Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is pure genius

If you haven't heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, or just the ice bucket challenge in general, it's basically where you get a bucket of ice water and dump it on your head.

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There is some confusion as to whether you should donate to the ALS Association within 24hrs or do the challenge, or do the challenge within 24hrs or donate. In any case, you get to nominate three other people to do it after you.

The ALS Association is a charity set up for supporting people with ALS and funding research into the condition (better known in Australia as Motor Neurome Disease, or less tactfully "What Stephen Hawking Has"). It has raised millions for them over the past few weeks.

So why has it become so popular?

- It's not hard or hurtful. The challenge is daunting enough to make the average person think twice, and cause some discomfort, but generally it's not going to hurt you (unless you stuff it up - and yes there are some people who have harmed themselves by being silly!).

- It's humiliating, and we all like to see people humiliated on the internet!

- The celeb factor. Everyone loves to see a celebrity get behind a great cause, but watching them dump cold water of themselves seems to send people into paroxyms of delight.

Negatives - most celeb Ice Bucket videos I've seen don't even mention the ALS Association or their donation. It wasn't until I saw Kochie do it on Sunrise yesterday that I realised it was a charity drive! However, the hashtag #ALSIceBucketChallenge is gaining traction and should make the average social media viewer realise the whole thing is being done for a reason.

Charlie Sheen just poured money on himself, which works.

And lastly, it's a massive waste of water when there are many, many people in our world who lack decent access to it.

However, I still think it's a great idea for fundraising and whoever thought of it deserves a raise. My faves so far are Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman.








What do you think of the Ice Bucket Challenge?

Staycation

I'm on leave at the moment. Everyone at work wanted to know where I was going, what I was doing. I had to disappoint them as I was not going on a "holiday" per se. 

My friends and relatives also seem surprised I have taken leave for no particular reason, and that I'm not going away anywhere. 

Actually, I just needed a break. To not get up every week day, commute, work at a desk, and come home. The office grind can be wear you down, you know. 

So I'm taking a break for my health. My mental health as well as my physical! Offices are bad for your body ergonomicly, and my brain deserves a break from the usual merry-go-round of numbers and corporate politics. 

I will be visiting my mother at the farm, however, so that will get me out of the city at least. I look forward to a few days of quiet and being able to see the stars at night. 

Do you ever have a "do nothing" vacation?

My Costco Fail

I have been excited about Costco for a while. Yes, I am a fan of reducing consumption and shopping local, reducing food miles and supporting local business but there was something about the American giant that intrigued me. Mysterious foods in bulk? This I must see. 

I bought my membership months ago, but such has been the popularity of the North Lakes store I was put off by the crowds and didn't actually go until this last weekend. 

And still it was crowded and busy. I must say I can see the appeal to the average person. Australians haven't seen a shop like this since the old Campbell's Cash 'n' Carry. Not only do they sell everything conceivable, Costco sells it in gigantic quantities. 

Put off by the masses of people, I found it hard to look at anything closely, so I just wandered about, aimlessly pushing my trolley up and down aisles  

To be honest, most of my attention was taken up by trying not to ram my trolley into anyone. I think I was the only person there alone! Seems to be a fun family day out, buying 12-packs of hot sauce and 20kf bags of rice. 

In the end I only had one item in my trolley: a 60c packet of bagels. Frankly too embarrassed to line up at the checkout and pay for them, I searched for a quiet spot to ditch it and run. There was none, so I abandoned it in the frozen food aisle and slipped out, pretending to be part of someone's family group. 

So my verdict? I don't know if I will be getting my membership fee's-worth. But I do know when I go back, I'm taking my mum and it will be at a quieter time!

Do you have a Costco membrrship? What do you love about it?

One is the Loneliest Number

My husband has been away for a week and a half, and I must say I have a new respect for military and FIFO partners. I don't know how you do it for weeks ormonths  on end! If I wasn't working I think I would have gone mad. 

I've forgotten how to live a solitary life, shameful really. But there are some good things about having the house to oneself!

- toilet seat is always down

- whole bed to starfish in

- minimal washing up

- tv completely under your control

And the downsides:

- having to do all those yucky tasks you usually "delegate"

- no one to investigate strange night noises 

- danger of going barmy from talking to oneself

And the sappy one:

- the person-shaped hole in you life where your beloved usually is. 

How do you combat loneliness?

Don't Fob Me Off

In my job, I make a lot of phone calls. I don't think it's any secret what I do - I'm a collector. Essentially, I chase businesses for money all day.

Now I can understand why people don't want to talk to me - I'm asking them to pay their bills, gasp, how dare I? And if you're having trouble with cashflow at present I imagine the last person you want to talk to is your creditor.

But today I'm not talking about Bob from Bob's Services not being able to pay his bills. I'm talking about receptionists and office staff. I'm talking about the person whose job it is to answer the business phone, or the unfortunate staff member in the workshop or warehouse who picks it up when nobody else will.

I find that more and more, people are inclined to fob me off or be openly dismissive. I don't even think it's the fact that I'm calling about money - they're not even interested in who I am most of the time, let alone why I'm ringing. Nope, if they're not the right person to speak to, I get told:
- they're not here
- ring back later
- send them an email

I also don't care if that person isn't in the office today, or if they're sick, or on leave. The least you can do is offer me an alternative person or take a message. 

More than half the time I actually have to push to have them go to the trouble of writing down a message. (I don't want to send an email. Emails get buried and deleted. I want somebody to ring me back). And even worse, I can tell half the time they're not even bothering to write down my number. They respond too quickly and the tone tells me they don't care. I must leave about 40 messages a day and you know how many return calls I get? Probably 3-5. Woeful. 

And while I'm on a rant about business politeness and niceities, I am continually astounded by the amount of phones that are not answered in a way that identify the company. eg. "Welcome to XYZ, you're speaking with Gloria/Steve.". Nope. It's "Hello?". And then I have to enquire whether I've even called the right place. Basic stuff, but it really, really irks me.

I also believe that this is happening in my personal life. People just don't bother to get back to you, they don't identify themselves when ringing, emails are just templates. My husband had a very frustrating but hilarious argument with a telemarketer the other night who kept demanding "Who you?" with him replying "You first! You're calling me!"

I don't know what the problem is, or the solution. I just know that if I have a bad interaction with a company at work or in my personal life, I'm completely put off what they're selling. And I tell other people about it. 

Are you getting fobbed off left, right and centre? Does it give you the irrits like me?

Why I Don't Write

There's a bit of a meme going around the Australian blogosphere at the moment on "Why I Write". I've enjoyed reading about a lot of people's inspirations, but at the same time I've reached a sobering conclusion: I'm not a writer.

What I mean is, I don't often feel a burning desire to pour words onto the page. I don't always have stories in me trying to get out, compelling me to put pen to paper (or more precisely, fingers to keyboard). What I do feel is the occasional desire to write down a few thoughts, to comment on recent events, or share stories of my life. This is what compels me to write my blog. Prior to the advent of the internet, I'd make do writing down this sort of stuff in a journal, or boring the pants off my friends making conversation about stuff they really couldn't care less about.

But goodness me, what a boon the online world is. I can now share these occasional bursts of writing with a wider community, not limited by geography!

I definiately do not fit the stereotype of the writer.  I do not slave over a typewriter/keyboard at all hours, creating every day. I don't suffer from "writer's block" any more because when I don't have any ideas about what to write, I don't try to force it. I'm not berating myself for not writing regularly, or have any feelings of guilt at neglecting my writing if I haven't done so in a few days or weeks.

I'm a proud Slow Blogger. Although lately I've been feeling if I wrote more, this blog would have more "engagement" (and more followers, and more of a chance at monetisation... ) I don't want to feel like I have to be producing posts every day. That's too much like work, and I already have a full time job.

And that's the key to my non-writerliness I believe. I don't want to be writing every day. I don't want to make blogging my full time job - because that's too much hard work. I say kudos to those writers and bloggers that DO make a living out of it, because I know for a fact it's not easy!

So for the moment, I'll continue to write as inspiration moves me. And I won't claim to be a writer, just a blogger who writes things sometimes.

Do you write? Regularly? Do you feeel the burning desire to tell stories? Do you call yourself a proper "writer"?

Are we obsessed with smelling good?

I've been thinking about this for a while, but a radio interview I heard recently has resolved my opinion. We are all obsessed with smelling "good". 

The interviewee was an expert on migraines, saying oen of the major triggers for people who were susceptible to them was perfume. She also mentioned that most commercial perfumes contained petrochemicals (implying buying them supported the evil oil industry) which was kind of scary. She said life for the migraine-sufferer could be extremely trying because we love in a world where everything - ourselves, our cars, our houses - is perfumed. 

I noticed recently during my parents-in-law's visit that MIL had bought a scented reed diffuser for their room.  The room didn't smell bad, as far as I could tell; she just wanted it to smell better. 

I am particularly biased against car an house air fresheners. I find the scents overwhelmingly strong and privately think that those home spray things with a timer may represent the pinnacle of frivolous First World products. That said, I don't have children so maybe I shouldn't judge others who have some difficult smells to deal with in their residence. 

I do however wear perfume every day on myself, and though it only lasts the morning on my skin, enjoy smelling "pretty".  I barely spare a thought for my fellow train seatmate whose stomach is probably roiling at the wafting cloud of Marc Jacobs at 7am. 

Is this obsession with smelling nice and having our surroundings smell "better" a recent invention? Up until a few decades ago we weren't bathing every day and probably only rich people used fragrences to cover seriously horrible body odour - or other household smells. Can you imagine what the world smelt like before running water and garbage collection in cities?

I stopped wearing perfume for a week recently to see if it was causing my occasional headaches; with no effect, so I'm back wearing it again. I am trying not to drown myself in it though. 

Do you surround yourself with nice smells? Do you worry it's causing your headaches?