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Yeah That ugly 'something has happened back home' experience has reared up again this week.  My mom had a fall, and has broken her wrist . It's a clean break, but a bad one, and she may need surgery.  *speechless*  So it's on the mend , and the doctors are trying something to help it heal without surgery first , she will go back in a week for more X-rays to see if it's working, and if not, then into theatre she will go.  The most frustrating part of all of this - is that there is absolutely nothing I can do . Nothing.  Helplessness is not a feeling that sits well in my Type A , fixer, doer , go-getter mentality.  Sigh.  I can let go of many things ...my family, my friends and those I love being in pain isn't usually one of them.  Human emotions are such raw things, and it constantly amazes me how they smack us down so completely whenever we feel like we have a handle on this thing called Life. 

This is another gratitude post. And this one is a soppy, sappy, love fest for my Mom. My mom is amazing. If anything, my mom is the poster child for resilience. I have never met anyone quite like Cynthia Gaddin. Except perhaps for my friend Maxine Hearn, whose bravery in the face of the hurdles life throws up at her, reminds me often of the strength my mother has. My mom quietly gets up every morning and carries on with her life, facing all the same troubles and demons that leave her exhausted every night.  My Mom gives of her time, her energy and her love to anyone in need. Her daughter (thats me ! ) and both sons have been recipients several times over in the past of her last bit of cash, food, or any other resource that we may have needed along the way. And her grandson is bestowed with everything that Granny could possibly give him in love, attention, guidance, support.   She has very little herself very often, and yet , she will still give to those that...

Not to brag ... Oh who am I kidding, I'm bragging ;) . My Ice Breaker speech went excellently well I thought.  I prepared, practised over and over, even tweaking which stories about me I wanted to tell and how I would tell them.

Yes - World Environment Day is a thing. And it's happening today. Started by the UN, and hosted by a different country each year, this years hosts Angola, turn the spotlight onto poaching of endangered species : good on them !  You can read all about it here on The Global Citizen :  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/most-poached-animals-world-environment-day/ If you're after a more specific bit of info about WED ( that's World Environment Day, not the day of the week ;) ) then go to : www.wed2016.com ( although be warned the website is a hit of jumble of TMI , and bad content management - but it is rich with suggestions on practical ways you can help today and all other days of the year)  And last but not least - the project closest to my heart : Breaking the Brand - saving Rhinos by tackling the demand for horns in Vietnam -  are still running their Pozible campaign to raise cash to pay the photographers for some new ad images. The campaign r...

I was accused of  'hiding behind my ivory tower' by a client in South Africa recently. I imagine my ivory tower would look like this, although in my head it looks better. Clearly Graphic Design isn't for me That's a first. Also, if I did have an Ivory Tower, it certainly wouldn't be big enough for me to hide behind, given my modest lifestyle. I am by no means wealthy, only barely reaching the edges of middle class really. (And yes, I know how that sounds given the extreme poverty in my country of birth and other places around the world.) Here's what I think of this Ivory Tower I am hiding behind. I work 7 days a week;  full days that start around 5 am and end anywhere between 7 and 9 pm. There is some flexbility around that, usually I average 12 hours a day at our busy times, and 9 or so if it's dead quiet.

Much news and info has been floating around about Rhinos lately, and anyone who has access to even a gossip news site is aware that the last 5 years have quickly decimated the wild Rhino population. If you want more detail , and all the facts and statistics you can read all about it at Breaking the Brand , where they have clearly laid out the problem , and their ingenious solution  . If you're like most people, it's pretty boring reading. That does not mean it's not important though. So for those who want the highlights , and what you can do about it , here are the big takeaway facts . FACT - Rhinos will be extinct in our lifetime  --> unless we act now. FACT -  Current conservation thinking is not working. --> we need a different angle FACT -  The current demand is driven from a growing wealthy middle class in Viet Nam. Yes - read that again. It's got nothing to do with Chinese Medicine. Here's how you can help  Step 1  Download and ...

Aussie-fication. That process whereby one becomes a naturalised citizen of the Aussie Aussie Aussie , Oi Oi Oi Universe. Not to be confused with a simple citizenship ceremony. Those are so 1990 darl. I am an Aussie (with some sad but ingrained Saffer DNA , it's a tough life mate). And I almost have the certificate to prove it. Aussie-fication begins in earnest the first time you use the word mate. Sincerely and without satire, sarcasm or feeling self-conscious.

So I noticed somewhere around March or April that I've been endorsed for some of my skills- and I'm very grateful to the new contacts and ex-colleagues and friends who have taken the time to endorse me. I've also noticed - and I shall keep names out of it - that some of my skills ( which I do have) have been endorsed by people that could not possibly have experienced or witnessed those skills. Because  I know them in a completely different sphere than the skills they have now endorsed. For example. I know some SQL . I know it because I learnt it by working on an Oracle database while being a Business Analyst at Discovery Health . Unless you have worked with me at Discovery ( and even then , I did a lot of different things at Discovery Health) you wouldn't really be able to endorse my SQL skills. I also know a fair bit about databases and database management. Not all of it by direct experience mind you, but because in working with DBA's over the years I have pi...

I was asked a while back if I thought it was worth it, immigrating to Australia. I wrote back to my friends, and published a long sad story on this blog at the time. I discussed the things I missed about South Africa, and the things I really didn't miss. I discussed the reasons why I love Australia, and that ultimately, I noted that I was still in that middle ground. Unable to go back , because I couldn't, and wouldn't want to go back. And not quite yet settled enough in my new home to say that it was worth moving. It's a really unpleasant no-mans-land . And one that you really cannot relate to, or understand in the slightest unless you have been there. I am please to say however , that a mere 10 months on , and 2 months ahead of schedule , I am quite well and truly no longer on the fence.

As a South African, it's really easy to take for granted the number of Public Holidays that the country has. Sometimes it can seem like they all blur into this mass of unproductive hours that cost the country time and money. For me, it has taken an immigration, and watching an ANZAC Day Parade to fully appreciate the meaning behind the holidays in South Africa. We don't make a big deal out of the holidays in South Africa.  Freedom Day, coming up now on Saturday the 27th April is a celebration of our first democratic and fair elections. Do we really feel that celebration ? Is it just another Braai Day , or long weekend? Why do we not make a massive deal out of our bloodless revolution? I watched the ANZAC Parade today , in my small town , about an hour's drive out of the Melbourne City Centre. It was in no way , as massive as the Melbourne City ANZAC service and Parade where thousands of people line the streets of the city to watch thousands of Veterans, the curren...

So sometimes I am just blown away by random statistics. And sometimes , I am just blown away by the seemingly random, but actually good to know little factoids that feature in my line of work. Like the fact that there are just on 23 million small businesses in America 1 -  a small business being one that employs between 0 and 20 people. I would assume 0 means it's just the owner by his lonesome doing the work, otherwise, is Casper helping out ? This number blows my mind because I currently live in a country with a total population not far off that number. In fact the statisticians officially predicted we'd be over the 23 million mark at 9:57 pm last night . or so I am told by the news media. And I come from a country ( South Africa) with a population just shy of double that amount - South Africa was at 51 million people as at the 2011 census. Where 12 million people in total live in Gauteng, which is the financial hub and powerhouse of the country. And here's Am...

So many stories start with those words.  Funny stories , sad stories , tragedies ... it's hard not to add on your own leanings as you hear or read them. So much is going around about  Oscar Pistorius at the moment, opinions, strong feelings, some fanaticism on both sides of the fence. I'm not going to go through what I think, I do believe there is far too much pre-judging going on at the moment, but I will share with you something that happened to me about 4 days go, and let you draw your own conclusions. I woke up around 5:30 am , unable to sleep, it was a hot muggy night and morning ( Melbourne has been averaging the high 30's for the last week , with unbearable humidity ) . I was feeling down , as my mother's visit was coming to an end , and all of this added up to me being unable to sleep very well. It was pitch dark in our room, the blinds are flipping brilliant at blocking out almost every smidgen of ambient and street light . I got up quietly , so a...

This weekend has been dedicated to getting the final touches on my guest room , in preparation for my in-laws who arrive in a week's time to visit from South Africa. Part of that process has involved finally unpacking the last of the boxes that we brought with us from South Africa over 2 years ago. And putting all my curtains into the car to go and drop off at a charity somewhere during the week. So here's some things you don't think about when leaving South Africa. Getting rid of perfectly good things that you don't need any more, and finding someone to give them to. No problem in South Africa , something of a conundrum here in Oz.