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A Touch of Glass

There’s something about a beautifully designed office space that really speaks to me. Maybe it’s something to do with having worked in fairly dull medical centre offices for the past few years, but I seem to be developing a real appreciation for thoughtful details and custom finishings that make the space feel special.

For example, I recently visited a retail store in Hong Kong that opened my eyes to the power of natural light in showing people in, well, their best light (literally). It was a designer clothing boutique, and I was struck by how the glass skylight over the change rooms made me look everything look unusually flattering in the well-angled mirrors. And their glass display units were tastefully lit from within – I couldn’t quite figure out how it was done, but it made the glass appear sort of invisible.

I don’t know how this would translate to an office, but I’m willing to bet there are glass-specialising designers who are in with the whole retail architecture thing, and would be able to install interesting features like these. At the very least, there must be some half-decent commercial glass installers in Melbourne who are capable of repairing the cracked bathroom mirrors at my office (not that you’d guess, given how long things like this seem to take to get repaired).

Perhaps my preoccupation with spatial design has something to do with wishing the managers of the building I work in would lift their game. I mean, not to this boutique’s level, necessarily, but just to one that’s a bit less depressing. The stairs, for instance, could do with a new handrail, but apparently it’s not deemed a hazard… yet. Why not just get in now with the glass balustrade installation and be done with it, instead of waiting til that flimsy beam gives way?

I guess I’m probably in the wrong industry to be demanding an up to the minute, aesthetically oriented work environment. Having custom glass fittings isn’t exactly a primary concern of medical administrators. I’d probably be happier to go in to work if it was, though.

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Reno Madness

I’ve had it up to here with these godforsaken kitchen cupboards! I’d like to think I’m a reasonably chill person – I’m not usually too fussed about this kind of thing – but this shoddy old cabinetry is driving me up the wall. To elaborate, the shelf above the sink that I keep the mugs on has just collapsed, leaving me with a whole lot of broken ceramic to deal with. I really don’t have time for this!

Clearly, it’s high time I dialled in a pro kitchen designer. I’ve been putting it off because renovating seems like a massive hassle, but it’s getting to the point where it would be less energy than leaving things as they are. So, to cut to the chase – who should I go to for custom kitchen renovations in Melbourne? I don’t have the foggiest idea of where to start. Someone tell me what to do!

I’m getting in a bit of a tizzy about this, I know. But what else do you do when the layout of your kitchen cupboards is fast becoming diagonal? I love my hard-earned kitchen appliances, and I don’t want them getting damaged. Not only that, but the taps are so old that the water comes out everywhere except where it’s supposed to. I just want my kitchen to be a place of relaxation and retreat – that’s not too much to ask, is it?

I’m going to take charge of the situation and ask my brother who did his bathroom renovation design. I’ve been avoiding the topic because I know he’ll use my enquiry as an opportunity to badger me about my kitchen (as if I don’t know it needs replacing), but at the end of the day, his bathroom does look super schmick. Is it reasonable to ask a bathroom installation company if they do kitchens?

One good thing about this is that, once the process is complete, I’ll have survived my first ever reno situation. There’s plenty to be done on the rest of the house, after all.

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Quite the…Electrifying Finale

I sometimes wonder if the scheduling people are having a bit of a joke. They have ‘Jack of All Trades’ on at 6:30, followed by ‘The Great Australian Trade Off’ at 7:30. So you get an hour of everyone being snippy and awful to each other in a game show, followed by another hour of everyone being terribly lovely and sportsmanlike. I should just be glad they’re aired in that order, so you don’t go to bed mumbling and raging at the indecency of some folks.

Still, it WAS the grand finale of JoAT, so people were a bit nicer. They had to go into a building under construction and basically fix everything in there, turning it into not only a finished product, but a building that would be cutting edge. They each had fifty workers assigned to them, with a number of eliminated contestants on both teams to act as sub-project managers.

Nathan was the most interesting, going instantly for the idea of commercial energy monitoring and storage. He gave this speech where he said that energy-usage was going to decide the future of the company that inhabited the building, and they were going to secure that future by giving them the most efficient energy usage possible. And actually, I almost welled up a little bit. Nathan was SO low-energy in the early stages, so much so that the judges nearly kicked him of for not having enough passion for the process. And of course, let’s not forget his many gaffs in electrical week. Now he stands here, burning with life and drive, talking about energy storage, commercial LED lighting solutions for Melbourne companies and directing like a champion. It’s exactly what he needed to be, and he’s shown that he managed to get there with his own moxey.

And then there’s Lucille, who made a big song and dance about how there needed to be proper insulation and then managed to fill the whole building with asbestos, all due to an ordering error. So yeah…not the closest finale. It had its ups and downs, certainly.

-Carol

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Fixing Boats, for AUSTRALIA

I remember back in the day when it all used to be about patriotism.

I mean, I don’t, because I’m only 26, but I’ve read about such times, and it’s obvious. People used to do basically everything because they were doing it for the glory of the country. So not just going to the Olympics, either; you’d sell fruit, and you’d do it for AUSTRALIA. Or you might teach children, for AUSTRALIA.

You know, that sort of thing. I miss those times, even though I’ve never actually participated in them. Just think it’d be nice. I wish I could go to get my boat fixed, to have my outboard motor servicing done in Melbourne, and I’d bring it in and they’d say YES, I’LL DO IT, FOR AUSTRALIA. Not in a super dramatic way or anything, so the caps might be a bit misleading. They’d just take it in, I’d say I think the outboard motor needs to be checked out, and they’d say something like ‘no problems, we’ll have that sorted out for you, and also we’re doing it for Australia, as we always do. Because patriotism is just a regular part of our day.’

Yeah, that sounds really nice. Nowadays, people don’t really know why they do anything. I go to work, and I work to get…money? Not money for Australia; it’s money for me, so that I can live and eat food. That’s why I think we need to bring back this blessed age of true patriotism, so that every tiny thing- from outboard motor repair to fruit selling- is done for a greater purpose. Like, you can go to other countries and say “Hi, I’m Carl, I do outboard motor servicing in Melbourne, which is in AUSTRALIA, the greatest nation on Earth, thus it is my driving motivation.”

And they’ll think it’s totally cool, because they also feel the same way about their country, and we’ll all be happy loving the place in which we live. So nice.

-Alli

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The Wallpaper of Love

I know I’m just a lowly teenager, and my whole life is ahead of me…but I don’t think I can take it anymore! I showed the art I’ve been working on to my crush, Lucy Park, in the hopes that it would finally make her love me and it did not go well.

I’ve been trying for two weeks, but nothing has worked. Seriously, she’s so…pretty. And her Dad is totally rich. But I’ve done like, five things for her, and she just said thanks each time. Man, what’s a guy gotta do to get a girl to fall in love with him?

I thought the art would do it, because girls like that kind of thing. Maybe I should have written her poetry, that’s kind of art. Anyway, I got her a roll of forest wallpaper, and covered it in unicorn and flower stickers, all the stuff that girls are supposed to like. I might not do so great in school, but my art game is strong.

I even have a little design studio setup at home, so that I can just make whatever I feel. Pretty much all my friends love my design skills. Just last night I made a wallpaper for Wally with all his favourite gaming characters, and that guy LOVES me. So why can’t Lucy just come around?

Maybe if I went over to her place and set it all up, she would finally realise that I’d do anything to be with her. And I bet her current wallpaper is super boring. She probably has pale pink walls to match her golden hair. Maybe she’s covered her closet with pictures of famous good-looking guys. Well, that can change. My vintage wallpaper is awesome, and I’m gonna prove it. I may suck at poetry, but it’s the thought that counts. I’ll write Lucy a poem and frame it so that the whole school can see it. Then she’ll realise that she feels the same way about me.

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Boats Don’t Come Cheap, Apparently

The eternal problem with new hobbies is that they’re just so expensive, every time. I wanted to be a film buff for a while, you know, until the cost of expensive cinema tickets started racking up and I couldn’t continue. Thing is, you can’t do anything in half-measures when it’s supposed to be your hobby. There’s no finding cheap tickets in the middle of the day and that’s that. No, you have to go to conventions, buy merchandise, pretend you care about discussions, and I had no time for any of that.

So…why am I trying again, with boating? Maybe because there’s some sort of boating commuter trend on right now, and I like the thought of being at the helm with the wind in my hair? Still the same basic principle: I looked into the prices of plate alloy boats, and like…in terms of plate alloy boats, they’re fine. I’m not saying they’re ‘overpriced’. People who’ve been into boats for years will have no problem just casually picking up a new one, because they’re boat people and it’s what they do. But for someone trying to break into the trend? It’s probably one of the most expensive hobbies to suddenly pick up. Maybe I’ll get myself a nice inheritance from an unknown uncle that’ll help propel e into the world of fishing rod holders and swim decks. Or maybe it can be like in ‘Row, Anna!’ where she uncovers a rowboat in her grandfather’s mansion and takes it to the sea. But I doubt it.

Best I can do right now is get a bunch of fishing and rowing friends, possibly by hanging out in pubs near the docks, and basically mooch off them until I wait for that currently-unknown uncle to die. Then they could teach me all about bait boards and marine welding, and I’d be properly set up by the time I scrounged together enough funds.

Phew…see how much effort there is in picking up a new hobby? If only there were some out there that were zero cost. I don’t think they exist, though.

-Mason

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A documentary on complementary medicine

My shoulder has never been quite the same since I injured it playing baseball. It’s not always in pain but every now and then it bugs me. After seeing osteopaths and chiropractors I decided to get some trigger point dry needling and see if that would be any better. Amazingly it really worked for me. What they do is they stick some fine needles into your muscles to release the tension. This lightens the load on your tendons too which helps with joint mobility. After receiving this miraculous manual therapy, I’ve decided to follow some students in dry needling courses around New Zealand for a new documentary I’m making.

It’s still in its formative stages but I’m thinking the focus will be on complementary medicine and the recent popularity of Eastern systems within the health industry here in New Zealand. The problem is that eastern traditional medicine and the newer things like dry needling and osteopathy are still considered ‘complementary medicine’ even though most of the time they’re as effective as the recognised and government subsidised treatments. For example, the government sanctions prescriptions for dangerous sedatives and reduces their cost for the public, when there are safer, natural alternatives that actually cost twice as much or more.

I’m documenting many of the opinions of the students in the dry needling courses. In Adelaide there are more alternative medicine institutions than in other parts of the country so I plan on getting in touch with some of the directors and professors. I’d also like to speak with patients to see if their dry needling treatment are helping to alleviate pain and improve mobility. 

I’ve already started to see a shift. Hopefully in the future we’re going to see an even greater move away from chemicals and towards more holistic health options. The western world is only now discovering what the eastern philosophers knew all along – that you need to treat the whole person in order to improve a discrete ailment.

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Counting My Blessings

I feel pretty darned lucky to have access to solid healthcare facilities. If that weren’t the case, I don’t know how I’d have dealt with this whole motorbike accident malarkey. Having health insurance sure goes a long way when something like this happens.

My kids have been especially great. I was feeling pretty down last week after I was told that my rehab would have to be put on hold while I was treated for an infection. Well, ‘feeling down’ is an understatement and a half – I was actually pretty devastated, maybe disproportionately so. Anyway, Annette got the hospital to connect me with a liaison psychiatrist; I think I freaked her out when I told her I didn’t feel like eating. Really, though, who would want to eat the food here? And to think this is a private hospital!

Having a mental health professional check in with me turned out to be a good move, though. It helped me to feel secure in the fact that I’m not losing it, and acknowledge that I’m going through a pretty rough time. When I get back home to Mornington, psychiatry clinics are something I’m going to be looking into, although Joe said he thinks psychological counselling might be more appropriate if I’m not experiencing a medical mental health issue. I’m not all that clear on what the difference between the two is but I’ll take his word for it for now.

Any nominations for the best Mornington Peninsula psychologist? I know I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, seeing as I don’t know when I’ll get to leave hospital, but this experience has given me a new appreciation for my mental health and the fact that there are people qualified to help me out with it. This past couple of months has been extremely stressful, and I can see now that a bit of professional support could be very beneficial.

On the whole, though, I’m lucky to be a pretty resilient bloke.

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No Such Thing as Invincible Netting

We go through so much equipment at this club, it’s ridiculous. This is why no one wanted the inventory job, clearly; it’s such a pain getting a list of things ruined each week and trying to stretch the budget to get them all replaced. Often they aren’t replaced and we’re getting people to make do with old rackets, or nets with holes in them. I keep telling them: tennis netting is actually pretty important to playing tennis. If you don’t have it, the ball goes right through. Just…whoosh. Right through the net, making it really hard to tell sometimes if it was supposed to bounce off and end the rally.

But the people here are so very set in their ways, it’s a wonder they hired me at all. And them being set in their ways is the reason they keep losing, which is also the reason they get so frustrated, and…well, I’m working at a club full of people with anger management issues. Of course, the innocent netting is the one that pays the price, followed shortly by me. At least I don’t have to pay the monetary prices, because good quality nets aren’t dirt cheap. As you’d expect from good quality nets.

What would be really good is if someone came out with the anger-proof net, for use in all types of sports. Perfect for cricketers who get a bit frustrated. Just the best thing for indoor tennis players who need to work out their frustrations. Totally unbreakable, totally resistant to slamming rackets and bats. Then they could bring out an entire range of equipment that services the same purpose, and my job is done, because never again would I have to explain to an angry loser that he’s going to have to use a racket from the 1970s for today’s practice game.

Doesn’t matter anyway…the club will never go for it. Invincible equipment would be expensive equipment, and they won’t go for that. They just keep losing, getting angry, taking out their frustrations on the club and I keep stretching the budget for sports netting that doesn’t deserve all this abuse. It’s not the only one.

-Trent

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I Don’t Trust Myself To Pruned A Single Leaf

I’m really looking forward to gardening…is something you’ll never hear me say! Tending to green things isn’t really in my list of talents, or my genes. I’ll sit at the window and watch how Vince next door is able to grow things seemingly just by talking to them in a tender tone, and I appreciate that, I really do. The way our properties are joined up sort of makes it look like our front gardens are one, so I’m more than happy to take all of that credit. And then people can’t see my back garden, so that works out just fine. I can feel my neighbour Vince judging me. He’s elderly and spends all of his time at home; I don’t have that kind of free time every day!

It’s getting a bit dire out there in the front garden. My sister says I need to get in touch with an actual tree trimming service, Melbourne has many fine arborists. Every time I try to cut the grass it ends up as a deadly game of avoid running over the massive branches littering the ground. Running over large tree branches will ruin both your day, your inherited lawn mower and possibly your eyesight as the blades fling wood chips into your face’. As party games go, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Maybe for my 25th.

As nice as this place is (compared to my previous home), the garden is a bit of a mess. It’s not even that big, but it wasn’t left in a good state and I’ve been tentative about going out there to clean it up. It just seems like you’d need some heavy equipment, which I don’t have. It’s not like I’m going to rip up the offending tree stumps with my bare hands like that one Scottish strongman I saw on the news. I don’t have that level of zen, and I’m too precious about my nails. So I guess I’m calling some of the lovely tree removal contractors in Armadale. It’s their speciality so I’m confident they’ll do a fine job. One day I’ll learn to do things by myself, I swear.