US Spellings

There a few words spelt differently in the US than here that have really stopped me in my tracks. I thought I generally knew them. I initially thought they were typos, but they aren't. 

We spell the word mould and the US spells it mold. I think that was Steve, or it could have been Travel Penguin. My spell checker must be set to Australian or British English as it does not  like the mold spelling. That really did stop me in my tracks.

Just when you think you know them all, another turns up, ax instead of axe, as we spell the word. Thanks for that one Debby.

Lordy, then another has just turned up, balk and not baulk. That would be Steve again.

And yet another, as Jackie in Canada where British spellings are often followed, writes tires and not tyres. 

I have no problem with different spellings, except when I don't already know them and they break my reading concentration and distract me.

Have you been surprised by some differences in spellings between English speaking countries?  

And here is the answer to something long wondered about by me. 

An ass and a donkey are terms often used interchangeably to refer to the same animal, while a mule is a hybrid offspring produced by crossing a male donkey (jack) with a female horse (mare). It is understandable that these terms can become confused with each other since they are all similar in some ways. Moreover, many people use these terms incorrectly or differ according to culture. 

Monday Mural

I'm joining with Sami and others for Monday Mural. 

I do like a happy face, such as this featured in a Fitzroy Street, St Kilda mural. Such joie de vivre written upon his visage.  

Sunday Selections

I'm joining with Elephant's Child and River for Sunday Selections.

Our all over advertising trams generally look great but this is an 'art tram'. However with the windows covered over by advertising or art by Yarra Trams, it is a terrible experience for passengers. What is the point of tram windows if they are  covered over? 

Bad tram driving. I can't count how many times I have seen tram drivers block this intersection. Very poor training and driver monitoring by Yarra Trams. I complain a lot about our tram system not because it is terrible. I just want it to be better. 

"Beware the bees. The warning is apt. An angry bee will attack. If you are at all interested in bee keeping, and I wasn't, this clip and some others about bees from former English canal narrow boater YouTubers, who changed to being Scottish crofters of the modern kind, could interest you. There are more clips they have uploaded about bee keeping and I found the whole bee lifestyle quite fascinating. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9kE6XLtb_g&t=1235s

I can't imagine what these on the beach front could be used for other than seating but I like a backrest, necessary for my arthritic spine.  Maybe you can do your yoga or your pilates on them, or chanting like Hari Krishnas. 

I've only seen one of this style of a live tram indicator. You can also push the button for audio information. 

I think this yellow cable is an anti theft device. I wasn't game to give it a tug to find out in case a siren sounded.

The beautiful camellia is how I see myself. In the foreground, the truth about me is more evident.

How sexist. Where are designs for men? Isn't it interesting that the writer thought to add Designs for Women? 

We kind of knew we would be living on a busy street when we moved here, but it has become so much busier.

Cranes having a pash. When I was growing up the word pash was used to replace the phrase passionate kissing. I don't think my pashing skills were that great but if you get the right person, wow! Thanks Barry, sadly dying at a youngish age from HIV. Come on you old people. Remember what young passion was like.  I've learnt a lot about pashing now but I no longer care to exchange saliva with strangers. 

Victory cranes. 

Saturday Scandal 2

The damning photos below show the confluence of the North and South Santiam Rivers in Oregon, US.

Strayer writes a little  about it here and you can read more detail in this story I came across. DEQ stands for Department of Environmental Quality. 

Australia has plenty of environmental problems of its own and perhaps I should be writing about them instead, but these photos are just so shocking. Photos by Brian Clift.

Saturday Scandal

Apparently (string that word out) back in the day Romans used the mineral known as asbestos. There was  reluctance by Romans to buy slaves who had worked with asbestos as they were well aware they tended to die at much younger age. 

Thousands of years later the use of asbestos had been banned and thereby preventing people, not just workers, from a long and slow death. Asbestos mining and its common use happened in my and your lifetime. Isn't it just so amazing that the danger to lives by asbestos exposure was known about so many thousands of years ago. 

Just for fun when I and ABI Brother were young, we broke up asbestos sheets, along with pulling apart asbestos pipe insulation. In the 1980s I replaced a cracked asbestos sheet on the garage of our first home with what was then called 'cement sheet'. That along with being doused with DDT from farm weed spray outfits and covered with superphosphate dropped from a plane, well it is wonder we are alive. 

Sadly asbestos is still mined and used in some countries and Australia has been vigilant at not allowing products into the country that contain asbestos. Hopefully Australia does better with that than it does was drugs and illegally imported cigarettes.

When we moved to the Highrise, it came with lovely black marble benchtops. Unfortunately  the benchtops only looked good when cleaned as you would clean clear glass. I can't remember now but between five and ten years ago we had a kitchen makeover. How we hated the faux timber finish on the cupboard doors. Gloss white is so much better. This was a breakfast bar but we never used it as such and so shallow cupboards installed there instead. That cleared food from a shelf in the linen press cupboard, leaving a large empty shelf, which of course has stayed empty ever since. No?

While it looks impervious, Caesar Stone will stain if care is not taken.

Behind these doors,

this brown was the external cupboard colour.

When we changed the benchtops to Caesar Stone, the measurements were taken by a laser device and the benchtop fitted perfectly. Well done to those who cut it to fit, and I hope you don't prematurely die because of our bench tops.

The disease silicosis has been known about for a long time, just not quite as long as asbestos has been known about. The precautions in place are inadequate and those who cut stone benchtops are showing silicosis symptoms and in some cases dying at an early age. Even with huge precautions, still the dust gets into the workers' lungs. I first heard about this perhaps four years ago yet the cutting of stone benchtops continues. Our big green hardware shed will stop selling stone benchtops by the end of the year, and the big Swedish furniture company is doing the same. 

In my opinion our Federal Government should have banned exposure to stone cutting of  home stone benchtops years ago. Given the long process for asbestos to be banned, why wasn't this health danger quickly stomped on? 

But it is a curious thing that while the measurements of a stone benchtop could be taken by laser a number of years ago, that it now can't be cut by a laser equipped robot in a dust proof room and then sluiced down with with water to remove any dust?  That's somewhat like cars are spray painted after and accident repair.

Sydney Supplement

Steve asked a question about where we stayed in Sydney, the Oaks Sydney Hyde Park Suites. 

I don't fully understand how the building is divided but as I can understand part of it is a normal hotel, where we have stayed, but where we normally stay are individually owned apartments. There are permanent residents there, and a number of suites are available via a business woman who manages them. She meets and greets you and introduces to your suite. You cannot use the hotel desk for anything. They as for your room number. You're accommodation has nothing to do with them. If we have any issues, we contact her. It is a strange setup, but we do like the hotel. 

We had no problems with Sydney public transport. It was easy to use, to understand, with good wayfinding signage and with a fare cap of $2.50 a day for old people like us, very cheap. However, there are issues with Sydney's eastern and south eastern bus services, and I am well informed about them and what appears to be disastrous privatisation of Sydney buses. But as tourists, it was all good. Its modern double deck trains are most excellent.

These are quite comfortable ferry seats, with removable coverings that can no doubt be laundered. We were on the ferry for twenty or so minutes. If we were on a train, tram or bus, the seat would be awful. Public transport seat comfort has gone so backwards. Why can't public transport have comfortable seating like on the ferry?    

Sydney people seem more friendly. As a couple in Melbourne, we might seem unapproachable but in Sydney, anyone in a bar will talk to you, individually or as a couple. It is a very nice aspect to the city. 

While I do like seeing men's legs, I am of two minds of how many young and old men wear shorts. There was a severe lack of nicely fitting shorts, mostly men looking like they were wearing their boxer shorts underwear, boxer shorts being for me a real passion killer. The internet is full of advertising guys wearing nicely fitting and flattering shorts. Get with the programme guys. 

Note, in no Sydney post did I complain about the standard of coffee. All good. Sydney has caught up.

A few days around 8.30am I sat on one the beautiful designed public seats where Oxford Street begins and watched the stream of workers walking to their city jobs or to Museum Station. It seemed such a contrast to Melbourne where such walkers would have their phone in one hand and a cup of take away coffee in the other. Oh gosh, there were some some very attractive people among the throng.

As we travelled to the airport I wasn't concentrating on our journey and I heard the name Mascot from  the automated announcement system. Now, I suspect you have to be of a certain age to know that Sydney airport was once  referred to as Mascot Airport. I am not sure if that was official or not and I doubt young people would really connect the name Mascot closely to Sydney Airport Domestic but there you go. I did and so did R and off the train we went. As I was doing so, I thought why wasn't there an announcement that this was the stop for the domestic terminals of the airport. Of course it wasn't the station we needed, being one station too short. We had plenty of time...

During our one hour late flight home, we wondered about the purpose of these clip thingies that were on the seat backs in front of us. I've no idea. Do you know or make an intelligent guess? 

You'll get much more, with a roller door

Yesterday we saw a matinee performance of La Cage aux Folles with our Hairdresser Friend. It was simply brilliant, and I am not a great one for musicals. The audience generally loved it too. An afternoon out means I am short of time. 

JabBlog has by now had a new garage door installed. Her post reminded me of the Australian company B & D Roller Doors and its tv commercials using the toreador song from the opera Carmen.  

There was a more modern version but YouTube is not being helpful, so I will use this very old one.

But omg, I also came across this commercial which I don't remember. I really can't believe how... sleazy? ads could be back then. Maybe once the new door is installed, JabBlog will be out washing her car like the lass in the commercial.