12 Steps...Losing My Religion?

I've been dashing about London in the rain today - appointment to appointment, jumping around puddles and waging a battle with my brolly in the wind. (Incidentally, I lost that battle but managed to snaffle a cab so feel I won the war.)  It seemed that after posting my moment of inspiration on Facebook this morning - "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about dancing in the rain" - the fickle London weather seemed determine to dampen my mid-week mambo.

On the homeward-bound bus at last, I opened up my weekly Australian Times e-newsletter (I've had a whole new love of commuting since the advent of my Desire) to be greeted with the question Are You Losing Your Australian-ness?.  After the rubbishing I got while visiting loved ones in Melbourne over Christmas (about my Ocker-Oh's referring to my tendancy to intersperse flat 'Australian-speak' with a few English-sounding Oh's and Ah's), I thought I should read on.

Lee Crossley actually identifies twelve signs of disappearing Australian-ness but I am pleased to report that I have only identify five signs after seven years of living here:

THE phrases 'Mind the Gap' and 'alight here' no longer seem a tad odd.  In fact, I find them quite sweet and quaint.  I mean who 'alights' anything any more?

YOU no longer grumble on a crowded tube.  Simply hours of fun to be had 'minding the gap' and 'alighting'.  Plus no-one likes a whinger.

YOU expect miserable weather.  And am conversely delighted to a slightly hysterical degree at any 2 plus run of warm-weather-days. I must point out here that we are classifying mid-20(c)s as blissfully warm. I just do not have the wardrobe/patience to deal with anything hotter any more, unless lying prone next to the pool/beach in holiday repose.

YOU start to wonder where all the English people have gone in London.  Yep. Pretty much. I think they all live 'elsewhere'.  Like Oxford.  Or Spain.

YOU accentuate the ‘ie’ in unbelievable.  Actually pronounced un-be-leeeeeeev-able and can be applied to any moment of wonder/dismay/disbelief.

Yes, 5 out of 12.  That's 41.66%, an average of about 5.9% a year.  By my reckoning, that means this insidious creep will have completely subsumed my Ocker-ness in just under a decade.

Bugger!* Best bring out the big guns...

*Please don't take offence.  Click on the link if you really think I am being rude.  I am not.  Truly.  I'm just a laconic, dinky-di colonial.

ps...if you want to keep a watchful eye over my continued slide progress, find out what the other seven are by going to Lee Crossley's article here and keep checking in at Gidday from the UK for updates. 

Travel Broadens The Mind...Flights Of Fantasy

As you know, I have been travelling over the last couple of weeks and you know what that means - more of my wry observations on the facts of life according to BA's business:life magazine! (Calm down peeps, I know you can barely contain your excitement.)

The theme of the June 2011 issue of business:life is 'If At First You Don't Succeed...why we all need to fail'.  Whilst I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment (and in fact, the general tone of the articles), the 'stats sound bites' strewn throughout seemed to suggest that perhaps the realms of fantasy are society's preferred option.

We start with that perennial favourite, the body beautiful.  According to business:life sources, one third of UK women would be prepared to trade at least a year of their life in exchange for an 'ideal body'.  I have news for them.  Obsessing about the ideal body and what constitutes this has probably shortened their lifespan already.  Particularly since Britons don't start worrying about their health until aged 39 - I suspect the additional 4 inches around the waistline is probably the first clue.  And then a third think that they will grow their own fruit and veg this summer - a healthy and noble ambition, no less. Does digging up garden beds gone to seed cover the 'needing to fail' bit?  Might also count as exercise...two birds with one stone there.
 
Next we take a look at what we've been doing other than worrying and planting a few carrots and strawbs - watching telly.  One fifth of Britons have been motivated to start their own business after watching programmes such as Dragon's Den and The Apprentice. So I have a question - does this mean they actually started a business or just got a nice, warm feeling about it?  Reports that business failures are actually down 7.9% across the UK for Jan/Feb 2011 versus the previous year would appear to be an encouraging sign. However, the Welsh have clearly not been paying attention - with business failures up 23.9%, I suspect that the nice, warm feeling has passed them by.  Although there's 2.2 million potholes in Britain - perhaps that repesents a business opportunity in the offing or at the very least, an episode of The Apprentice.  Oh, sorry they already have that - when the candidates lug their shovels with them into their interviews and proceed to dig deep, deep, deep holes... 

On the subject of starting one's own business, 53% of Britain's entrepreneurs put their success down to their innate talents, rather than learnt skills or education. (Perhaps pot-hole identification is genetic?)  So I ask you this - what are Mums-and-Dads (M-A-D) doing paying squillions for privately educated children (£360,000 apparently) to then attend fee-paying universities?  And then spending an average of £772 to bail their little darlings out on their gap year?  No wonder 38% of Britons would use a discount voucher on a first date and 23% of British readers are attracted to e-books because of the cost.

And as to the value of all this education?  Well, one in five Britons thinks Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple are historical figures.  I rest my case...

And finally, in light of my re-entry into singledom this year, let's look to the state of romance here in the UK:

16% of British adults are planning a holiday with their parents this year.

312 is the number of times the average couple argues each year.

72% of young British men never buy flowers for their loved ones.


On the other hand, let's not.

Goose Steps...

I have been away at a conference this week in Skanor, a small seaside village in Sweden.  It's been a busy few days and having never been to any of the Nordic nations before, I was keen to grab a few moments here and there to soak up a bit of the pure Skanor experience.

There was seafood (herrings, roe, salmon, trout, scallops), bread (glorious bread), local jams (including scrumptious raspberry), cheese (for breakfast - yay!) and schnapps ('local', lemon and bitter - all lethal to the same degree).  There were games on the beach, meetings not on the beach, much laughing and cheering   and quite a bit of follow up work to do as a result!

A little research also tells me that the locals have a penchant for geese and Gåsaloppet (goose race) is a much-feted annual event traditionally held on midsummer at noon where residents form teams of six and race through the streets of old Skanor on home-made skis! (Click here if you want to check this out for yourself.)

So each morning we would take a short, sun-kissed and ski-less stroll through the village to our meeting venue and it was on Day 2 that I noticed a rather curious nod to the local fauna...

And then I looked down...

Do you think they've been practising for next year?



Quite A Milestone...or is that A Quiet Milestone?

There is much surprise and delight here at Gidday HQ today!

You see, I've been away for a few days at a conference (more about my travels later) and have not had the time or the internet access to lavish my usual attention on these virtual ramblings.  


But it seems that in my absence, you've been rather busy in the 'lavish-ing' department over the last couple of days.

I opened my dashboard today to see that Gidday from the UK had tiptoed quietly past the quite significant milestone of 10,000 page views to reach 10,088 page views.

That represents all of those times you dropped in to say 'Gidday'.  Amazing! Wicked! Bonza!  I feel honoured and completely chuffed.  Who would have thought it eh?

Thanks so much for your support/visits/comments and hope you continue to enjoy fossicking around for the next 10,000.