The argument was put to me that if you can hire someone else that cheap, there is no real point doing 'menial' work yourself any longer. You are better off working at a highly paid job for 1 hour, then paying a Philipino for 10 hours.

The hole in this argument is that it can be an excuse not to do anything if you are just sitting there thinking 'my time is worth too much to do this' all the time. Lets face it, how much is your time really worth if you are sitting on the couch?

Quality is the other argument. If you buy articles from somewhere good like the content authority, you pretty much don't need to do edits. Anyone who has stumbled through a non English speakers best efforts will appreciate how nice it can be to pay just a little more and do the work for you!

It's a nice thought that you are keeping some poor family in food and water for what it takes you to buy a big mac though...

Another article said that the current spate of cold weather could in fact be caused by warmer temperatures overall, which are changing weather patterns such as the strong winds which held cold air over the poles. This was an interesting coincidence as I watched a doco about how there was a massive drought 4000 years ago, linked to changes in ocean currents reponsible for carrying warm air around the globe. This drought lasted 100 years or more, and was responsible for the decline of the pyramid age of the Egyptians.

Interesting to think that this can happen even with minimal human intervention. I think which ever way you look at it, there is big change on the horizon. I'm not too into doom and gloom but we are going to have to change our expectations about quality of life at some point in the next few generations if we want to sustain billions of people.

We held the party at my mums place in the hills, had a big marquee and a spit and had a good time. The drinks and food for 50 people wasn't cheap, but did I mention presents? We definitely came out ahead! I know that sounds a bit mercenary but hey it's a presenty time of year.

One of my faves was a new futon mattress for our spare room. It's intended for guests (we needed it, the old one was horrible) but I think I'll give it a shot myself some time when the missus is snoring so loud I can't fall asleep. (hope she doesn't read this, just joking honey!)

I also got a new chefs knife, a Cuisinart. This is just great - but it's a little too great. She sliced off half her fingernail the other day, and I nearly did the same tonight. Little more care to be taken I think!

And of course lots of cash and vouchers to spend. We've had a couple of little sprees so far! But more about that later. So did you have an engagement party? How did it go?

The side of the house had a carport, which was lined with some old trellis and vines. We pulled out the trellis, which then left the carport facing onto a wild patch of dirt and stunted trees, with a dilapidated old cubby house in the middle. Diggin, cursing, and many cuts and bruises later, we had an expanse of flattish dirt. We got some dolomite sand delivered, raked it out level, and hired a compacter - then it was time to start paving! After a couple more days labor, we had a lovely paved 12m sq area fronting on to the long side of the car port. Next, to enclose the area and give some partial protection from the wind, we set up some vinyl patio covers (aka cafe blinds) on the short sides of the car port. This gave us a great semi enclosed patio, facing on to a small courtyard. It's already got quite a nice mediterranean feel but we are going to continue this theme with some potted herbs and maybe even fruit trees.

Anyway, just wanted to show how you can save some money on home improvements if you think outside the box a little!

Till next time.

Anyway I do like Christmas a lot actually - some people I know do grumble and groan about it being commercial but of course it's really all about family and FOOD and catching up. And who said commercial is wrong - there ain't nothing wrong with Xmas presents in my books!

I'm a bit of a sucker for doing the whole bit with the Christmas tree decorations and the lights (love Christmas lights, in fact if you are in South Australia (you probably aren't) you have to check out the Lobethal Christmas Lights. Very speccy.) I do prefer to get a natural pine tree though. Partly the twofold environmental reasons (they are basically a weed here so diggin up a roadside young tree isn't causing any problems) and obviously there's less resources consumed in manufacturing and transporting the tree. But also there's something about the smell of the tree that is just so Christmas for me. Probably a childhood thing. Anyway that's my thoughts on this fine December night - back soon with more!

The comment from Gillard that the climate change deniers seem to be taking over the liberal party has the ring of truth about it. What are they thinking? I can only imagine the thought process as going like this: "Hmmm, lots of people are saying climate change isn't happening. They must be right" . This overlooks the obvious fact that while a small percentage of the 20 odd million people in Australia is still a significant number of people, there are even more of us that realise that human action is likely responsible for climate change.

Here are the facts as I see them:

• Climate change is likely to occur over the next century, with huge ecological and financial impact
• This is due to human activity
• The majority of all voters, and the great majority of some segments of voters, are in favour of doing something about it
• The ETS proposed by the Rudd government is an attempt to do something.

Here's the thing- I'm not at all sure that the ETS will be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I would rather see more focus on things like a massive push towards renewable energy and carbon storage as biochar (imagine if we had spent all of that stimulus money on renewables). But at least we are trying something. If it doesn't work, we can continue to adjust and change the details of the ETS over time. I see this as a starting framework that is being put in place while pleasing all of the interest groups. Once it's locked in, we can build on that foundation. The position of the Libs seems to be: 'let's do nothing'. They could actually achieve something worthwhile here by proposing a credible alternative or worthwhile amendments. It's sad to see instead that they are tearing themselves apart and probably removing any credible voice on alternatives to government policy development for the next 4-8 years.

I've been twice in the last few years. Once, I went on my own and spent 2 weeks driving around just taking photos - it is a photographers dream. Here's one of my shots from the trip:

The second time, I went back with my girlfriend and this time we hired a van and did more of the touristy thing. I managed to drag her around some of the hiking tracks and she had me buying tea towels and postcards - it was win-win.

One of the highlights was Fitzpatricks Inn in Westbury - a lovely old English manor style inn with a great restaurant and great service. Cheap at $110 per night. We often talk about grabbing some cheap flights from this site and heading over, even just for a weekend! Maybe combining it with a trip to the snow, if it's the right season.

In no particular order, here are some other things you shouldn't miss:

The overland track (5 days of hiking but spectacular)

D'Anvers chocolate factory

The cheese

The Hobart markets

Wineglass bay & the hazards

Lake St-Claire national park

The wall in the west - giant wooden sculpture

To some extent, I think the answer is to adapt our current lifestyle rather than giving things up. It is going to be too difficult in the short term to convince the masses that drastic change is needed but maybe by applying some intelligent design, we can reduce the way our lifestyles affect the planet. In this report on lifestyle changes, Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri says that "Studies have shown that producing one kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat causes the emissions equivalent of 36.4 kilos of carbon dioxide." He goes on to say that "...raising and transporting that slab of beef, lamb or pork requires the same amount of energy as lighting a 100-watt bulb for nearly three weeks". Imagine if everyone cut their red meat intake in half - this would make a huge difference!

There's lots of other choices you can make around the home as well, even if you have some pretty energy intensive luxuries. Swimming pools use a lot of water to fill and maintain, not to mention the chemicals used. Salt water pools are one way to reduce the chemical use, and retractable swimming pool covers are another great idea to cut down on evaporation and thereby minimise water use.

This is just the tip of the iceberg really! For every facet of your life, I bet there is a way to minimise your environmental footprint. Any other bloggers out there who want to share ideas of their own?

Do you think Ange regrets it?

Have you ever done something when you were younger that in hindsight wasn't such an awesome idea? A mate of mine has a massive tattoo on his forearm, a big wolf spider (he loves spiders). Everyone thought it was awesome at the time, but I don't know how he will go if he ever wants an office job - despite the relaxation of a lot of our formal dress codes, Most places I've worked still say visible tattoos are a no-no. You see the stewards on some of the 'trendier' airlines wearing those flesh colored bandages to hide their tattoos, must be a pain in the @ss!

Of course there is things you can do about unwanted tattoos these days - I think the laser tattoo removal is getting pretty good - but who wants to get ink burned off their flesh - wouldn't it hurt?This line of though led me to do some googling about the alternatives and I found something called wrecking balm. This is an interesting concept - somehow it abrades the top layer of skin, then breaks down the cells with the ink. Apparently it is FDA approved so I guess it must work but I think the real moral of the story here is if you don't want to subject yourself to all kinds of weird invasive treatments, be a bit more careful about getting a tattoo in the first place!

Even if a school does have the very latest in technology, they still need well trained teachers for any relevant learning to take place. In parallel with the continual need to update technology in schools is the need for educators to continuously update their own knowledge. This is a problem in technology education as with an already heavy workload, some teachers can be understandably reluctant to have to keep learning new skills themselves.

It might be unrealistic to expect that technology teachers be paid at a higher rate, in order to attract specialists with current knowledge, but that would certainly be one strategy that could be effective. Another way to make sure that what is being taught in schools is up to date might be to develop a policy in schools of regularly featuring ‘guest teachers’ in technology education, who would be specialists in various areas of technology and would be able to give modern perspectives on technology to both students and teachers.

While there are many issues in technology education that need to be addressed, the field of design and technology as a whole is an incredibly important one. With the trend towards a society and an economy which require an increasingly technical-based skill set to be a functional and productive member, it is essential that every student receives a well balanced and well thought out education in the basics of technology, across a broad range of subjects. “Given that technological competence will be a requirement for more jobs in the coming economy, it is imperative that (plans are devised) to ensure that all children are given high quality educational experiences involving computers, interactive videos, calculators, and whatever other electronic wizardry emerges as an important problem solving tool…”. (Groundwater-Smith, Brennan, McFadden & Mitchell, 2001, p 340)

Only through continual debate about policy, including the issues that we have discussed, and review of procedures in technology education can this new area be developed to its maximum potential. While there is much that is already right about the way technology education is taught, there is also much room for improvement.