Man Of The House

A husband had just finished reading the book, 'MAN OF THE HOUSE'.

He stormed into the kitchen and walked directly up to his wife. Pointing a finger in her face, he said, "From now on, I want you to know that I am the man of this house, and my word is law! I want you to prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, I expect a sumptuous dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you are going to draw me my bath so I can relax. And when I'm finished with my bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"

His wife replied, "The f#*&ing funeral director would be my guess."

Volunteers.

Where would we be without them? – This is a question that you the tax paying public needs to ask yourself.

Volunteers of any nature are my heroes, they find time to help the community, where many just say they don’t have time. Without volunteers, the cost to government would be enormous. I don’t think the government would be able to manage the budget without the thousands of unpaid volunteers, who do their job for them.

The QLD Government using the ABS statistics from the 2006 census estimate that volunteering saves the government something like $5.91 billion.

The SA Government using the ABS statistics from the 2006 census estimate that volunteering saves the government something like $4.98 billion.

The WA Government using the ABS Statistics from the 2006 census estimate that volunteering saves the government something like $6.6 billion.

The Victorian Government using the ABS Statistics from the 2006 Census estimates that volunteering saves the government something like $10 billion.

In total it is estimated that $42 billion per annum is the ‘true value of volunteering’ for the Australian Government and states. http://www.volunteernetwork.org.au/documents/VolunteeringinAustralia-FactsandFigures.pdf

Some states appear to have more of an appreciation of volunteers than others, here is Tasmania’s thoughts when it comes to volunteers – just have a look at these ideas for appreciating their volunteers – all 101 of them. http://www.development.tas.gov.au/sportrec/information_for_organisations/hosting_volunteers/volunteer_recognition

Congratulations and thank-you to all volunteers, without you I am sure we, the public would be paying more taxes and many older people would be lonely and the younger in society would be lost. Thank-you to our volunteer emergency services personnel, you do a fantastic job, be it at the fun fair or the fire-fight or the local sports event.

Thank-you to all and sundry and remember it doesn’t take much to offer your services. It might just be popping into the local primary school once a week to read a book to children.

Do you volunteer anywhere? – Leave your thoughts and suggestions.

I have just became aware that the weekend just past was International Volunteer Day - what timing! - This post was written sometime in late November!

To all volunteers out there - thank-you from the bottom of my heart and anyone that has benefited from a volunteer, leave your thank-yous.

I know I am thankful!

Twitter - The Funny ReTweet- Here is the Solution

You notice in your timeline some funny RT's - from people that you don't know, from people and perhaps topics, things that don't interest you.

Solution at hand - Twitter has implemented a new tool (called ReTweet) - that automatically allows this to happen when you have followed someone, perhaps to introduce more names and topics into your timeline thus increase the number of people you follow. I have no idea behind the thought processes!

Anyway............................ Solution

Straight from Twitters help Page..............http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/77606

What is retweet? (RT)

Like a tweet? Retweet!

Sometimes you come across a tweet that you just have to share- tweets can be a big deal when they're newsworthy, informative, or even just really funny. Twitter's new retweet (RT) feature helps people quickly share information, which is pretty much what Twitter is all about.

Just hover over a tweet, click the retweet link, and you’re done! A click of a button shares an interesting tweet with all of your followers. Regretting your retweet? Hover over the retweet and click undo. Retweet has been rolled out to all users!

Recognizing retweets in timelines and profiles

Retweeting isn't just a great way to spread information through the twitter network; it's also a great way for you to discover new and interesting content. Twitter now shows retweet information for all public tweets.

Retweets in timelines are distinguished by the retweet icon next to the author's picture.

When someone you follow retweets, you’ll see the original tweet and a picture of the tweet’s original author, with the retweeter’s name below.

Retweets in profiles are indicated by the retweet icon as well.

To credit a tweet's author, retweets show the profile picture, user name, and tweet of the original author, with "retweeted by" information appended at bottom.

Disabling retweets
If you don't want to see retweets from a particular account, just visit the profile and click the retweet icon to disable, but keep in mind, if you see a new face in your timeline, it's because someone you follow retweeted something they thought you should see.

Look for the retweet icon next to the user name when you don't recognize a face, and then look for the retweeter's name below- it should be someone you follow. If the icon is green, you see retweets from that person in your home timeline. (If you want to double check, hover over the icon.) Manage whose retweets you see from your following page in the same way- click the green retweet icon to disable retweets from that person. If the icon is gray, click it (it'll turn green) to turn on retweets.

New retweet tab in sidebar

Click “retweets” in your sidebar to get retweet feedback-- see what you’ve retweeted, what’s been retweeted by people you follow, and who retweeted your tweets!

Retweets by others: read the retweets posted by people you follow under the first tab, 'Retweets by others.'

Retweets by you: read your own retweets- it's like the sent items in your email account. If others have also retweeted, you'll see their profile icons listed.
Your tweets, retweeted: find out who retweets your tweets!

Please note that retweets, like regular tweets, from people you've blocked will not show up.

Frequently Asked Questions
People often wonder:
Can I set retweet preferences for people I follow from my home page? No, you have to turn retweets off/on from profile pages, or your following page.

Can I turn off ALL retweets? Nope! You can turn them off on a person by person basis, but you can't turn off retweets completely. To disable all retweets, visit your following page, and click the green icon for each person. (Nope, there is no 'select all' option, unfortunately.)

When people visit my profile, can they view my retweets in a tab, like favorites? Nope. People can view the retweets posted in your profile by scrolling through the your tweets and looking for the ones with retweet icons. Only you can see your retweet archives.

What if I retweet from apps like Tweetie, twhirl, etc? Retweets, like regular tweets, will appear differently in different applications. All retweets from third party apps (like Tweetie and twhirl) will show up in your retweet tab IF they're using Twitter's retweet API. (Not sure? Try retweeting from your favorite app, and then check the "retweets by you" tab on the web.) Many apps have built in their own version of retweeting; retweets sent from apps that don't use the official feature will not appear in your retweet tab.

Are there limits on retweets? There's no limit to the number of times a tweet can be retweeted, but Twitter will only show the most recent 100 retweeters for any public tweet.

The Simple Things in Life

A little girl had been shopping with her Mum in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mum, let's run through the rain," she said. "What?" Mum asked.

"Lets run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mum replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mum, let's run through the rain,"

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mum said.

"No, we won't, Mum. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mum's arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mum paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD lets us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mum said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!

This is another email that was sent to me in 2005 – the message is the same then as it is now. – Don’t forget to enjoy life and smell the flowers occasionally.

Don’t Judge that Book by its Cover

A couple of 20yo’s walk into a well-established well-known restaurant, they have been there before, they have been there many times before.

They are treated like royalty. The always order the most expensive dishes, they always order cocktails. They are nicely dressed in tailored clothing.

They always pay the bill

That restaurant earnt the fees they charged for the meals and the services provided.

The same 20yo couple walk into a fine-dining establishment in a tourist area. They wish to see the menu before they take a seat. A verbal enquiry was made about the availability of one item on the menu.

The maître de enquired as to how the couple would be paying and then stated that no meals would be ordered unless a down payment was made.

This was down-right insulting and said couple walked out of the place.

Now these two incidents, occurred to the same couple, within weeks of each other. One establishment has ensured that the couple return. The other establishment has ensured that not only will the couple NOT return to that restaurant, but also ensured that the couple will not return to the area and will not recommend either the area or the restaurant.

To business owners out there, and I mean ALL business owners out there, never ever judge a book by its cover. It could cost you and business’s in your area cold hard cash.

Social Media and the Personal Attacks (Trolling)

Some people call them trolls, some people call them sick. I call them people who are bored with nothing better to do.

Often their claim to fame as having completed a BA (bugger all) in something that is really nothing, in that it hasn’t gained them useful employment. They are angry that this is the case and blame everyone around them.

They think they are better than everyone else on the planet.

They believe it is their god-given right to attack people who disagree with them, people who have opinions are considered dangerous as they can see through the garbage the attacker is spouting.

The attacker will claim they are being victimised, they will claim they are the one being hard done by. Yet they fail to see that they caused the problems in the first place.

People who attack via social media – I consider them to be psychopathic with regards to real world behaviour, so much so that they have often isolated themselves behind a computer with little thought for the outside world.

Many people say ‘don’t feed the trolls’ this in essence is difficult because as the name suggests – they are ugly creatures and even if you don’t offer food (responding) they will find crumbs to feed off (another topic)

Some people claim that opening up and removing the anonymous nature of forums, twitter etc. will remove the threat of trolls.

I have personally experienced a personal attack, the nature to this day, still can’t be disclosed, but the reprisal was the publishing of all my personal information, phone numbers, email accounts, residential address, all in one location. In a forum that is not your average ‘nice’ guys forum.

Trolling or personal attacks whatever you may call them are vicious, uncalled for and people who instigate such attacks, should be sanctioned and possible removed from the media they offend in.

Until laws in the real world catch up with those on the internet, it will be hard to police, but perhaps the medium being used, needs to address and enforce their own rules BEFORE they become liable under current laws.

Trolls, think before you leap – with the court ordered disclosure against Google of information, anonymous is no longer as hidden as you think.

Customer service to the extreme

A bad day – turned out very well, thanks to a staff member at Wendy’s Ice-cream store at Epping Plaza, Victoria

It was one of ‘those’ days – I’m sure you know the type – no matter what you do EVERYTHING goes wrong.

With my gummy leg I was pushing a hated trolley back to the car, not something I would normally do, but sometimes people can’t meet you for whatever the reason.

The only ramped path to my car was blocked by the trolley collectors. Not impressed. The pain was building, the trolley collectors saw me, wouldn’t move. I sat down on one of the outside chairs, trying to curb the frustration that was building. Beside me was sitting Kim, who worked for Wendy’s.

She saw the predicament, and offered to help me with the trolley.

She helped and I was extremely grateful.

So ............ Kim of Wendy's Supa Sundaes Pty Ltd, an employee you may be, but you did a fantastic job of out of store service and in the process earned another customer.

Congratulations and thank-you