Oh dear retail sector – the signs are all just wrong

I have solved Australia’s retail issues – okay I haven’t actually solved them but I have been able to pinpoint them which is very excellent news for everyone I am sure. Who needs economists and analysts when you have a woman with a credit card and a mobile phone with camera?

Sadly I am pointing my finger straight at the doors of the big department stores, and today at Myer in particular because that is where me and my camera were feeling duped yesterday.

The Sale

Like most shoppers I love a bargain, so obviously I was drawn straight to a jacket that had such a HUGE reduction

sale price

Seriously. Could you resist?

The Fitting Room

This little note appears in the change room (which coincidentally has the most unflattering or realistic) mirrors in the world.

fitting room

I really wanted to leave a note saying “Thank you for not employing any staff to help me” but I didn’t want to be too passive aggressive (so I wrote a blog post instead – I know, I know).

The catalogue

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catalogue

 

I did not take a photo of the many empty cashier desks or the vast empty spaces where customers and employees should have been because, as you can see I am a very bad photographer. As it turns out I also feel quite peculiar taking photos of shops.

I just wonder how people in business are scratching their heads about the state of retail when retailers are treating their customers like this.

Are you a department store shopper?

 

Homeless

There are certain everyday rituals that I cling to – for an anxious neurotic like me they make me feel grounded and safe. They are my comforts, my constants, my luxuries and without them I am er, less comfortable, more anxious and way more unhinged.

I love closing the curtains at the end of the day. The actual act of closing out the day makes me feel cocooned and safe, it signifies the hurry and stress of the day is over and the family are about to be together at home, shoes off and relaxed. The reality is often different because of stupid things like homework and dinner and you know, reality. But somehow I still take comfort in the closing of the day.

Next on my list is a bath – a bath for me is like immersing myself in heaven except I don’t actually believe in heaven but it’s the closest analogy I can think of. I bloody love a bath – it ‘s warm, quiet and provides an ideal reading space.

The last ritual that I must perform at least three time as day is drinking tea. Drinking tea is like the portable version of having a bath except nothing like having a bath at all because the only thing the two things have in common is being warm and liquid.

As you can tell from my creature comforts – I am a home based kind of girl. I love nothing more than being at home with my people and dog around me, if the people are out I am equally happy just being at home with the dog. The only thing better than going home is actually being at home. But for the past 4 weeks I have been homeless.

Our beautiful “old” house is now in the possession of its new owners and although although I keep expecting them to call and say thank you to us for letting them buy the most beautiful home, I think my connection with that house has truly come to its end. The new house, which was going to have a small renovation but is basically being rebuilt because Mr Pencil is a frustrated architect/builder/designer/spender of huge amounts of money and kept changing all the things, was not ready for us to move into and so we came to this temporary accommodation in the home of a beautiful friend.

The oil has excellent wound healing sildenafil professional properties. The good news is that, you can find remedy to gout pain and prescription free levitra reduce its painful symptoms, and prevent it from occurring with the help of Booster capsules. Stress is one of the important factors that discern personalities and determine djpaulkom.tv viagra price occupational achievement. Although your doctor knows the suitability of this pill for your body, it is always better to have a glance about levitra prices what is diabetes and what is exercise. The house does not have curtains which close off the day, the bath is not my own and for some reason, which I am sure the owner will explain on her return, there seems to be no kettle for making tea.

This house is not my home and although I am so deeply grateful to my friend for letting me stay here while we were homeless it is someone else’s home – with someone else’s furniture and plates and cutlery and everything – except a kettle.

Today we went to check out the new house which is meant to be habitable (although not finished) by Tuesday when the person whose house we are staying in comes home, It wont be ready. It is still a building zone. And worse – the woman who owns the house we are staying in is actually coming home two days earlier than I thought she was .

Tomorrow we are homeless again. There is no way we can move into the new house until Tuesday at the very earliest – although our stuff is only coming out of storage the following Thursday. First World Problems

Pass me all the valium. And a stiff drink. For someone whose calm comes mainly from being at home these are the worst of days for me. But they too shall pass.

Thank God for my sister. Three human pencils, one fluffy pencil all descending on my sister’s family for two nights.

It’s (hopefully) not the end of the world

My husband has a very difficult job, It’s unrelenting, it’s almost impossible to get it right and it pays nothing. Of course I’m not talking about the billion hours he spends in the office , that’s a breeze compared to the job he has to do of trying to calm my anxiety.

Ever since I met Mr Pencil, and way before that I have been a frightened person. I am scared of most things but my one big fear has always been the very rational fear of the end of the world.  Not the end of “my” world as every psychologist in Johannesburg and the Eastern suburbs of Sydney has tried to convince me, but the REAL end of the world (and yes I know the psychologists are probably right and it’s all analogous and metaphorical and shit but it’s my fear and I am describing it my way).
[Read more…]

I was nominated to do this

 

I have been nominated for something that I am not even scared of which makes a very good change because ordinarily I run away from nominations lest I have to be competitive. I don’t have a competitive bone in my body and quite frankly entering competitions scares me a bit.

But this isn’t  a competition it’s for the 2014 Liebster Awards which I didn’t know existed until Tamsin Howse from Kiki &Tea nominated me to take part. She explains “it’s basically a blogging chain letter where you have to answer a series of questions posed to you by the person who nominated you, then you get to pose 10 questions to the people you nominate. “ I will totally answer her 10 questions but am afraid I can’t nominate anyone else to do the same because I don’t er, know who to nominate BUT if you want me be nominated just let me know in the comments and I’ll totally come up with 10 questions for you. Warning the first one will be – can you please make me a cup of tea?
[Read more…]

The worst letter I could ever receive

It’s been a hideously unsettling few days for my little family. We’ve moved into a temporary house for the next 4 weeks while we wait for the new one to stop being a building site.

It’s not actually a temporary home, it’s someone else’s very permanent home. Just not mine. And it’s hard to live in someone else’s home no matter how gorgeous and lovely and kind those people are.

It’s harder even to pack up everything you have and decide just what it is you’ll need for the 4 weeks you have no access to any of your stuff.

I’ll divert at this point to tell you that I’m the worlds worst packer and have never once got holiday packing right. So the fact that I packed 4 weeks of clothes for myself on a very warm day means that I have nothing to wear in the cold.  Did I mention how cold it is at the moment?

I knew moving would be hard because as I revealed before, I am very bad at change. I don’t like chaos and I hate moving. What I didn’t expect was just how anxious it would make me.

On Saturday (the day we took our “stuff” to the temporary house) I became so anxious I could feel my insides unfurling.  I actually needed to hug myself to keep them in. I would have asked my husband but I don’t think I was behaving in a way that warranted hugging.

This was all  BEFORE I went to pick up sushi for us for lunch and the lid of the miso soup came off the container and souped up everything including my mood.
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To add to it all I still have lingering symptoms of flu. And diabetes.

But the very worst thing about moving was something that I never ever expected – a letter from my new temporary neighbours

letter h

This is the worst letter I could ever receive. Ever. And it may be the reason I am never leaving the house again.

If you are looking for me I will be at home hugging the dog

So yes, this week has been a blast.

I’m falling apart

roof

Exhibit A : the house is not ready for us to move in

“I’ve had an epiphany” my husband screams from the bedroom as I fret in the lounge. I am siting at my computer reading the invoice from the removals company for perhaps the 18th time that day. It is around 9am.

“What kind of epiphany?” I manage to mutter thinking for sure he’s going to say something about the joinery that he has been designing for the new house. I brace myself for him to tell me that the extra 2mm he’s “epiphanised” will make the cupboards even better.

But no.

“I understand why you’re so anxious about moving” he says. “It’s your childhood, it all makes sense to me now”.
But it doesn’t. Mr Pencil can blame my childhood for a lot of things but he doesn’t realise that all people get stressed about moving. Or don’t they?
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Random thoughts from my very full head

brain-dump-to-do-list

In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been lately, I’ll let you know that I have been at work. Well I’ve actually been at home but I have been working so I’ve been a really slack blogger.

I’ve been writing so many posts for Kidspot that I am almost out of words. Almost.  I’ve actually got a lot to say but I am full of thoughts that aren’t forming themselves into posts – so I’m just going to throw them at you

  • I, like everybody else, have been gutted by the events of this world over the last few weeks. Unlike everybody else I am very immature in the way I deal with these things. It has not been fun to be my husband
  • My house is still being renovated and I am still the worst project manager in the world. I have decided not to complain relentlessly about the building process because people all over the world are dying
  • I still hate our government and I wish Tony Abbott could see the tragedy of having to flee your own country and seek asylum as clearly as he can see the tragedy of a plane being shot out of the sky
  • I have lost a considerable amount of Facebook friends over the Israel/Gaza fighting. Nothing compared to the death of innocent people
  • I am tired of explaining to people that being Jewish does not necessarily mean you are Israeli or even that you agree with everything that the Israeli government do. Not even everyone in the Israeli government agrees with what they are doing
  • I am completely  horrified by the judgment being piled on Peaches Geldof most especially by anonymous writers whose anonymity I think I may just see through. I wrote about that more fully on Kidspot today – you can check it out here
  • I am equally annoyed by self righteous people all over the internet and by adults who behave like school girls
  • I still have unresolved school girl issues
  • I have huge issues with the images that the TV news is showing us. I have lots of words to say about that – I am going to write them for Kidspot tomorrow
  • The skin on my feet is so rough I am starting to look like an elephant.
  • I have discovered that the key to eating well is being organised. While I am fairly well organised in every other facet of my life I can’t nut this one down. Must be some deep rooted issue
  • My friend challenged me to write a gratitude journal for five nights and I forgot after two although I remain grateful for lots of things
  • My fringe is in that in between stage. Between awful and horrific
  • I have developed an unnatural obsession for eating oranges
  • Since I joined the gym I have been sick. Like proper sick with a chest infection, fevers and laryngitis which I didn’t complain about because it seemed a little selfish given the state of the world
  • I have a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and I wish I could publish her texts and emails because not only is she a brilliant and witty writer, but she’s so brave and amazing and her attitude so bloody down to earth and unexpected and inspiring, I want the world to hear her voice. I will nag her more rigorously after she’s completed chemo because I’m sensitive like that
  • I’m loving working at Kidspot. A more supportive, funny and amazing group of women you’d be hard pressed to find. They’re bringing back the joy of working for me. No agenda. No nasty. No schoolgirl shit . Just a bunch of incredible people working together

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And those are my thoughts for this minute.

How about you ?

7 things you never knew about me

The other day the beautiful Kat Caravella from Mamma’s Vida tagged me in her Versatile Bloggers Award post – I was so excited to see my name in the same post as Award that I momentarily forgot that I am hate awards and the competition that comes along with them – but more about that later . The Versatile Bloggers Award basically asks of you to tell your audience seven things about you that they didn’t know before (or at least that is how I interpreted it).

It’s a funny thing when you blog and use social media a lot, people believe they know everything about you – but of course they don’t, they only know the bits you share which is why coming up with 7 things you don’t know about me was both easy and hard. But I think I did it

  1. I hate wearing shoes. Wherever I am and whatever I am wearing, I would rather be barefoot
  2. I detest shopping. Shopping centres make me claustrophobic and insecure
  3. I have an extremely addictive personality. This has got me into all sorts of trouble in the past but for this minute my only addiction is Candy Crush which is the healthiest of all my addictions I can think of so I’m good with that
  4. I am not good with crowds. That’s not true – I absolutely detest crowds
  5. I hate competitions of any kind. I feel sorry for the losers and I cringe at the thought of being a winner
  6. I really don’t like birds. Even though I am a huge animal lover and I would never harm (or eat) a bird I really don’t think they’re very nice creatures
  7. I have never seen ET, The Notebook or the end of The Sound of Music
  8. This in turn in sildenafil india price the end leads to erectile dysfunction to a person. Blood muscles unfasten, with the intention icks.org free viagra consultation that blood can flow in. There also are alterlocal requirements for PTDE courses, for example the total course time will consist of 66 hours (32 in course curriculum and 34 hours in behind the wheel practice. viagra brand women viagra pills As soon as you opened the door you could hear the staccato clacking of a hundred ivory balls punctuated by the crash of a break shot.

Surprised at all?  Or did you always suspect me of being a shoeless addict that hates shopping, people, competitions, birds and movies?

Tell me seven things I might not know about you and if you’ve already participated in this before – drop me a link to your blog in comments so I can read your post

 

 

 

Motherhood is really just being the person you are with the person you created

beach 2

When Little Pencil was just a toddler I was still convinced that parenting was meant to be about memorable parenting moments shared at parks and beaches and other traditional “happy family” places.  I was still at the stage where I judged my parenting experience alongside the fantasies of the pictures of other families I saw. I thought it was all meant to be sunshine and roses and learning experiences and laughter.

It often wasn’t.

We’d often return home from an outing in tears – both Little Pencil and I. He hadn’t “appreciated” it the way he was meant to and we were tired and hungry and frustrated. Actually I was hungry – he not so much. Outings in the early days were more like military-like excursions with tight timetables around naps and meals, there was baggage – so much baggage – nappies and snacks and water and suntan lotion and toys and changes of clothing and kitchen sinks and that was just the “baby bag”.

Of course we had some amazing times and I have about 56898 photos to prove it. I also have memories of laughing with him and marveling at him and just being so damn happy to be his mother.  But there was always a lot of stress associated with it – maybe because I hadn’t slept through the night for four years and I couldn’t get the damn child to eat a thing. But I digress.

Today Little Pencil had his first free day these holidays. It’s becoming increasingly hard to find time with him as he flits from one social arrangement to the next, so the thought of stealing some time with him was hugely attractive and I had just the lure to get him to want to spend some time with me.

He’s been nagging me since we bought the new house in March to find out if he can walk down to the beach from the new house with his friends. Today was going to be our opportunity to try out the route ourselves so we could make an informed decision about what the walk involved.

We parked at the new house that we don’t yet live in and set off. Just him, me, our phones (for photographic purposes), a bottle of water and some money for lunch. He did query my outfit before we left home so I knew I was dealing with a teenager.

What I hadn’t imagined was how wonderful it would be to spend time with this teenager without any of the normal distractions. There was no timetable, no friends pulling at his side, no work pulling at mine. We just walked and laughed and walked and took a zillion photos.  He went onto scary dangerous rocks and instead of screaming I took photos of him smiling, he challenged waves on the slippery rocks and I only screamed internally.  He talked constantly (as is his want) and I listened because he was actually really interesting and entertaining.
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We fed birds, we fed ourselves and he fed my soul with a love that the just keeps building as I discover more and more that parenting is not just about looking after a baby, that it’s not about perfect moments that the books define, that it’s really just being the person you are with the person you created.

Little Pencil raved about the walk – he loved every minute of it and even though it’s certainly close enough to walk there with his friends he’s told me he wants to do it with me again. Actually he told me he wants to do it with his dad but I think I’ll be allowed to join them.

I never thought I was going to learn to love him even more in his teenage years. Guess I was wrong.  And I realise I have changed my mind about teenagers completely since I wrote THIS post. (I prefer this way)

beach 1

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beach 3

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beach 4

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The white van strikes again

WhiteVan_1744527cI may or may not have been in a particularly bad mood last night when I was flipping through Facebook and spotted a post which made my previous bad mood seem rather tame.

I was in a bad mood because of Tony Abbott and the way he talks about asylum seekers using emotional blackmail, and actually everything else he and Scott Morrison say and do, I was feeling sad from watching the footage of Sri Lankan women and children, I was anxious about the situation in Israel and on the Gaza Strip, I was horrified by the stabbing death of a three-year old boy in Adelaide.  There were real things on my mind. Real and horrific things that I couldn’t quite shake.

And that’s when I saw a post from the NSW Police Force shared by one of my friends because as neurotic as I am I don’t follow the police on Facebook.

The message read in part

“Police are appealing for information after a teenage boy was approached at Rose Bay yesterday.

Police from Rose Bay Local Area Command have been told the 16-year-old was walking along Old South Head Road about midday (Tuesday 8 July 2014), when a white van stopped near him.

He told police the man driving the van offered him a lift; the teen declined and ran away. Police were advised of the incident about 7.30pm.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward. The van is described as being a white VW-brand with yellow and black number plates.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who has information about the man or vehicle, is urged to contact Rose Bay Police or Crime Stoppers.”

The post then went on to discuss how we should talk to our children about “Safe People, Safe Places”

As far as I can tell a 16-year-old boy was walking on a very busy road when a white van (because it’s always a white van) pulled up near him.  I assume the boy went up close enough to the car to determine that the man offered him a lift. He declined the lift (I assume) and ran away. Smart child. His mother reported it to the police. Smart mother (one can assume the whole family is smart)

They ensure better tadalafil tablets prices quality drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction across the world. It has natural aphrodisiacs and exotic herbs in lowest price viagra right combination boost ejaculation force and help to enjoy enhanced sexual pleasure in copulation. Remember eggs live for 12 levitra free consultation to 24 hours, so your eggs may no long be viable, once body temperature rises. The endocrine system basically powers the entire system and influences the working of the heart, growth of bones and tissues, and even the ability of the soft cialis india man and how much of the potential the man probably holds. Did the man force him into the car? Because that’s not written in the report*. Did he expose himself to the boy? Also not in the report.I really hope not. Although from the hysterical comments that were posted in some of the Facebook responses I have seen,  you would think so.

I do not want to trivialise the many heinous things that could happen to a child on the street if the wrong person got to him. But I refuse to believe that everyone driving a white van is a pedophile or the abductor of small (or in this case – big) children.

The paranoia we feel about the “man in the white van” is actually hugely disproportionate to the actual danger our kids face.

The data around attempted abductions is difficult to capture – some attempts might not be reported,  and some may be reported under different sub categories.  I’m not sure that this incident was reported as an attempted abduction because there is nothing in the report that points to an attempt to lure the boy away.

Recent figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology state that just over 750 abductions occurred Australia wide during one calendar year and that just over half were by a stranger. Children made up less than 20% of the cases.  Less than 20% of the cases HALF of which were committed by people known to the child.

If anything happened to this 16-year old boy to terrify him or make him feel uncomfortable I am hugely and profusely sorry – for him, for his parents and for anyone else affected.

But to the hundreds of people who have gone into a major panic about allowing their children to walk outside because of this incident I implore you to recognise the facts.  Educate your children like this boy was educated, teach them to ignore people they don’t know and to call for help if the person won’t go away (scream ” I do not know this person”), to use busy roads, to learn about safe adults and obviously not to get into the car of someone they don’t know.

But educate them in reality not in fear.

Rant over.

*UPDATE: As I was finishing this post the mum of the boy contacted me via Facebook. Scary shit when you realise how close you are to that person who is in the “news”, we have about 10 Facebook friends in common.  She says the man offered her child a lift and then demanded that he get in the car. That is some scary shit and I am even gladder now that he ran away. But it doesn’t negate my point that education is key – education not fear.