Views and Reflections

Blogging Meme Thanks Sonya (@vanschaijik) for starting this,  Stephen (@PalmyTeacher) for tagging me and Helen (@HelenofTroy01) for starting a Google Doc to  track all these enlightening Memes (is that a word?). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rjscDE0NSPnt1IcZMvthqcjBByAcKKU2hKjgQmqtHbU/edit# Here goes a real blog post! The blogging task includes: Acknowledge the nominating blogger. Share 11 random facts about yourself. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you. List 11 bloggers. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated.  Don't nominate a blogger who has nominated you. 11 Random Facts about Me: I had to Google the meaning of 'meme' (www.merriam-webster.com:  an idea, behaviour, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture) My adult life keeps going in 3 year cycles - 3 year degree, 3 years teaching in Tokoroa, 3 years ...

2014 is here. I remember watching 'Beyond 2000' and think it would come to pass...well we are still not flying in hovercars! I don't usually do NY Resolutions but last year I did (to wear more of the jewellery that I own - tick) and this year I have decided it needs to be around my Digital Citizenship and sharing my learning about technology and use of tools in education. That being said I need to continue to update this blog! So Happy New Year everyone! I wish you a successful 2014 and the wisdom and perseverance to get through whatever life throws at you this year.

Well I have been inspired by nature and the colours of autumn recently and this is what I have done. Tokoroa, New Zealand Coromandel, New Zealand  I have loved taking these photos and there are many more to come! What do you all think?

Well, this is an interesting development. MSN News: Osama Bin Laden is dead. I'm sure everyone remembers that day, just as I do, when New Zealand woke up to what was happening in America. To date, 9/11 remains one of the saddest days this century. I still have newspaper clippings with all the heart wrenching photos, articles of loss and exasperation and anger. However, now what are the feelings? For 10 years the world has been told that America is in pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, the man said to be behind 9/11. I don't doubt that he was responsible but I am finding myself wondering what will happen now...to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the Gaza strip...the list goes on. What do you think? How will this affect our world and the relations of people? Will his death bring a semblance or peace or more conflict?

BP has decided to be nice to us all and give us 98 octane petrol at the pumps. However what happened to 95/9? It's gone, that's what happened. Across the BP petrol stations in Tauranga you now can't buy 95/6, at all. This of course is fine if you have a car that uses only 91, or diesel because you still don't have to pay a lot - well $2.18/L or $1.63/L respectively. Now 98 is $2.33/L! I know that the difference from $2.26/L for 95/6 to buying 98 is only 7c/L but that all adds up. I filled my car up yesterday after learning there was nowhere else to get 95 and had to pay $116.23! Is this expense really necessary? Perhaps not, I could take the bus, or walk, but that doesn't cut it when you are taking someone who has a borken ankle anywhere, or driving to work an hour away. What I would like to know is why BP has changed the pumps to only 98 with nothing to explain the reasons on their website...unless I just can't find it even after 30 mins searching the BP ...

What's the word: Vanessa Cannon: "My OE in a Nutshell."

So Easter is coming up and I got thinking what it is all about. It appears there are two main 'themes' with Easter. The first being it symbolising the time when Jesus died and rose again to save us, the second being to do with eating chocolate eggs and bunnies! I am quite disturbed that Easter has become so commercialised. Creme Eggs were on sale pretty much straight after Christmas! Which basically means that you can eat chocolate and cake all through Christmas and then without even a chance to work it off it's time to stock up on chocolate again - in the form of hollow eggs though! My Dad came shopping with me for Easter eggs the other day. He was surprised at how available the hollow bunnies are nowadays. Even I remember as a kid there was only one type of Easter Bunny...now they come in every shape and size - one bigger than a baby! Is it just bigger equals better? It appears that Easter has become nothing more than a few days off, filling your tummy with chocolate ...