TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

[Jessica 🤗]

Bummer I woke too early today. At least I can chat with my friends.

What were you other jobs when you first arrived in Australia as a 10 Pound Pom..

Jessica where did you first work?

One of my first jobs was posting leaflets in letter boxes. I can't remember how much I got paid. Another job was cleaning various pubs and clubs. I never liked school and wasn't the type to study so I didn't follow a career, my motto is as long as I'm working and earning then that'll do me

 

[Richie]

After I left retail sales I went into self employment in retail promotion in various department stores as I was blessed with a good speaking voice. This was the most enjoyable work I ever did as it entailed a whole gamut of cool jobs, from public address system announcing, dressing in silly costumes to entertain children to inter departmental portable microfone product promotion. I made a fairly good living from this until there was a national economic downturn and department stores could not afford to use outside promotional people like myself.

 

[looker-on]

In my early years I was mad keen on music too, but that was then. Now I take the easy path with great DAB radios and a big choice of music from classical, folk, pop, rock, grunge, punk, smooth, ... My go to stations are 6ix with sixties to eighties music and the ABC News channels.
Meanwhile my collection of vinyls, cassette tapes, CDs and USBs just gather dust. Most of my old cassette tapes have perished but the vinyls are fine. I started my vinyl collection with LPs from Moody Blues, CCR, Simon and Garfunkle, ... in the late sixties.

my old vinyls with well worn covers
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the last of my dying cassette tapes
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CDs
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more CDs
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My newish micro system.
the usb stuck into its front has 1000 songs on it.
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I am a bit of a magpie with certain things, and it still smarts that my dopey middle brother put all my elder siblings' big collection of 78s out in the sun as he painted our outhouse shed. Everyone was warped and I tried but couldn't save any of those classic records. Doris Day, Buddy Hollie, ... all melted and lost forever.

Having dealt with two funerals this year the home clean outs were arduous and many, many things were just dumped, given to charities, friends, relatives, put on the verge, in the sun, for anyone to take, and they did, even dumping some on their own rubbish replenishing the junk pile.

I'm sure when I fall off this mortal coil, my grieving daughters would dump a lot of my stuff.
That stuff includes my family's memorabilia, pics, medals, certificates, my mother's face powder case still smelling of her....
My pushy sidelings made me the archivist so I do my best as hopefully the next gullible volunteer will do too.
I won't mind. Then there's the books.... burn them!!! no, joking...

Not just a collection of canned music revealing that you, too, are a child of your time, Terry, but, in addition, a collection of family memorabilia. Go ahead. Getting rid of some old stuff can be liberating. I've done that twice in recent years and don't regret it. I wouldn't have wanted my daughters to do that for me anyway. Now it'll make it easier for them to dispose of the rest.
There're no cassettes left but some CDs are.



I also cling to the vinyls out of pure nostalgia. Still know where and how I managed to get hold of them. It wasn't just a quick buy in a store, goods for money. Far from it.
The worn covers prove that there was someone who needed the music, the sound of his generation. I'd have thought that I had some real vinyl treasures since I assumed the music wouldn't be offered in full length online but to my surprise it is. I admit that I give in to the temptation of listening to it with a few clicks rather than putting a record on the player.

Nice pics mate. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Grier]

One past thing I sometimes ponder on are all the dogs I've had in my life from a childhood Collie called Jack to an adorable Golden Retriever I called Pippin, a vigilant Terrier cross Corgi called Benji, a wild and wilful miniature Pinscher appropriately named Mack and now an ageing Chihuahua cross Collie that is a perfect house dog.
Then just came the cat-astrophe with me recently adopting my deceased mate's moggy. Dogs are so much easier to train!
This new tabby cat called Poosh is shallow, nature driven, ever hungry (wormed, sterillised, chipped, vaccinated, registered, confined, ....) but has personality plus never taking scolding to heart. Water bottle sprayers help, for a while. She suffers from short term memory loss, slow to learn too, but always loves a pet, pat, stroke, snuggle, pickup and cuddle. Watching her pull a moth caught in a web away to munch and feast on and to later allow her to lick me is a compromise. She means well.

Have any of us here tales to tell of our beloved past pets?
Do tell.

I heard say once a house is not a home unless you have a pet in it. Horses, Goldfish, Rats, Mice, Lizards, Guinea Pigs, Snakes, Chooks, Birds of many feathers ,...Children ..., I've had them all but I feel most connected to the dogs in my life. Some Cats and maybe this precocious new feline ninja that has come to see me as her servant. She once woke me up for a feed with her up side down claws up my nostrils.She's a foodaholic.

 

[looker-on]

Have any of us here tales to tell of our beloved past pets?
Do tell.

Have I never shared that story of my dachshund telling me why a third-party insurance for dogs and pets is a must?

We were taking a short break while cycling our usual route and had unleashed Sari 'cos it was obvious that we were alone and no one being around --or so we thought! We saw a thin fence which we thought you could just blow away if you wanted to. It was quiet and peaceful -- or so we thought! All of a sudden we heard something that sounded like a herd of galloping horses you might remember from Western movies. Far from it. It was a massive buffalo racing in our direction snorting ...we knew there was just that thin-wired fence. It was like nothing. And then that colossus stopped sharply a few meters away from the fence and us! He must have taken the fence seriously. Later on, I learned that any fence is an obstacle for them. We stood there petrified before we slowly backed off.

We hadn't thought of our companion Sari, though. We didn't see her and didn't find her in the whole area. She must have been so terrified that she had escaped before we noticed what was going on. What a shock 'cos we still were 2-3 km away from home, and what's more, the round course passing by the marina on a lovely afternoon was crowded with skaters, cyclists, joggers, pedestrians, etc. and finally cars. We were cycling towards our home always expecting a crowd gathering because Sari may have crossed their path and caused an accident. We were taking a deep breath when we arrived home and Sari was sitting in front of the garden gate barking to be let in. She obviously thought that we must have arrived earlier.



That's him and the fence on another day.

I don't even want to think about what could have happened. If, in that case, you didn't have third-party insurance, it could ruin the rest of your life completely.

 

[Richie]

Woke at 5 today and one bad sleep will give me a bout of insomnia my life long curse.

Thomas Sari is a dachshund correct. I came across a story yesterday where an Aussie daschund won a derby race. Crusoe a chocolate-colored long-haired dachshund has become a celebrity here. Only in Australia would they put a dog in a mini racing car.

 

[Richie]

My first family dog was when I was about 6, a Australian Kelpie that we called Tammie and when we would play the song Tammie on the radio she would howl. The next was a boxer cross Mon, who was quite a handful often chasing people and even cars. But she was a terrific watch dog. There was a large black woofa, Rasta who was hit and killed by a car when quite young. Many years passed before we decided to have another dog, was my idea as we failed to give my son Marc a sibling and figured a pet all of his own would help the matter. He was delited when we gave him Chloe a white Lab then soon after Sheltie Pepsi. Marc and they were inseparable but he got clumsy one day and stepped on puppy Pepsi shattering his hind leg which was to leave him lame for rest of his life. Soon after we added Coco a cocker spaniel to the menagerie but that was a disaster as Chloe and she never got along. One day during a dust up between the two Coco sunk her teeth into my lower leg when I tried separating the pair. I had no choice but to sell her. Shortly after our toy Havanese Bubbles arrived and he settled into our dog family seamlessly. One of the earliest memories I have of him was hanging onto Chloes tail and then being swung round like one of those carnival rides. Had us in stitches. We lost Chloe and Pepsi within six months of each other in 2013. I was devastated but I still had Bubbles. Then to give him a companion we gave him Bonnie, a cross Bishon/Havanese. Initially Bubbles rejected her and we figured we had made a mistake but over time he accepted her and in the last third of his life the two were inseparable. Bubbles would often try to jump into Bonnies bed with her still in it, but she would have none of it. Cute as.
I have often said no more dogs as saying goodbye remains almost unbearable. But I always relent as they are such wonderful company and nothing is better therapy if you are down in spirits. I have loved all my dogs to bits as they have been and remain like any other close family member.

 

[Grier]

Isnt the expression to "shuffle off this mortal coil"or to ''fall off the perch'' Terry.

Opps, I'm mixing up my metaphors like a drunken sailor with icing on the cake.

 

[looker-on]

Woke at the 5 today and one bad sleep will give me a bout of insomnia my life long curse.

Thomas Sari is a dachshund correct. I came across a story yesterday where an Aussie daschund won a derby race. Crusoe a chocolate-colored long-haired dachshund has become a celebrity here. Only in Australia would they put a dog in a mini racing car.
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I hadn't heard of him but my BH knows and follows him. Unbelievable that he's already 15 and as fit as a fiddle. Just yesterday our weather channel showed him or another cutie on a video.

 

[looker-on]

Opps, I'm mixing up my metaphors like a drunken sailor with icing on the cake.

Not to worry. Shakespearean quotes will always be identified.

 

[looker-on]

One past thing I sometimes ponder on are all the dogs I've had in my life from a childhood Collie called Jack to an adorable Golden Retriever I called Pippin, a vigilant Terrier cross Corgi called Benji, a wild and wilful miniature Pinscher appropriately named Mack and now an ageing Chihuahua cross Collie that is a perfect house dog.

How did you cope with all the different breeds and temperaments, Terry and Richie ?

 

[Grier]

How did you cope with all the different breeds and temperaments, Terry and Richie ?

Different breeds, personalities, temperaments?

I avoid all the dangerous breeds Thomas, but love most other dogs, especially the smaller breeds that live longer.
Like Craig, I find it traumatic when they die.
My neighbour was inconsolable when his last dog died suddenly. He has a beautiful friendly red cloud Kelpie now, much smarter than the average dog with vim and personality to spare.

Like our children there is a degree of randomness with kids and dogs with different personalities. Roll of the dice but nurture helps a lot with their nature.
My dogs were all very different and I took them as they were in most parts. I've never had a bad dog although my miniature pinscher was very feisty. He once chased two rhodesian ridgebacks around their own farm, nipping their heels.

Communication by word, whistle, command, ... but nothing too onerous nor harsh finds my dog responding nicely, even understanding me but just being stubborn.

 

[Richie]

I avoid all the dangerous breeds Thomas, but love most other dogs, especially the smaller breeds that live longer.

Terry same here. Thomas before we buy a pet we first do our homework. Re personality, health history, how it relates to other dogs, its expected life span and all other salient points. It seems to work as out of all our dogs, only one Coco the Cocker Spaniel was the black sheep. We never consider that breed any more.

 

[Richie]

What were you other jobs when you first arrived in Australia as a 10 Pound Pom..

Terry you never did respond. We did not finish this subject as after my journey into self employment I tried to enter radio commercial announcing. But I was never able to break into this very competitive field. So rather than head back to sales I did a journalism correspondence course and found work on a local weekly paper. My other love has been writing. I even tried to pen a James Bond type novel at one stage. I digress. This led to me finding a place on the reporting staff of the leading paper in my district which I was lucky to stay with for two years. I stayed in journalism for 15 years before being forced into early retirement after a 12 month search for work. Thus ends my working life. The End.

 

[Jessica 🤗]

Different breeds, personalities, temperaments?

I avoid all the dangerous breeds Thomas, but love most other dogs, especially the smaller breeds that live longer.
Like Craig, I find it traumatic when they die.
My neighbour was inconsolable when his last dog died suddenly. He has a beautiful friendly red cloud Kelpie now, much smarter than the average dog with vim and personality to spare.

Like our children there is a degree of randomness with kids and dogs with different personalities. Roll of the dice but nurture helps a lot with their nature.
My dogs were all very different and I took them as they were in most parts. I've never had a bad dog although my miniature pinscher was very feisty. He once chased two rhodesian ridgebacks around their own farm, nipping their heels.

Communication by word, whistle, command, ... but nothing too onerous nor harsh finds my dog responding nicely, even understanding me but just being stubborn.

I had a beautiful Labrador, she was gentle and had funny habits. One day I was out walking with her and a Staffordshire bull terrier attacked her. It was trying to get a grip on her neck. My Labrador fought back and I kicked the out of control dog right between its front legs, then a man ran over to help us and he kicked it and dragged it away by its hind leg. I'm a dog lover, but in my country there are dog attacks almost daily, babies and kids have been killed, adults too, so I am all for wiping out dog breeds like x-bully, they are used as walking weapons here, another reason why I won't be getting another dog.

 

[Grier]

Terry you never did respond. We did not finish this subject as after my journey into self employment I tried to enter radio commercial announcing. But I was never able to break into this very competitive field. So rather than head back to sales I did a journalism correspondence course and found work on a local weekly paper. My other love has been writing. I even tried to pen a James Bond type novel at one stage. I digress. This led to me finding a place on the reporting staff of the leading paper in my district which I was lucky to stay with for two years. I stayed in journalism for 15 years before being forced into early retirement after a 12 month search for work. Thus ends my working life. The End.

My initial forays into the world of work in Australia was bits and pieces everywhere. Mostly I was studying at school and Uni and happy to take almost any part time job to earn a dollar or two.
At one stage I was working 3 part time jobs.
From 1970 landing in Oz I worked:
pushing trolleys, storeman ×2, mens wear, saw mill, barman x2 hungry jacks, doorman, horse races, rifle range, bee keeping, security guard, brickie's labourer, ditch digger, engineering factory hand, surveying chain man and more I've forgotten ...?

Four years at Uni and two more years studying for board exams which I passed and went on to be a licenced cadastral and engineering surveyor. Eventually, fed up going troppo in the bush I did a post grad dip ed and went on to teach maths fo 30 years. I did some admin but really didn't like it. Too reactive than proactive for me. Herding staff at times was like herding cats, all meowing at once.

 

[Richie]

From 1970 landing in Oz I worked:
pushing trolleys, storeman ×2, mens wear, saw mill, barman x2 hungry jacks, doorman, horse races, rifle range, bee keeping, security guard, brickie's labourer, ditch digger, engineering factory hand, surveying chain man and more I've forgotten ...?

WOW!!!

 

[Grier]

WOW!!!

I was always on the go as a young fellow Craig. I moved between student share homes frequently and jobs to fund my passions for cars, motorbikes, beer and girl friends.
I've only got a fraction of that energy nowadays.

 

[Richie]

I was always on the go as a young fellow Craig. I moved between student share homes frequently and jobs to fund my passions for cars, motorbikes, beer and girl friends.
I've only got a fraction of that energy nowadays.

Dont we both mate.

 

[Grier]

I used to embrace menial type work for many innate and nurtured reasons. I was never too proud to heft a shovel. Happy to see so many glimples of society, like with my teaching later on. In fact, working on Goff's Red scheme digging ditches I met an Irishman navy who taught me the art of digging. That skill became very helpful later on as a Surveyor digging for buried markers like spikes, or pegs.

Three decades ago my neighbour put in buffalo grass on our common lawn, his a tiny section, telling me it was all honky dory. Great, beaut, bonza, you'll love it ... until he changed his mind but the buffalo grass runners were spreading though my lovely couch grass, ....
30 years later I'm trying again to kill off that buffalo grass having hatched a three stage plan of attack this time, now I have the time. I'm half way through stage two currntly with manually pulling out the runners after close shaves of the lawn's bad spots with my mower. Stage three involves 'weed n feed' sprays which hurt/kill buffalo grass but nurture couch grass.
Thirty years since the buffalo runners invaded my little patch of heaven.

I've heard say "good fences make good neighbours".