees – but only this once! You tell them why you ‘stuffed up’ by giving them some feedback about the terminology on their website.

You contact some people whose banking account details you used to have but don’t anymore because you owe them some money.

You sit back for a while, take some more deep breaths and hope like hell everything’s running smoothly now.

 

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Making it to the other side

August 3, 2012 by Jen

Last Sunday afternoon JJ and I headed out with our dog for a little drive to explore a creek.

I thought Monty might like another little stroll. Little stroll’s are all she can manage in her late years. And I thought JJ might like to look at the creek.

He did.

The ground was quite wet so I stepped quite gingerly around the place, but not JJ.

He’d crossed over to the other side of the creek further back and got to this spot and thought that would be a good place to get back to the side I was on.

Before the jump

But it involved a little jump. He’d found a stick that was enormously helpful in keeping his balance if needed.

Beginning of the jump

You can see his concentration.

Jump in progress. Day 211/366.

I wasn’t worried about him falling in. I was more concerned about having to get wet myself to fish him out if it came to that.

Nearly there.

But he made it and we both breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew, made it.

It wasn’t until we were about to leave that I noticed the bottom of his jeans were soaking and I asked if his shoes were wet. They were also soaking. Too late I realised that I should have got him to wear old shoes. But they’ve dried out okay so it doesn’t matter.

He had a great time having a little adventure down at the creek. There’s something magical about exploring when you’re a kid. They’re memories you keep forever.

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