Total Smoking Ban in Cars?

Now it is getting ridiculous!

I should say from the outset that I am a smoker.

Okay, I agree with the whole no smoking around children thing. It's irresponsible and endangers children's health, so don't do it! What concerns me regarding the following news report is that some of the wording is not entirely centred on the issue of smoking around children. For example, "Health Minister John Hatzistergos said the government would support a parliamentary inquiry assessing a private member's bill proposing a complete ban on smoking in cars."

Oh, come on! If I want to slowly commit suicide by smoking in my own car then that is my problem, not anybody else's. As the article continues on to say there is no research that suggests that banning people from smoking in their own cars reduces road accidents.

Recently Australian governments have introduced laws which prohibit smoking within four metres of a doorway to public buildings, ten metres from a children's playground and other laws which centre around restaurants and pubs. I have a proposal though. If the governments in Australia are so concerned about how smoking negatively impacts on their citizens' health, how about a total ban on smoking anywhere? Let's prohibit the sale of cigarettes and tobacco completely. Despite being a smoker myself, I would actually welcome that.

Oh, hang on. There is one huge problem when it comes to a total prohibition on tobacco and cigarettes. The almighty tax dollar! Let's face it, governments rake in a lot of money through taxes placed on tobacco and cigarettes. Maybe they don't want to totally ban the sale of such products because it is a massive revenue booster.

Am I being too cynical here?

NSW govt to look at smoking ban in cars
Tuesday Feb 28 00:15 AEDT
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=64589

The NSW government supports a ban on smoking in cars containing children and says it will look at the issue when parliament resumes next week.

Health Minister John Hatzistergos said the government would support a parliamentary inquiry assessing a private member's bill proposing a complete ban on smoking in cars.

The bill was put forward by Christian Democratic party MP Fred Nile.

Mr Hatzistergos said the health department and non-government partners had run a campaign to stop parents smoking around young children in cars as well as at home, but the issue needed more public discussion.

"Most adults are responsible when it comes to their child's health but the few that smoke with children in the car are placing their child at considerable risk from passive smoking," Mr Hatzistergos said in a statement.

"I encourage open public debate on the issue and will look forward to the findings of the parliamentary inquiry."

Mr Hatzistergos pointed to World Health Organisation research that found children were particularly at risk from second-hand smoke because they were still developing and breathed faster than adults.

He said similar proposals to ban smoking in cars with children had been rejected in America and German for privacy reasons and because there was no evidence it reduced road accidents.

The ban was just one of several tobacco issues to be considered when parliament resumed, Mr Hatzistergos said.

Thinking Out Loud

Mmmm ... maybe I am not so much thinking out loud as thinking in type. Oh well, it sounded like a good idea for a post title anyway.

In short, I feel like death this afternoon. Something clicked in my head a few hours ago, opening the floodgates wide and allowing the depressive thoughts to roll on in. Ugh! Why does this sort of crap happen? I wasn't thinking negatively at the time or anything. I had just finished working on my TAFE assignment and then bang, it happened.

During my aimless wandering around the Internet, trying to keep the sadness at bay, I visited a bookmarked employment website for the first time in ages. While browsing the available jobs, one of them caught my eye. The particular position is part of a community visitor program for children in some form of out-of-home care. Employment is only on a casual basis too.

Through the gloom which has descended on my head, I must admit that the position sounds somewhat interesting. To begin with, it is only casual. Surely I can keep up with casual employment and it wouldn't interrupt my current studies. This sort of position is what I trained for too, although admittedly many years ago now. Through my past work at the school, I know that I like working with kids. Also on the bright side is that it pays thirty bucks an hour plus expenses. That is definitely nothing to be sneezed at. Hubby and I could use the extra cash now and then.

There is a down side however and unfortunately it is all about me. I don't feel strong enough. I suck at being employed ... always have. I doubt my ability to do ... well, any job really. Gawd, I could go on forever but it is just too overwhelming.

Maybe I shouldn't think about it and just try writing up an application. It has to be down in Brissie by Monday so I only have a couple of days in which to write the thing. Chances are I wouldn't get a look in anyway, so what's it gonna hurt, sending off an application.

I'm Obsessed

Today was a day where time just seemed to fly. I was completely obsessed with working on the website templates for my TAFE assignment. I spent the vast majority of my waking hours working on the assignment. I've now finished my third template and although it is just a basic, table-based design, I am really quite happy with it. The plan for tomorrow is to fine tune the other two templates and then get stuck into the not-so-pleasant report task.

Another Seemingly Dull Day

On a surface level, I guess today was a fairly dull day. Although after a morning hiccup, I did get quite a bit done. However it was all work and no play for me today.

This morning I woke up with a massive Seroquel hangover. I don't really know why. Although I took last night's meds a little later than usual, I did sleep in until about 10am or so. When I woke up and stumbled outside to let the furries out for their morning "wee walk", the familiar surrealness was definitely upon me. The sky was weird. I was moving through jelly. It was not a comfortable experience.

In order to break out of the surrealness, I tried eating some breakfast and having a cup of coffee. It didn't help though. I ended up going back to bed and lazing around watching TV for a while.

Sometime after lunch time, I decided to have another go at the whole "let's start the day" thing. This time I was successful. I spent quite a few hours working on my TAFE certificate. I got quite a bit done too. I created two out of the three website templates that are required for my next piece of assessment. I'm even a little more organised when it comes to the report that has to be submitted along with the templates. I've only just decided that it was time to quit for the night.

So that was my day. I know I titled this post with the words "dull day", but I don't view working on my TAFE certificate as particularly dull. I quite like it. I like creating and learning about website design.

This and That

In amongst organising the dogs' dinner, hanging out the washing and doing the dishes, I have been watching the Winter Olympics women's figure skating finals. I'm mesmerised! These women are graceful, athletic and incredibly amazing. My favourite skater so far has been Shizuka Arakawa from Japan. Her program was just lovely and beautifully skated. (Oh wow! Shizuka just won the gold.) I've always much preferred the Winter Olympics over the summer ones. In fact, I can miss the Summer Olympics entirely and not bat an eyelid, but it is always nice to catch a little bit of the Winter Olympics on TV.

My interest in the figure skating aside, today has been an exceedingly average day in terms of my mood. I might just be tired though. I'm not sure. I had a late one last night, which was cool because I got to chat to a mate on the phone for ages. It had been a while since we had spoken as I am the slackest person in the world when it comes to picking up the damn phone.

Despite the late night, I woke up early to drive Kara over to the vets in the small smoke for her last injection. That was the last injection in the course and she has certainly improved. Apparently the coolness of winter can have a negative effect on dogs with osteoarthritis, so we just have to keep an eye on her when the weather finally starts to cool down to see if she would benefit from any further injections.

After returning home from the small smoke and eating a huge lunch, I ended up falling asleep for several hours this afternoon. I finally awoke early this evening feeling like death warmed up which I guess hasn't helped the mood situation at all.

So, what can one do when they are feeling quite bleh? Go to bed, sleep and hopefully wake up to increased brightest tomorrow. That is exactly what I plan to do now.

Colourful Spider

I decided to cross post this entry from my Photographic Journeys blog because I sort of surprised myself by writing what I did about the spider image. Taking an interest in my surroundings? Who would have thought!

I need to sit down and write about what happened during my pdoc appointment today. It's getting quite late though and I'm still mulling things over, so I will endeavour to make sense of everything tomorrow.


I find it amazing how this new found photography obsession of mine is slowly teaching me to take a closer look at my surroundings. Before, I wouldn't have seen this little spider in amongst the bushes and by chance I did, I would have given it a very wide berth. Today I noticed it and immediately took my camera out of the carry case. I held the camera lens literally centimetres from the scary arachnid, marvelling at its beauty. Mind you, I did compromise a little. By looking at my camera's LCD screen rather than peering through the viewfinder, I was still able to keep a little bit of a distance. Arachnophobia still lives. :)

Yikes! Embarrassment!

Gawd! The things that happen!

A short time ago, I was sitting in front of the computer engaged in research for my next TAFE assignment when I heard someone mucking around in the carport. I then heard the electricity meter box open. "No problems," I thought to myself. "It must be an Ergon Energy employee who had come to read the meter for the next bill cycle." The noise continued however.

By this stage, I was becoming suspicious about what was going on. I got up from my spot in front of the computer and made my way into the kitchen. Through the window, I noticed a car parked outside the house. Then I saw a woman walk out of the carport, round to the front of the house, stand in front of the house looking back at it and then disappear back into the carport. What was going on? Ergon Energy meter readers take a minute to peer inside the meter box, record what they need to and then they are on their way.

Still dressed in my nightie and over shirt, I ventured out to the back landing to investigate what was going on. Sure enough, there was a woman standing in the carport with her head in the electricity meter box. I asked if she was a meter reader. She replied that she was not a meter reader, but was there to disconnect our electricity supply.

What!?!

The woman showed me her work order which stated that Hubby and I owed over $700 to Ergon Energy because the last bill had gone unpaid. Eek!

When I paid the household bills last week, I had noticed an old Ergon Energy late payment notice. Because it was a couple of months old, I had even tried to call the accounts information phone number at the top of the bill to ensure that I had already paid the account in full. Unfortunately though, in this age of automated phone systems, I had not been able to work out what number I had to press to get an account balance or, failing that, how to talk to an actual person. Consequently, I threw the late notice in the filing cabinet in amongst the other paid bills, assuming that because it was so old, I had already paid it. Apparently, that was a mistake.

The woman from Ergon Energy told me that I had about twenty minutes to pay the outstanding fee and to organise reconnection of the electricity before she left town. I raced into the computer room where our main telephone is, removed my sleeping husband's carcass from the chair, fended off the cries from my now awake, pissed off husband about what was going on and hurriedly set about paying the outstanding account and calling Ergon Energy.

Luckily I acted quickly enough. The woman from Ergon Energy returned to reconnect our electricity supply about fifteen minutes after she had initially disconnected it. Phew! Crisis aborted!

Despite the whole situation being pretty damn funny, in all honesty, I'm actually quite upset. I find myself thinking that I'm not even able to smoothly run a household, that I didn't try hard enough to contact Ergon Energy when I paid the bills last, and that I am generally hopeless. Grrr at the internal dialogue! How destructive is that!

Mind you, if I try to look at the situation in a more objective manner, it's just "one of those things". Yes, I neglected to pay the initial bill, however Ergon Energy screwed up as well. Obviously their automated phone system could be more user friendly. The Ergon Energy telephone customer service officer whom I spoke to regarding reconnecting the electricity supply told me that the company usually contacts customers via telephone a couple of days prior to electricity supplies being physically disconnected. They definitely did not contact us.

So, I guess the moral to my little story is to try to think of the situation objectively. However in-grained and difficult to ignore that destructive internal dialogue is, ignore it! I'm not labelling it as destructive for no reason!

Mmmm!