cooler days and new technology

We have almost reached the end of week one of term two. Already! I am constantly amazed at just how fast the day, the week, the month, the season seem to pass. Is this a sign that I am getting older? I remember as a child I never realised time passing by.

As I write the heater is on. I'm feeling the cold, the change of temperature seems quite dramatic. Autumn has definitely arrived in Melbourne. Cool nights and days are now part of our daily weather forecast. Currently a rather fresh 15 degrees. The time has come to pull out our winter jackets and boots. Time to rug up. I do enjoy the fact the winter allows us to enjoy lots of soups and stews. I find them quite easy to prepare and very healthy! It won't be too long before I am piling the groceries into one of these.

picture from Sunrise

This morning whilst watching a breakfast program I caught a glimpse of a story on new high tech shopping trolleys known as the 'smart trolley'. Smart trolleys are currently being trialled. The smart trolley comes complete with a GPS navigation system, who ever would have thought this possible?

The trolley has the capacity to track details of shoppers' movements in different aisles which in turn will trigger an appropriate ad. It has the capacity for the shopper to scan items whilst shopping, providing pricing information and a tally of the shop. It also provides meal ideas and ingredients required.

These trolleys are expected to be in Melbourne by July. What do you think? Will you find the ads annoying? Will the ads cause you to purchase impulsively? I'm still processing the fact that this technology is available and will soon be part of our shopping experience.

good old fashioned fun

In Melbourne we are enjoying the second week of the school holidays. In this house we tend to actively live and breathe technology in our lives, so playing noughts and crosses with the boys brought a happy smile to my face today. The joy of such a simple game kept them happily engaged and playing so nicely together. It was nice to put the DS away, it was nice to have the Wii turned off, it was nice to have the TV turned off. Good old fashioned fun, can't beat it! The challenge is to enjoy more days like this.

hello there

Lately I've really missed being able to dedicate some of my time to blogging. I've simply been too busy! I know it isn't a great reason to have been kept away but other things have needed my focus and attention.

The most pressing of which have been two uni assessments which were due for submission on Friday. A learning log worth 10% and an essay worth 15%. I spent literally hours, many late nights and lots of coffees working on these. Maybe it's because this is my first semester back at uni after a very long 18 years but I'm finding getting but into the study routine and mindset is taking me a little while to get used to again. Possibly longer than I had anticipated. I'm also finding the unit is a little intense with its philosophy content but I am enjoying the challenge and am eagerly awaiting my results.


Good Friday we continued with what has become a family tradition, we enjoyed a lovely day out at the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt at Werribee Park. All proceeds from the day go to the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. Collectively the boys gathered in excess of 250 small solid eggs. Just in case you are wondering, they definitely don't eat them all! Much to their disappoint I'm sure. We share them amongst family and friends. The enjoyment is in the collecting, the anticipation of how many eggs they'll manage to collect. The event has become a nice way to enjoy family time on Good Friday and in doing so we are supporting charity.


Best wishes to you all for a very Happy Easter.