Australia Day

I think I'm beginning to dislike Australia day. Don't get me wrong, I love the public holiday, the hottest 100 countdown and the bbq that goes with it. But what does it represent? It's a day that marks the anniversary of the invasion of this country and raping and pillaging of the indigenous people.

Is this really an appropriate date to celebrate our fine nation? Is it really inclusive of all Australians? Okay, so it was the date when it was first settled by white folk, which is a significant milestone in our history. But the country wasn't named Australia at the time. Hell, it wasn't even a country - just an outpost that was founded to house the naughty people. To celebrate this day as Australia Day, really only acknowledges one of this country's groups of migrants.

I do like the term Invasion Day, although it does seem a little too antagonistic. Perhaps 26th January should be known as White Settlement Day and then we could have a completely separate day to celebrate our country. A day that doesn't belong to one individual group of migrants, but to the whole of the population. A day where we can band together and celebrate ALL of the people, places, cultures and other things that make our country wonderful. A day where patriotism and racism are not intertwined. Where it's not okay to shout White Australia catch phrases whilst waving the flag.

Yes, there are racist groups in Australia. We need to make a stand to say that it's not okay. To say that we're trying to do something to include all Australians. That every individual in this country is valued. What better way to do that than to give the nation a whole new National Day to celebrate the rich melting pot that is Australian Culture.

Too Hot

I'm sure this is very unoriginal, as we're in the middle of an Australian summer and everyone seems to be complaining about the weather. But I guess we can't all be original and creative all the time.

According to the bureau of meteorology website it's 43 degrees outside at the moment. HOT! And unfortunately extreme weather means that things don't work properly... so the airconditioner at work isn't working very efficiently. It was 26 in the office and climbing. So I grabbed my laptop and my lab notes and I'm writing up my experiments in the library. Unfortunately the library seems to be suffering from similar issues, but at least there's hardly anyone here, so it's not crowded and stuffy as well as warm.

I'm really not looking forward to the journey home. Standing on a bitumen train platform in 40 degree heat is not exactly pleasant. Another unfortunate side effect of the extreme heat is that it puts a strain on the rail network. I think there are rail buckling issues or something like that. So trains are often delayed. Last year I had to wait on the platform for almost an hour on one of these extreme weather days. I just hope I don't have to do that again today!

I'm hanging out for a cold shower when I get home.

What Makes a Good Wife

Against my better judgement, I read a Sydney Morning Herald blog about how to be a good wife.

What a load of crap!!!

If I've learnt anything from my married (and unmarried) friends, it's that there are no hard and fast rules as to what makes a good spouse. Everyone's different and everyone requires different things from their partners. I'm lucky enough to have a husband who does the dishes and the washing and sweeps/mops the floors. And he's lucky enough to have a wife who cooks his dinner and cleans the toilet. lol!

But just because we want to share the chores equally, it doesn't mean that every couple needs to do that. Each and every happily married couple I know has found a balance that works for them. Some couples are actually really happy with the gender stereotype that the men mow the lawn and fix the car while the women cook and clean the house.

One thing that really got me riled up is this section here where she's talking about a friend...
"After getting immersed in the hoo-haa of the celebration of her engagement, she followed this with an intense period of organisation of the "perfect" party for the wedding. She became so immersed in finding the perfect dress, the guest list and the honeymoon that she almost forgot about why she was doing it all. Now, six months on, she's slowly realising that there's more to marriage than the wedding accessories. "What lies beneath when all the celebration dies down is darn hard work to keep up with," she said. "Thankfully we have a strong foundation, but I get now why so many couples struggle.""

For goodness sake! Although, I'm sure that some brides to be do get too wrapped up in the celebration and forget what it's really about, it's ridiculous to trivialise marriage to such an extent. If I were her friend, I'd be extremely annoyed at having my words twisted to make me seem like a shallow bridezilla.

Marriage is hard. But it's hard regardless of whether you have a massive princess wedding or a simple registry office affair. It's hard because it's about two individuals coming together in a partnership and commiting to stay together regardless of what happens. No-one tells you just how difficult it is, so when you hit your first major problem, you wonder if you're going to become a statistic.

Marriage is about learning compromise and flexibility, openness and honesty; learning that sometimes it's more important to keep the peace than to be right all the time; that it's okay to admit that you were wrong; that you're constantly growing and changing and as you do, so will your relationship; learning how to support your spouse and how to accept support in return; how to survive the tough times and rejoice in the good. There are so many other lessons, but these are what I've learnt, and what I'm still trying to apply to my marriage - especially the part about admitting you were wrong. Haha!

So Sam, when you're married and you've figured out for yourself what makes you a good wife, then you can write about it, but until then, stick to writing about what you know.

Mixed Feelings Over Fev

While I think this story is hilarious, I think it's also quite sad at the same time.

I'm not a fan of Fev, so I think it's really very amusing that Carlton are at the point where they'd pay a club to take him. I also think that in some ways he deserves it. He's acted like a drunken dickhead far too many times, and if he's had the appropriate warnings, then fair enough that he should be dumped.

However, it does remind me of the whole Ben saga. I do think that footy teams have a duty of care to their players. He obviously has an issue and I do think that in some ways Carlton is responsible. If it wasn't for them, his drunken behaviour wouldn't have become big news and he possibly wouldn't even have the problem in the first place. Instead of dumping him, perhaps they needed to look at stricter conditions on his employment contract, compulsory AA meetings or something along those lines. Don't just leave him high and dry when he needs the most help and support.

So let me know what you think...

A Lost Credit Card Rant

A few weeks ago, while my sister was visiting, I somehow managed to lose my credit card. I'm not sure quite how or when I lost it. I can remember the last time I used it. I didn't discover it was lost until several days after that. Fortunately no one had racked up loads of charges on it, so it probably wasn't stolen.

When I discovered it was gone, Paul called the bank to cancel the card and reorder a new one. Unfortunately because we have the same cc numbers, they had to cancel both cards. When Paul went into the bank to collect the cards 5 days later (as instructed), he was told that the cards had been cancelled and new PINs had been ordered, but not new cards!! Okay, so he ordered new ones.

Another 5 days later and he was told that they had actually been ordered the first time, but they'd been sent to our old bank in Adelaide. No they couldn't send them to our home address but they could be sent to a bank in Melbourne for us to collect them. So that was done.

Three weeks after Paul first cancelled the credit cards, and much hassling not included in the description above, they arrive at the bank in Melbourne. The date we received the cards was 18th August. The date stamp on the front of the envelope, from when they arrived at the bank in Adelaide was 3rd August. We did not receive one phone call from the bank in Adelaide to say that our cards arrived. We were without ready access to money for 3 weeks and they didn't bother to let anyone know that our cards had turned up without notice at their bank! GRRRRR!!! It makes me angry!

So I suffered severe internet shopping withdrawals. But it's okay, I made a purchase online yesterday, so I'm feeling a little better now.