Saturday Afternoons

Still waiting to hear from my daughter. She's probably working and got her mobile switched off or she's run out of credit and can't afford to reply to my text message. Frustrating. All I want is a weekly reassurance that she's okay. Once a mother always a mother.

Busy reacquainting myself with accounting software applications. From experience each business and corporation is different, with their files set up differently. But with a job interview next week that may see me showing off my financial wizadry skills, I thought I'd best have a play with some of the more commonly used software.

Personally I find a simple set up using Excel works fine for most people running small businesses.

But the manufacturers of accounting software have convinced so many to part with so much cash in the belief that it will be "easier" to keep their financial records straight if only they use X company's software.

Footy day. AFL that is. With a dash of rugby thrown in.

Petrol sniffing & Opal fuel - is it the answer?

The question of Opal fuel came up this morning. Specifically, the octane levels and possible problems with using Opal in one’s vehicle.

For those of you who are unaware, petrol-sniffing is a big problem amongst the indigenous communities.

Sniff petrol and you get high on the aromatics in normal petrol (or gasoline if you’re American). Sniffing can lead to brain damage and death.

So, in response our government and fuel companies did some experimenting and Opal fuel is the result.

The federal government is trying to get Opal fuel into all parts of the Territory. However, in the Alice, whilst we can buy Opal fuel, regular unleaded and premium unleaded fuels are still available.

At The Rock (Uluru or Ayers Rock Resort), only Opal fuel is available to visitors. This is an effort by the small village to reduce the petrol sniffing problems in the nearby Aboriginal community of Mutijulu.

As a person who only uses Premium or Ultimate Unleaded fuels with their octane levels of 95 and 98 respectively, the prospect of having to suddenly fill up with Opal’s 91 octane fuel did not impress me.

My fuel range was greatly reduced on the tank full of Opal. So much so that I will not be using Opal again unless I have no choice.

It is difficult to find specific or technical or even hearsay data on the potential problems of using Opal fuel. Given that 2 of the major roadhouses on the Stuart Highway are refusing to become "Opal only", there are obviously problems.

May I recommend making the Pigs Will Fly website regular reading? I discovered this gem of a blog when researching Opal fuel this morning.

Nudity, drunk driving & other news from the Alice!

I do love reading Friday’s Centralian Advocate sometimes. It’s a shame the paper isn’t available on-line. The headlines and stories often reflect life in the outback that is, well, peculiar only to the Alice and small town living.

Today’s headline is “Tourists topless on council lawn”. Of course, it’s only a banner headline. One has to turn to page 3 for the juicy details. After all, this is a family town and we can’t have naked bodies on the front page.

So I turn to page 3 and read further sensationalist headlines:

“Topless shocker in CBD” and “Girls bare all on new council lawn”

This is accompanied by a large photograph of three Belgian female tourists currently in town.

They have their clothes well and truly on. Not a bit of nudity.

But what really amazed me was the story itself. And please, bear in mind this shocker of a story in l’il old Alice takes up two thirds of page 3.

Apparently 2 female tourists decided to sunbathe topless on the Civic Centre lawns last week. And their male friend allegedly stripped down to his g-string to enjoy the warm sunny rays.

Council was apparently made aware of the naked breasts and the g-string on their lawn but as there are no council by-laws to stop nudity, nothing could be done.

The Mayor said they hadn’t had any complaints. And she had no intention of introducing any new by-laws preventing nude sunbathing. She’s quoted in the paper as saying “Tourists can pretend it’s Bali and treat Alice so.”

An alderman suggested council should designate a park in the Alice for nude sunbathing. Yes, it was a male alderman. Alderman Stewart is quoted as saying “There are parks in Berlin and Holland that cater to those needs, and at most beaches, so why not here?”

He states it would be a way for people of the Alice to say to our European tourists “we accept and endorse your ways”.

The Mayor pointed out that nude sunbathing has occurred before, at the pool, and after complaints were received the people were told they couldn’t take off their clothes there.

The journalist writing the story then interviewed the fully clothed Belgian female tourists who said anyone can go topless on their beaches but they wouldn’t do it on their government lawns.

Canadian tourists were then interviewed who said “it seemed out of place and didn’t fit with the vibe of Alice Springs”.

The story finished with a comment from the police. Technically it’s an offence to remove your clothes in public and it could be deemed offensive behaviour. But they hadn’t received any complaints about the incident.

With all the fuss every year about tourist numbers and how to attract more tourists to the Alice, perhaps we can market the free-thinking council and promote Alice Springs as a nudist destination?

In other news from the Centralian Advocate today:

Boxer Anthony Mundine was a big hit with the indigenous kids living at the Mount Nancy town camp. Mundine was promoting the no drugs, no grog and eat healthy message.

Mundine then stirred up a few problems when he visited the local prison, telling the inmates, most of whom are indigenous, that “You’re in here because the white government wants you in here.”

Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough continues to cop flak over his statements to put “Aboriginals on display at the entrance to five star hotels across Australia as a showcase for international tourists”. Just when you think a politician is doing some worthwhile work for the country, Brough goes and stuffs it up. Bad move Mr Brough.

Our paper is often littered with stories of the drink drivers who are caught. It always amazes me the sheer numbers of drunk drivers who are done for driving under the influence or are driving unregistered and unlicensed. We’re only a small town and yet we seem to have an inordinate number of drink drivers.

Today’s paper ran a story about a man who was picked up twice in two days for driving under the influence. He blew six times the legal limit. At his court hearing on Monday the magistrate asked the police prosecutor why the man had been released just one and a half hours after being arrested the first time.

The paper quotes the magistrate as saying “I presume that wasn’t because he’s not Aboriginal. I presume that there’s another, better reason than that. I’d have to say regularly Aboriginal people get held for hours and hours and hours, so why wasn’t this man held?”

The police were not able to answer because they couldn’t find the time the man was released in police records.

The man in question apparently has a history of drunkenness. And as he is not an Australian citizen and works for the secret, secret defence base at Pine Gap, might I venture the theory that his US citizenship and his job got him released early?

Aboriginals, Customary Law & Horrifying Hospitals

Jodeen Carney, lawyer and leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory government, and the Shadow Attorney-General has written a well-considered article in today’s The Australian newspaper on the use and abuse of Aboriginal customary law.

The article is clearly articulated and simply written and is a good introduction to the complexities of problems and challenges that those of us in the NT and in Australia face, especially if you’re indigenous.

Customary law is, as Ms Carney explains, used to help reduce sentences for Aboriginal men convicted of violent crimes and domestic abuse.

I quote Ms Carney’s argument “Put simply, if customary law is not meant to "lessen the seriousness of violence" why do violent Aboriginal men seek to rely on it for sentencing purposes when the aim of doing so is to lessen the sentence?”

And to use the words of the Territory’s most senior prosecutor, great emphasis is placed on customary law to place “ the offender in the best light, and how it closed off the voices of Aboriginal women”.

How to we even begin to help get our Indigenous people into a safe environment when our own laws are being used to reduce sentences and thus perpetuate the violence against women, children and the elderly?

And to further illustrate the intricate complexity of Australia’s so-called “indigenous problem” read on.

The Australian reports a second Aboriginal woman has died after being refused proper treatment at Cherbourg’s Hospital in Queensland. According to the story, Dawn Chambers, 60, was told to make her own way to Murgon Hospital, 6km away, because “no-one at Cherbourg Hospital could use its X-ray equipment.”

Dawn died of a suspected heart attack the next day.

Dawn’s family are wondering why the Cherbourg Hospital staff did not arrange transportation to the other hospital for a woman who was in pain.

The town’s Mayor is suggesting a riot may break out in the town in order to get government to act and solve the problems with the hospital.

Last week The Australian reported the death of another woman, 25 year old Maureen Weazel who had been left to die outside Cherbourg Hospital after nurses ignored the frantic pleas of the man who brought her to hospital for help. The hospital claimed the nurses thought the man was drunk and violent and refused to open the doors. The woman died.

The hospital has refused to comment and police are investigating.

In the meantime, feel very anxious for any indigenous person living in Cherbourg who falls ill and requires hospital treatment.

I do wonder whether we should be asking the nurses just why they are apparently too scared to open the hospital doors at night to admit patients.

Surely the Qld government can afford to employ a few extra police if drunkenness and violence is a problem in the town?

Cherbourg Hospital is a very small hospital and I imagine the work load and pressure on the doctors and nurses is very demanding.

Even though Alice Springs has a problem at times with violent drunks, there is usually a security guard at the hospital entrance to lend assistance and protection. And there is police back up.

I say usually.

There have been a few reported stories of nurses being violently attacked in the hospital. Goes with the job unfortunately.

But I think there’s more to the problems at Cherbourg.

I don't have the answer. But I do recognize when things are very wrong.

Email to Blogger

Why isn't my email to blogger not working? Hmmm.

GERD & Food

I have GERD. Or GORD if you’re British. Either way it’s short for gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Or, if you’re British, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. (I’m Australian, of mature vintage and therefore try to use British spelling as much as possible. Although I prefer to use GERD to GORD, because I think it sounds better.)

As a result of this condition I find I have to be very careful in what I eat. I’ve had to eliminate alcohol entirely. Because drinking causes pain. And I’ve also had to give up meat. Because eating meat causes the most unbelievable pain and discomfort. And I’ve had to give up chilli and other hot spices.

So I’m now a tee-totalling vegetarian.

I love food. It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures. And I love to cook healthy meals.

These days I have to cook even healthier meals and eliminating fats and hot spices like chilli presented a challenge.

As one of the major symptoms of GERD is heartburn or indigestion, many of you will benefit from the occasional recipe I’ll post here.

Something I discovered as I experimented with my food, was avoiding processed foods and cooking from scratch, using fresh vegetables resulted in my being able to digest the food much more easily. And whilst I still get painful and uncomfortable bloating in my upper abdomen, it’s not as bad as when I occasionally eat the “wrong” foods, like take-away.

So, today’s recipe is for a Potato & Leek Soup. With added cauliflower.

6 potatoes – I use Red Rascal or Pontiacs because I like the pink skins

1 leek

Half a cauliflower

Approximately 1 litre of chicken stock (okay, so I’m not totally vego!)

Slice the leek and sauté gently with a sprinkle of cumin in a very large pot until softened. I use grapeseed oil or macadamia oil – it’s my personal preference. Dice the potatoes but DO NOT PEEL THEM! Keep the skins on – they’re full of goodness and they look pretty! Break the cauliflower into small pieces. Add the potatoes and cauliflower to the leek and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until it’s all cooked. Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste. I add 1 teaspoon of salt, a few bit of freshly cracked black pepper, a good handful of fresh or dried coriander and basil.

I like a thick soup so I add only enough stock to cover the vegetables and a tiny bit more. I pop the cover on the pot to bring it to the boil, and then I remove the lid so the liquid reduces.

Let the soup cool slightly and then puree in a blender or with one of those hand held blenders. It should be lovely and thick and taste superb. Serve with your favourite bread.

Happy eating.

Is our Minister for Indigenous Affairs for real?

I did it!

Finally got the job application finished and emailed.

Why do these things always take so much longer than one thinks? And the irony is not lost on me – I’m applying for an office job whereby I show off my expertise and speed in putting together documents on the computer.

I don’t think much of Mal Brough’s latest idea. Brough is Australia’s federal minister for indigenous affairs. Back in May I thought the man was doing a good job with his determination to solve some of the problems facing our indigenous peoples. But I don’t think this is the way to go. Smacks of putting people in zoos for tourists to gawk at.

Very distasteful.

And it seems I’m not the only one who thinks this. Indigenous MP Linda Burney describes the plan as outrageous.

Although I do support the basic idea of taking aboriginal youth who show promise out of their communities for a short period of time so they can receive decent training in job skills and gather ideas to take back to their families and communities.

But not this “Aboriginals on Display”, with visitors pointing and saying “oh wow, look at the native person.”

Get a better idea Mal.

According to Adele Horin in today’s SMH, “sex workers on Sydney's streets are more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder than soldiers returning from combat or police officers.”

I can’t bring myself to comment on the troubles in Lebanon yet. Except to say that if I were visiting a country and war broke out, I doubt it would occur to me to seek help or to expect help from my embassy or government.

Here in the Alice, the new Alcohol Court has heard its first case. Designed to deal with habitual drunks and their anti-social and criminal behaviour, today’s hearing sentenced a 21 year old man to a 2 month prison sentence but then suspended the sentence. Thankfully the man is required to undergo treatment at the Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol Programs Unit. Link

No word from anyone in the family as to why my father’s funeral has been delayed. I’m just the eldest daughter, why would I need to be told?

Still playing catch up with my day after my big sleep in.

Thank you, thank you

Morning!
I slept in today and I feel like half the day has passed me by already! Still finishing off my job application (life would be so much easier if we didn't need money), and I haven't even read the newspapers this morning. I'll get there eventually.

Some lovely comments from people. Thank you very much. I'll try to keep up the style and the momentum of this blog, and I promise to keep the graphics too! ;-)

Time for more coffee and more work on the CV.

Back later in the day I hope. Cheers!

Next of Kin

Spent most of my day writing up a job application including answering selection criteria. Now working on polishing up my CV to make it look good and inviting. It's always a harder job than I think it will be. This time I'm following the advice of all those recruitment specialists and using power words and positive statements and somehow trying to keep it all to just 2 pages.

My father died just over a week ago. He led a complicated life with two families and I'm the eldest of six children. The youngest sibling is 22. He died at his home in another state. And one of the middle siblings took charge of the coroner and the funeral. The funeral was supposed to have been last Friday. And due to time and health reasons I opted not to attend. My sister immediately beneath me also decided not to make the long journey. After all, this funeral was shaping up to be more for the younger 4 siblings to say their goodbye rather than something warm and compassionate and honest and encompassing the entire extended family. Especially when my father's estranged second wife emerged from her home to become the Star of the Show as the Grieving Widow. For she never really accepted that her marriage was over. And my father, to keep the peace, decided not to go ahead with a divorce. And it seems as if the younger siblings never accepted it either, saying that the physical separation was more to do with our father's work, not a breakdown in their marriage.

I feel sorry for my father's mistress most of all. I never met her but my father always spoke highly of her and held her in high esteem. And he spoke highly of her to other members of the extended family too. The only ones who didn't know about her are Dad's youngest 4 children.

And now, today, I discover through a small notice in an interstate newspaper, that my father's funeral has been delayed. Until this Friday.

Nobody told me.

If I'd been told maybe, with the extra time to arrange flights and travel, and with my medical appointments out of the way, I'd have been able to make the journey across the country.

Too late now.

Buses cut, & being unemployed

This morning’s Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) ran a story about the cut back of bus services in the popular eastern suburbs such as Marrickville, Maroubra and Clovelly.

Apparently Sydneysiders have been embracing public transport since our fuel prices have begun to rise to over $1.45 per litre (regular unleaded).

According to the SMH, 50 services per week have been cut from the Maroubra – City route 376. Greater numbers have been cut from other routes.

The NSW Opposition spokesman for transport (Barry O’Farrell) said it makes no sense to reduce capacity on the city’s public transport network and it does nothing to encourage people to get out of their cars and use public transport.

But what about the people who don’t even own a car? Most of the people I know living in inner suburban Sydney do not own their own car because there’s always been plenty of cheap public transport.

What do they do now?

Link to SMH

Here’s a depressing story for those of us actively seeking paid employment. I have to say it explains why I feel that the Job Network people I’ve spoken to have never appeared helpful.

Having decided more than 20 years ago to be a full-time mother, I am now paying the penalty for that decision. Over 40, no degree, highly computer literate and with other office skills developed through running a household and overseeing family finances and investments, but no actual piece of paper to PROVE I can do such work. Minimal work history. And no referees. No money and I don’t meet Centrelink’s criteria for welfare payments. The Job Network people asked me didn’t I have some local business people in my social group that I could ask for either a reference or work experience? No, I don’t. Apart from always having desired to live a very quiet life, none of my friends are business people. All of them are either artists or they work in mundane, low-paid jobs or work for the government. And the people at Job Network conceded that my friends weren’t really suitable as referees at all.

It’s very frustrating. Being unemployed.

I feel I am being punished for (a) choosing to be a full-time mother for so many years, and (b) for not pursuing a network of highly placed business people for friends.

I like my quiet life. I like coming home and it just being me or me and my partner. I like only socialising with a few really close friends who I don’t view as “what can they do for me?”.

All I want is a simple office job. Part-time. Where I go to work, do my set tasks, get paid and come home and forget about it until the next working day.

A Very Small Town

You know you're living in a very small town when the local newspaper leads with as its cover a story about something that has occurred nearly 1500km away!

Today's Centralian Advocate has as its front page story the tale of two people rescued after a boating mishap off the Adelaide coast.

The link with Alice Springs? The two people happen to hail from the Alice. That's all.

You'd think the journos in this town could find something actually local to use for its lead item. They usually use the weather as a fall back when things are slow. Maybe they haven't noticed the rain of the past few days? Or the mud in the Todd River? (The Todd is usually dry and sandy for those not familiar with the area.)

Life in the Alice

 

The Sydney Morning Herald’s travel blog ran a story on life in Alice Springs. As one of the commentators noted, it’s mainly a run down of local restaurants and bars (but then the NT Tourist Commission did pay for the writer to visit).

Link

But there is a mention of our indigenous problem. Which has featured rather a bit in Australian news coverage during May and June when federal politician Mal Brough became involved in the argument of “how do we solve THE PROBLEM?”

I don’t know about other residents, but I’m getting tired of it all. I’m tired of the city media and citizens not understanding the realities of life in the Territory or the Outback in general. I’m tired of being made to feel like I should be “doing more” to raise living standards for the indigenous population. I’m tired of being branded a racist simply because I live in Alice Springs.

The issue is so much more complicated than simple racism. Indeed, if racism was the only cause then it would be an easy fix. But it isn’t.

I’ve lived here for more than two years now. And it has taken that long to really see the intricate complexities behind the problems and impoverished living standards for many of our indigenous peoples.

The only racism is the sheer lack of insight and understanding of traditional, nomadic Aboriginal culture. So many of the “do-gooders” do not recognize the fact that you cannot treat the indigenous population as a single entity. There are many tribes, many peoples, many skins and they all have slightly different cultural rituals and beliefs not to mention language. One government-provided solution does not and will not fit all.

And it doesn’t help when the NT government fights the Commonwealth government and we have all these disagreements and scrambling for funding amongst the many and varied organisations purportedly set up to help indigenous people.

I read a comment a couple of weeks ago suggesting what we really need to do is go out to some of the indigenous communities that are working well and have solved the alcohol and petrol sniffing problems and ask them HOW DID YOU DO IT? And follow their template. Simple. Maybe that strategy will work.

In the meantime, perhaps tourists visiting my town will do their bit by keeping an open mind when they see public drunkenness and violence, especially after dark here in the Alice. It isn’t a simple case of racist whites against blacks.

Burnt Churches, Trains, Vandalism and Coercion

The Adaminaby Catholic Church gutted by fire has had to be knocked down. Click here

Most of the interior of St Mary's Catholic Church had been destroyed by fire last Thursday night and the Cooma fire chief said the damage was so bad it was decided to demolish the building’s remaining walls.

Adaminaby's Catholic community shared mass yesterday, thanks to the Anglican community. And the Uniting Church has also offered its premises to the Adaminaby Catholic community.

Adaminaby (pop. 400) is a tiny town in NSW, located on the Snowy Mountains Highway not far from Cooma and the ski resort town of Thredbo. It’s popular with trout fishermen. Old Adaminaby sits under the waters of Lake Eucumbene, and the town was moved to its current site in 1956.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Adaminaby. Many years ago my car was hit by a kangaroo whilst returning from a day on the ski fields at Thredbo. We’d been staying at the caravan park in Adaminaby. Kind locals from the town towed our car into the local workshop and gave us all a lift back to town. Then we spent 3 or 4 days stranded in this tiny but charming town whilst waiting spare parts to fix the car. We got to know the town very well and each time I drive through the area I make sure I stop at the town’s bakery for they do bake the most delicious pies and pastries.

Click here

People in Bunbury are up in arms about the proposed changes to the area’s passenger train service. With the new Perth to Mandurah train line fast approaching completion, the government is proposing closing the Perth to Bunbury service and replacing it with connecting buses to Mandurah.

A community group is organising a public rally. A group called Save the Australind is passing two petitions against the proposal around the region that will be presented to the Upper and Lower Houses of State Parliament next month.

Transwa says the proposal is out for public comment and will not go ahead if it is not supported by the community.

And around my town ...

Link

Alice Springs police are investigating a vandalism spree in the central business district and industrial area over the weekend.

A glass door was smashed at the Alice Springs Youth Centre on Saturday night and windows were smashed at the Alice Springs Town Library, a chemist in the Coles Complex, a business in the Todd Mall and two premises in the industrial area.

Police say several vehicles also had their windows smashed.

Should I mention it is still school holiday time here? And as I recall this happened last year too.

Link

The Northern Territory Remote Community Drug Desk says sniffer dogs may soon be employed at Alice Springs Airport.

See here

Northern Territory Police say they have been unable to make any arrests in relation to allegations of child sexual abuse in central Australian Aboriginal communities, despite having interviewed almost 300 people.

And so … NT police say they support the proposal by the Australian Crime Commission (ACCC) being given extra powers to compel witnesses to give evidence, particularly in sexual abuse cases.

Click here

This is to help break down the so-called veil of silence surrounding violence and abuse in remote communities.

I just love the police spokesperson’s quote:

"Coercive powers are certainly something that could assist us in investigating the matters of sexual abuse against children - it's just an added tool that we can use."

Personally I just can’t see this working. And using coercion to force people to tell about the crimes committed upon them? Isn’t this a step backwards? Shouldn’t we be looking at why indigenous people (i.e. indigenous women and children) are reluctant to make formal complaints? Might it have something to do with their culture and how sexual matters are treated within that culture? Might it have something to do with not feeling there are adequate resources to protect the community and the complainants should allegations be made?

Welcome back to Eskay's blog.

Been a while, have tidied up, changed the template, and determined to keep entries posted on a regular basis!

Bitterly cold these past few days here in Alice Springs. Yes, bitterly cold. We may be in a desert in the middle of Australia but winter here is BLOODY COLD!

Still, it's better than summer. Which will roll around soon enough. And then we'll be complaining about the heat.

:-)