So I guess this question is more directed to my readers in the USA, ( I am making the assumption that I have heaps of these).
Firstly, you should know that we don't have the Halloween tradition here in Australia. When I was growing up, if we went around knocking on doors at night looking for a handout of sweets especially if dressed as some weird ghosts, devils or such, I think we would have had the dogs chasing and probably a size 12 boot in the rear end, and If we decided to prank a home for not getting any candy...well lets just say we'd probably be picking rocksalt or birdshot out of our rear ends for a month.
We get a lot of TV shows from the USA, so the kids kind of know it exists and the stores are trying to flog (sell) us all the associated crappy masks, costumes, lollies (candy) etc, but really I don't know whether to encourage my children to get involved and what should I do if kids start knocking on the door on the 31st October ( I dont even know for sure if the dates right). Is this a serious religious festival or just a bit of fun?
I would really appreciate your comments, I am still trying to fly this Blogger thing and the comment function doesn't seem to be working, so if you can't comment here pls tweet me @dad_down_under or make a comment (and Like) over at my new Facebook.com/daddownunder page
If your a reader from Australia or elsewhere else I'd love your take on this tradition too.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Solar flares or just bad luck
Man time flies when life goes on around you, can't believe that is been over a month since I put up a post here.
Now onto what's bothering me today, Is it the effect of Solar Flares or just bad luck that just about everything electronic I own has had "issues" in the past couple of weeks. First the dryer went, now against my darling brides advice I thought it's only the bearing, it'd be a waste not to fix it. Anyway my helpful appliance repair man kindly charged me $80 to tell me that it was stuffed. Next in line wash the washing machine ( think it died of a broken heart at the loss of it's life long dryer companion). Ok now we expect things to come in three's so wait another week and the TV decided to become a purple and white TV...very cool visually but not the best to watch for any length of time. Well that's 3 down that's got to be it for a while I think to myself.
DOOOH, wrong again... Walking past our Hot water system on Saturday afternoon I notice lots of water pouring out and youch it's hot water...never a good sign. Hot water systems do only last so long but this one (very expensive heat pump type) is less than 3 years old.... NOT happy. The loverly lady on their support line then informs me that the warranty doesn't cover labour and it'll be about $350 to fix it...NOT HAPPY I may have even let out a couple of mild profanities after getting off the phone.
Anyway for those readers who are still with me at this point I feel much better now, In fact I might even go for an invigorating cold shower.
Now onto what's bothering me today, Is it the effect of Solar Flares or just bad luck that just about everything electronic I own has had "issues" in the past couple of weeks. First the dryer went, now against my darling brides advice I thought it's only the bearing, it'd be a waste not to fix it. Anyway my helpful appliance repair man kindly charged me $80 to tell me that it was stuffed. Next in line wash the washing machine ( think it died of a broken heart at the loss of it's life long dryer companion). Ok now we expect things to come in three's so wait another week and the TV decided to become a purple and white TV...very cool visually but not the best to watch for any length of time. Well that's 3 down that's got to be it for a while I think to myself.
DOOOH, wrong again... Walking past our Hot water system on Saturday afternoon I notice lots of water pouring out and youch it's hot water...never a good sign. Hot water systems do only last so long but this one (very expensive heat pump type) is less than 3 years old.... NOT happy. The loverly lady on their support line then informs me that the warranty doesn't cover labour and it'll be about $350 to fix it...NOT HAPPY I may have even let out a couple of mild profanities after getting off the phone.
Anyway for those readers who are still with me at this point I feel much better now, In fact I might even go for an invigorating cold shower.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Pacman, life, the universe and everything
I was watching TV the other night and saw a show called Pawn Stars ( not what I originally thought but what can you expect in a 7:30 pm time slot), it was an interesting show but the thing that caught my eye was a guy selling an original 80's vintage Pacman video game table. I was more than a bit lucky growing up above our beachside corner store. This was for many reasons but in this case because we had several video games and pinball machines in the store and I was lucky enough to have a big bag of specially marked 20c pieces, this meant that I could play the games as much as I wanted and I got my coins back. Anyway back to the show, these guys from the Pawn shop bought the machine for $175 even though it was not in the best condition, they took it to another guy that is obviously more than mildly obsessed with these classic machines, he charged them about $350 but brought this amazing machine that gave me zoo much pleasure growing up back to almost new condition. I am sure that there would be a guy somewhere nearby that could do the same here all I need is to find an old Pacman or Asteroids machine to fix up.
Today games machines sit in almost everyone's lounge, whether it's a Wii, Playstation or whatever the games have improved but I don't think the social aspect of the old time video machine arcade can be replicated. Now, I'm not saying it was all perfect but the potential for kids to get locked inside endlessly playing the same game is not one that's going to help them in the future, unless they want to join the army (I still think that Call of Duty is the best recruitment tool the army's ever had)
Thanks for sticking with me through my nostalgic musings, I'd really like to hear your experiences with video games growing up and how do you think the newer types of game experience are going to influence our kids.
Today games machines sit in almost everyone's lounge, whether it's a Wii, Playstation or whatever the games have improved but I don't think the social aspect of the old time video machine arcade can be replicated. Now, I'm not saying it was all perfect but the potential for kids to get locked inside endlessly playing the same game is not one that's going to help them in the future, unless they want to join the army (I still think that Call of Duty is the best recruitment tool the army's ever had)
Thanks for sticking with me through my nostalgic musings, I'd really like to hear your experiences with video games growing up and how do you think the newer types of game experience are going to influence our kids.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Gout really is a pain in the...
...Foot, did you think I was going to say something else.
I guess Gout is Gods way to stop you in your tracks long enough to get your attention. I think his message is "You need to really look at how you are looking after yourself.
I had my first Gout attack just after Christmas, maybe it was the more than several beers enjoyed daily over the festive season or maybe just a bit too much good food. In hind site I have had minor niggles for a couple of years and just put the pain experienced in my foot, down to a stubbed toe or sprained ankle.
I have a family history of this kind of thing with my mother and uncles suffering from Gout in one form or another. So I guess I should have taken preventative action sooner but I didn't. Now, despite cutting out all alcohol and watching what I eat for the past 6 months, I am very annoyed that my foot has flared up again.
The cure is almost worse than the disease with the anti-gout drugs having a particularly strong laxative effect and the anti inflamitory drugs having lots of potentially nasty side effects. Maybe it's a boy thing to ignore problems until you're forced to deal with them but I certinally hope to learn from this one.
BTW God you have my attention, but please deliver the message to me here as I can't get up, my foot's killing me.
I guess Gout is Gods way to stop you in your tracks long enough to get your attention. I think his message is "You need to really look at how you are looking after yourself.
I had my first Gout attack just after Christmas, maybe it was the more than several beers enjoyed daily over the festive season or maybe just a bit too much good food. In hind site I have had minor niggles for a couple of years and just put the pain experienced in my foot, down to a stubbed toe or sprained ankle.
I have a family history of this kind of thing with my mother and uncles suffering from Gout in one form or another. So I guess I should have taken preventative action sooner but I didn't. Now, despite cutting out all alcohol and watching what I eat for the past 6 months, I am very annoyed that my foot has flared up again.
The cure is almost worse than the disease with the anti-gout drugs having a particularly strong laxative effect and the anti inflamitory drugs having lots of potentially nasty side effects. Maybe it's a boy thing to ignore problems until you're forced to deal with them but I certinally hope to learn from this one.
BTW God you have my attention, but please deliver the message to me here as I can't get up, my foot's killing me.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Throwing stones and chasing birds
From the time my boys could walk they had a facination with chasing birds. This could have been due to my efforts to stop the scrub turkeys for eating everything in my garden. Now my younger boy Hunter took chasing birds to a whole new level, with him rushing after anything with feathers, seagull's, pidgins and parrots all tremble in terror with H chasing after them. We did our best to discourage him but how can you deny your boy soo much joy.
Around 3 years old they also took a liking to throwing sticks and stones randomly at any object or person, thankfully this phase resulted in no major property damage or injury.
This habit of throwing stones and chasing birds will continue for the rest of their lives in different forms, the sticks and stones might be replace with bats and balls and let's just say the birds might start wearing skirts (not for a while I hope).
Around 3 years old they also took a liking to throwing sticks and stones randomly at any object or person, thankfully this phase resulted in no major property damage or injury.
This habit of throwing stones and chasing birds will continue for the rest of their lives in different forms, the sticks and stones might be replace with bats and balls and let's just say the birds might start wearing skirts (not for a while I hope).
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Fathers and Sons
I am not just a dad but also a son. I have learned a lot from my dad, business , service and being a good dad. I grew up in a small seaside town of Coolum Beach on the south coast of Queensland, Australia.( I am back living in Coolum again but it's not quite as small and laid back as when I was a kid)
Our family ran the corner store and real estate agency, they called my dad "The mayor" of Coolum. I was reminded recently about the constant parade of visitors and the endless cups of tea served around the kitchen table in the back of the old shop, I am sure there were many stories told and deals done around that table. As a young boy I was more interested in playing over the road at the beach or building forts in the storeroom from empty cornflake box's than paying attention to what the grownups were doing around the table, at least untill the ginger nut biscuits or red salmon sandwiches came out.
We lived above the shop and it was 7 days (& nights) a week, pretty quiet most of the year but crazy in holiday time. As a young boy I guess that I was lucky that even though dad worked long hours, I was with him a lot more than kids whose dads worked in regular jobs.
I am also lucky that Dad (&mum)are still with us, he just turned 83 and is in pretty good health. My boys are lucky too, as thy have spent plenty of good times with him, which is something I didn't get do with both my granddads passing away before I was born.
I really value the opportunity to spend this precious time with both dad and my boy's as I know it can't last forever, but until then we'll all keep enjoying our regular afternoon tea's.
Our family ran the corner store and real estate agency, they called my dad "The mayor" of Coolum. I was reminded recently about the constant parade of visitors and the endless cups of tea served around the kitchen table in the back of the old shop, I am sure there were many stories told and deals done around that table. As a young boy I was more interested in playing over the road at the beach or building forts in the storeroom from empty cornflake box's than paying attention to what the grownups were doing around the table, at least untill the ginger nut biscuits or red salmon sandwiches came out.
We lived above the shop and it was 7 days (& nights) a week, pretty quiet most of the year but crazy in holiday time. As a young boy I guess that I was lucky that even though dad worked long hours, I was with him a lot more than kids whose dads worked in regular jobs.
I am also lucky that Dad (&mum)are still with us, he just turned 83 and is in pretty good health. My boys are lucky too, as thy have spent plenty of good times with him, which is something I didn't get do with both my granddads passing away before I was born.
I really value the opportunity to spend this precious time with both dad and my boy's as I know it can't last forever, but until then we'll all keep enjoying our regular afternoon tea's.
Pride
Its an amazing feeling when your son takes pride in achieving something that he couldn't do or at least thought was beyond him. My eldest son Frazer(8) has been playing junior club soccer for a couple of seasons, he is lucky that his team has been pretty constant with a few coming and goings but the core staying the same players and coaches for the last 3 seasons. Some boys are better at different aspects of the game and especially this year it has started to gel for them all, now they are a long way from the world cup finals but we have a couple of really good players on the team. Frazer's always wanted to be the Goalie and has had a few goes in goal(and did pretty well if I do say so myself) but this season two of other boys have shared the role and I think he has struggled a bit to find his place. He is a good mid fielder because he's taller then most kids his age, so can slow down the attack of the other teams best players letting his faster better skilled team mates to get back into defense.
Today his team had a make up home game with one of the other U9 teams from Coolum FC (shh don't tell the league but it was supposed to be on Sunday and the parents thought we'd save the disruption to our weekend and had the game instead of training). My boy's can't kick the ball the hardest, he's not the fastest on the pitch cause his got very long legs and he lopes along like a big puppy, but today he found pride in himself by getting to do the throw in's from the sidelines and he realized that his long limbs and height lets him really throw that ball , his smile and inner glow was worth a million bucks.
I got me thinking maybe that we feel best in ourselves when we find our best position on the field and our place in our home team.
Oh by the why his team won 3/1.
Today his team had a make up home game with one of the other U9 teams from Coolum FC (shh don't tell the league but it was supposed to be on Sunday and the parents thought we'd save the disruption to our weekend and had the game instead of training). My boy's can't kick the ball the hardest, he's not the fastest on the pitch cause his got very long legs and he lopes along like a big puppy, but today he found pride in himself by getting to do the throw in's from the sidelines and he realized that his long limbs and height lets him really throw that ball , his smile and inner glow was worth a million bucks.
I got me thinking maybe that we feel best in ourselves when we find our best position on the field and our place in our home team.
Oh by the why his team won 3/1.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Parent teacher interviews
Don't you love Parent Teacher interviews, well actually I'm not real keen on them. Teachers do a wonderful job and trying to keep up with all the different personalities in a class must be a real challenge. I always feel that the teachers are looking at you for your child's lack of progress, maybe they're right.
I was never much of a scholar. I was OK at math but really struggled with reading and writing (thank God for a keyboard or you'd never be able to read this). I have been known as a bit of a talker and have a head full of lots of little bits of info on lots of subjects, and I guess it's either genetic or it's rubbed off on my boys.
Both are loved by their teachers, little fonts of knowledge on their favorite subjects but when it comes to reading they are way below the level they are supposed to be at their age. They love books but just the reading bit they're struggling with.
It was suggested mid last year that my younger son (Hunter 6) was lagging behind on a lot of development and learning milestones and might have Aspergers, he has a few quirks but the pediatrician agreed that he was a bit behind but not enough to put a tag on him and to see how he progresses for another year. In the last couple of weeks especially he has made some bit steps forward, I just hope that it continues.
I was never much of a scholar. I was OK at math but really struggled with reading and writing (thank God for a keyboard or you'd never be able to read this). I have been known as a bit of a talker and have a head full of lots of little bits of info on lots of subjects, and I guess it's either genetic or it's rubbed off on my boys.
Both are loved by their teachers, little fonts of knowledge on their favorite subjects but when it comes to reading they are way below the level they are supposed to be at their age. They love books but just the reading bit they're struggling with.
It was suggested mid last year that my younger son (Hunter 6) was lagging behind on a lot of development and learning milestones and might have Aspergers, he has a few quirks but the pediatrician agreed that he was a bit behind but not enough to put a tag on him and to see how he progresses for another year. In the last couple of weeks especially he has made some bit steps forward, I just hope that it continues.
I've been Thinking
I don't know who said it but I once read something like "The greatest idea in the world will amount to nothing if you never start".
Isn't it amazing how you brain runs away with sooo many thoughts once you've actually bitten the bullet and started something. In this case it is my Dad Down Under blog, I know it's not going to the greatest idea in the World, It won't solve global warming, hunger in Africa or bring world peace, but I hope that any thoughts or idea's I put down here and any suggestions or feedback I get back will help me along on my journey through life and if some others get any value from it I guess that's a bonus.
Even the name of my blog "Dad Down Under" that popped into my head out of the ether, I guess can have a few meanings. I am an Australian dad so literally I am living "Down Under", some days life's little troubles make you feel overwhelmed and being pushed "Down Under" but I guess the underlying meaning is that after everything "Down Under" I am just a Dad try to raise my Sons to be the best they can be.
Isn't it amazing how you brain runs away with sooo many thoughts once you've actually bitten the bullet and started something. In this case it is my Dad Down Under blog, I know it's not going to the greatest idea in the World, It won't solve global warming, hunger in Africa or bring world peace, but I hope that any thoughts or idea's I put down here and any suggestions or feedback I get back will help me along on my journey through life and if some others get any value from it I guess that's a bonus.
Even the name of my blog "Dad Down Under" that popped into my head out of the ether, I guess can have a few meanings. I am an Australian dad so literally I am living "Down Under", some days life's little troubles make you feel overwhelmed and being pushed "Down Under" but I guess the underlying meaning is that after everything "Down Under" I am just a Dad try to raise my Sons to be the best they can be.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Welcome to Dad Down Under
Well today I woke up 40+ years old, My business that I'd worked in way too much in for the past 10 years down the dunny, Gout in my foot, a couple of Kilo's too heavy and thought to myself; What's all this about.
I was never much of a writer and being Australian I struggle with basic English, so if the grammer or spelling are off in my posts I appologise now and I hope you'll stick by me on my journey as a Dad Down Under.
I am thankful for the Love & support from my 2 great boys, Frazer (8) and Hunter (6), my beautiful and very tolerant wife Georgie.
PS I'm on Twitter @dad_down_under please follow me there.
I was never much of a writer and being Australian I struggle with basic English, so if the grammer or spelling are off in my posts I appologise now and I hope you'll stick by me on my journey as a Dad Down Under.
I am thankful for the Love & support from my 2 great boys, Frazer (8) and Hunter (6), my beautiful and very tolerant wife Georgie.
PS I'm on Twitter @dad_down_under please follow me there.
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