Saturday 22 December 2012

Interlude I


Do you think that you have mastered what you want to do in life by a certain age?... do you think that from that point you can suddenly do something that is epic or just passaaa

I query this as I sit and listen to one of my fav bands, Faith No More, and I wonder if Mike Patton came about now at his current age, would people love him and the band the same way they did 15 years ago?...

What do you think?... I think that something that is amazing is always going to be amazing no matter when it comes, ok yes there is current affairs and temperament of music etc... but I still think that when you have it - you have it!...

The thought struck me as I was enjoying this and made me think about another track I heard as a kid, but was no old enough to enjoy... a track by Marianne Faithful, the track was a suped up version of Broken English.. and I could just about guarantee that if you played it to some of the teens etc of today without telling them of course that an adult said so... that you would have a winning track... good music, good instruments... good listening....

It was food for thought…oh yeah food nomnom… ;)

Thursday 13 December 2012

Mechanic Girl Tinker Tonka

"Screw this...!..."
 
Finishing school, I had made some decisions, I hated school apart from my friends.

I was either going to go to Mexico to follow the dream of finding out more about The Maya, the ancient people of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, to see what mysteries they might still have going on as a people.

OR to become a Mechanic, not really a common goal for a girl, but having a lifelong affinity with a particular type of car, and motor racing I thought it the appropriate way to go... so I got a job as a Parts Courier at a vehicle dealership, they seemed to like me so much after the temporary position ended, that they offered me any role in the company... that was the easy part, deciding what I was going to do next, I said M-E-C-H-A-N-I-C!... they took me on-board...

I loved it, getting grubby, hands on, working hard. I use to smear oil and grease all over my overalls to show how proud I was to be doing what I was doing... one of the mechanics I was studying under for my apprenticeship told me "staying clean was the sign of a good mechanic" not one who was always covered in oil!... it was a good lesson, as from that day forward, I didn’t need to prove that I was working hard by covering myself in grease (I never thought of the poor cleaners that had to wash my overalls either!!)

I was nicknamed "The Boy" as in most of the other mechanics minds, I was just another apprentice, learning the ropes, and boy was right if I got something like a lunch order wrong... Anyone had their head flush down a toilet? haha, not much fun if you have hair down to your bum like I did, but I very quickly got use to making sure the lunch orders were right!

I also became the master of getting changed in the locker room without showing an inch of skin, they didn’t have a girls changing room, as of course I was the only girl around

I ended up becoming great friends with a lot of the guys I worked with, that initially couldn’t get past the concept of me being a girl in a "blokes" environment... I won them all over with shear hard work, determination - for example if a bolt was on too tight, I would have to figure ways of getting it undone just like they did, I used a lot of initiative to make sure that I could do everything one of the guys could do...

It was hard work, sometimes painful (when I cut the top of two fingers off in an engine bay - don’t worry they got sewn back on and work fine and dandy!!), but the rewards of persevering paid off, not in my pay packet, but in the way I felt...

I talk about this part of my life a lot when talking to new people as it always seems to inspire. I couldn’t wish for anything more!...

so what happened next?...

...and one thing you can ask yourself today - what makes you tick?...do you love your job?

 

Monday 10 December 2012

Little People Dreams

When I was little, Dad took my brother and I to the "Vocational Guidance Centre", a place where as a kid you looked at all sorts of jobs, and started the life long path to these jobs... however at five years old I thought - isn't this all a little premature?...damn all I want to do is eat ants, and make whistles out of grass.

What I did find out at the wise young age was that I wanted to be a Pilot, no my brother wanted to be a Pilot...a Flight Attendant?... No A VET!... then something struck me, I would have to inject that blue liquid of doom... it was at that moment that I backed well away from becoming a Vet, hell no!

I left dreaming of the jobs that would be to come for a while, primary school beckoned.

Fast forward to when I was 10, whether it was the dreamer in me, or the interestingly complex life so far, I sought an escape, the sky is where it was, to be precise - the night sky... I found Astronomy! That was it as far I was concerned.

The mystery that Astronomy offered me was like the mysteries of grown-ups but without the yuck factor, why did they "snuggle" and do things like kiss for fun? oh god yuck!

It was at this point that I started designing space ships out of empty toilet rolls and tinfoil...didn't you too?

My discoveries came fast about this time, I found out about The Mayan people of Central America, how they were amongst the first Astronomers of the planet and that their ability with mathematics was preposterously amazing. This was to change my life.
 
 
 

First Officer also known as Number One... Post.

Gday!.... after thinking about writing a blog for some time, I am now here and have nothing to say. I guess that is pretty normal, "oh no now I'm nervous", some sort of performance anxiety?!

I can't guarantee I will be witty beyond reproach, I can't guarantee perfect grammar or spelling...

But as I settle into telling some of my life stories, I'm hoping that those little things that might annoy you, might also fall by the wayside, and be taken over by enjoying what you are reading, having a laugh (at my expense), and sharing what you read with other as you see a bit of yourself in what I am writing...

Why, you ask ,would I think that my stories are worthy of reading or sharing... I'm not a hundred percent sure, but almost every day I tell some sort of story of some event that has happened to me, and for whatever reason, people seem to appreciate them, take something from them, and normally have a bit of a laugh. I think it might have something to do with following my dreams and achieving everything I have wanted to so far in life... I like to inspire.

That is my hope for you.

I am writing under a pseudonym as some of my stories involve personal information of complete innocents (I'll let you be the judge of that), some famous, some not so famous people and places.

So take a seat, relax and enjoy the ride.