farmdoc's blog post number 581

I think it was in the mid 1990s. And at someone’s wedding. I can’t recall whose – but it matters not. The discussion was about the (then nascent) internet. And I swore I’d never be an internet user. Never, ever. Oh how the worm’s turned. It began to turn in 1998: when Sweetheart Vivienne and I were on our tandem ride in Britain, we sent periodic group email bulletins to relatives and friends. And it grew from there. Nowadays the internet’s an integral part of my life. I even dictate my medical reports on a digital dictaphone and send the sound files to my typist as email attachments. A few years ago my internet usage (and dependence but not, I hope, addiction) ratcheted up when broadband (i.e. ADSL) came to Mole Creek. In comparison, dial-up connections were so primitive. But better than nothing. Anyway, as I wrote yesterday, I’ve had no internet connection since last Friday morning. In a 5:45 a.m. lightning strike, Mother Nature flexed her muscles. I can’t see where the lightning struck, but it tripped my electrical circuit breaker. The lost ADSL connection’s the only damage I’ve discovered so far. I feel lost without it. Isolated. Bereft. I keep humming Joni Mitchell’s line: ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. Telstra, bless its corporate heart, is sending a technician to look at the problem on Tuesday morning. I don’t know if he’ll come on Tuesday, or if he’ll fix the problem then. Here’s hoping. I’ll keep you posted. Literally.

farmdoc's blog post number 580

Due to a lightning strike yesterday morning, I have no internet connection. The Bigpond technician’s coming next Tuesday. I hope he’ll fix it then. So for the next few days, Farmdoc’s Blog posts will be irregular. Sorry.
Here’s this week’s compendium – without links. This week…
1. former Victorian Premier Jeffrey Gibb Kennett who hijacked the F1 Grand Prix to Melbourne, said WA Premier Colin Barnett should forget about importing big events and focus on promoting ‘organic’ events such as garden shows. I’m sure Kennett hasn’t had an epiphany. Rather they’ll be some undisclosed benefit to him for saying what he said.
2. I learnt that cast-iron cookware can react with liquid and/or acidic foods like tomato sauce, to leach small amounts of iron into the food. Thus, cooking in cast iron can increase your iron intake. This is especially good for vegetarians – whose diets tend to be low in iron.
3. Greg Combet, the Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change, spoke in inspirational terms about one of the big problems facing Australia: ‘We should not ignore the demanding nature of this project, which will require every bit of scientific, technological and industrial capacity that Australia can muster’. Unfortunately he wasn’t speaking of global warming and climate change, but of Australia’s need to spend tens of billions of dollars over the next two decades building 12 new submarines. Ho hum.
4. I came across a ‘new’ word that I can only call an abomination: ‘webinar’, meaning a seminar that’s sent out simultaneously by teleconference and webcast. Ho hum again.
5. talking of new words still, I read that the New Oxford American Dictionary says the word of 2009 is ‘unfriend’- which is a verb meaning ‘to remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook’. Ho hum yet again.
6. I read that acidic liquids such as lemon juice and carbonated drinks can wear away your tooth enamel. To prevent this, you should drink them with a straw, or follow the drink by chewing sugarless gum. Or if you want to brush your teeth straight after the drink, swish your mouth out with water first. Makes sense to me.
7. indeed last Friday, I took delivery of another wombat, courtesy of Angela and Anna who brought her up from near Hobart. Her name’s Precious. So far, she’s settling in well. All wombats are precious.
8. I was overjoyed to kiss and hug darling Indigo on her ninth birthday. I can’t express in words how wonderful that felt to me.
Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week. (And for myself? A restored internet connection, of course.)