The Smirkonian Sightseer

Let's get personal... (no not THAT close)

I’m not a fan of Facebook. I find the platform rather annoying. I resisted for many years but peer pressure won over. Most of my friends, particularly at work, were regularly conversing about someone’s post and I’d be in the dark and feel left out. One positive was I found long lost friends so all in all it’s a love hate relationship with FB.

On a daily basis I see people participating in these personality posts. Most are a load of rubbish. I’ve posted a few to FB but usually I just take a screen capture for my own amusement. Here’s a selection, hopefully not too revealing.

Me in a nutshell

My year on Twitter

Just made a movie of my #2013memories on Twitter: https://t.co/yJyXh3PvJV What's yours look like? #Vizify

— Andrew Shepherd (@SmirksTas) December 31, 2013

New Smirkonian Flipboard Magazine

I've started creating my own personal Flipboard magazine "Smirkonian". It's similar in a way to the old Tweetsheet posts I published on this blog last year. Primarily the Flipboard mag is a collection of articles, rss posts and tweets that I've read and had an interest in.

It requires the Flipboard app for iOS or Android. Download the app and search for Smirkonian.

Available on the App Store

Android app on Google Play

My personal info graphic...

Get yours at http://spotlight.abs.gov.au/

Here's my number...

In the last 24 hours, the world population ticked over 7 billion . So that go me thinking. As a 51 year old, what would have been the population on my birth date. Here's what I found...

The Guardian says when I was born the world population was approximately 2,962,787,511.

Another indicator, or Worldometer, says I was the 3,045,349.202nd person alive on earth and the 76,702,605,147th person to have lived since history began.

So what does that mean? I'm small and insignificant. So are you, now get in line!

Joining the twots....sorry, I mean twits

Who would have thought it would come to this. After many years of resisting what everyone else seems to be doing, I'm turning myself into a cyber stalker. Yes folks, you can now follow me on Twitter @SmirksTas

I'm very disappointed in myself.

Brrr...

Walked to the shopping centre this morning wearing shorts. Totally mis-calculated the wind chill factor.

Retrospective...

It's new years eve and time to quickly reflect on the past calendar year.

 

Overall, two thousand and ten has been a reasonable and enjoyable year. There have been a few ups and downs, but mostly smoothing sailing.

 

I took all of June off (as a casual employee, that means no income for 4 weeks) to travel with Tony through Great Britain. Landing at Gatwick we spent the first two days based in the Brighton area on the south-coast and then onto Torquay. From here we were able to visit the Eden Project, which I've always wanted to see and revisited the lovely coastal village of Fowey. We visited Wales and Scotland, all the way out to the Isle of Skye. We finished with four days in London.

 

I've spent the last 6 months changing my health insurance, superannuation funds and other financial affairs. Although I'm no accountant, I'm rather pleased with myself for figuring out my own strategy that will secure my financial future. This came about due to my Aunt dying in July and leaving me a share of her life savings.

 

We all knew that Jan didn't have long to live. She suffered terribly from arthritic conditions and became a huge burden on Mum and the rest of the family. So it was with some relief for us when she finally passed away.

 

I'm still working as a casual. I've adapted well to the semi-retirement lifestyle. More time to get on and do those 'leave-it-for-another-day' jobs that have piled up over the years. But then if full-time work is offered down the track, I'm unlikely to knock it back. Occasionally my boss will give me some special projects to work on that brings in a bit of extra cash.

 

And then I turning 50… so, what was all the fuss about?

 

I have nothing planned for 2011. At this stage it's looking to be a quiet year. Let's see what unfolds...

Putting the kybosh on xmas...

For many, christmas is a time of year to look forward to and cram as many social gatherings into a short amount of time as possible.

I'm very much the opposite. Each year, as December approaches I start to dread the thought of xmas, and having to partake in silly customs of gift exchanging, partying, and consuming gross amounts of food and drink.

Earlier this year I was introduced to the TV series Big Bang Theory. I've watched the repeat episodes far too many times, but there's one episode from season two that stands out from the rest. The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis episode where Sheldon gets a christmas gift from Penny and decides he is now forced to get Penny a gift of equal or greater value due to the proper gift giving etiquette.

Penny: Hey Sheldon, are you and Leonard putting up a Christmas tress? 
Sheldon Cooper: No, because we don't celebrate the ancient pagan festival of Saturnalia. 
Penny: Saturnalia? 
Howard Wolowitz: Gather round, kids, it's time for Sheldon's beloved Christmas special. 
Sheldon Cooper: In the pre-Christian era, as the winter solstice approached and the plants died, pagans brought evergreen boughs into their homes as an act of sympathetic magic, intended to guard the life essences of the plants until spring. This custom was later appropriated by Northern Europeans and eventually it becomes the so-called Christmas tree.

This scene sparked my curiosity as I realised I wasn't the only one not comfortable with the whole christmas shebang.

Researching websites to support my thinking that christmas is a sham, I've discovered...

• Christmas is driven by commercialism
• Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December
• The xmas holiday is largely a recycled pagan celebration
• Parents have to lie to their kids regarding the Santa Claus myth

The list goes on, but as an Atheist,  the question arises on whether I should be celebrating christmas or not. I'd rather not, but then I don't particularly want to rock-the-boat with family members.

Website update...

It's been a while (2007 actually) since I updated anything on my website. One of the pages long in neglect has been the page of photos of myself. I had to ask my best mate and travel companion Tony,  for a few images to update the collection.

Now there are images of me from our overseas vacations to Macau and Hong Kong in May 2009 and Great Britain in June 2010.

Fifty...

 

Today I turned 50... and life goes on.

 

The following is an email reply I sent to some long time friends who live far away on the other side of the world. I'm sure they won't mine me sharing this;

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the birthday greetings.

About two years ago when my brother turned 50, he had a big party with nearly a hundred invited guests. But I wanted none of that and settled for an intimate lunch with a few family and friends.

It kind of sums me up. I like to keep things simple and manageable and the day proved to be just the day I wanted.

I've spoken with many people over the last few months about how best to tackle turning 50. The common thought from friends around my age heading towards the same big number is to jokingly dread it. So yes, I wasn't looking forward to it at first, but in the last few days I change my thinking and decided to just have fun with it. There's nothing I or anyone can do to stop the aging process and to keep enjoying the roller-coaster while I can.

I've certainly enjoyed some "best bits" in my first half century and I'm sure circumstance will throw up a few more awesome moments for me to savour.

All the best to you both.

Love, Andy

On 15/08/2010, at 4:21 PM, Kent wrote:

Hi there, Andy!

Joe and I want you to know that we hope your joining those of us who can
say that they have been living for a half-century means you, too, will
find that the Best is still to come!

...or-- and we just now thought of this-- maybe we've *already*
experienced that "Best" but we, um, forgot what it was like.  You know
how the mind goes...!

Anyway we hope you've been having a wonderful-- and infinitely
Memorable-- Birthday!

Love,

Kent (who knows he is remiss in emailing but he will try and soon make
amends) and Joe (who is never remiss in anything! :-))

 

Clean bill...

At 49 and speeding towards the aged of 50, I though it about time I had some check-ups on my health.

Today I received the results of some blood tests conducted a few weeks ago (normally I'd know sooner but I'd forgotten all about it until today).

Bladder fine, prostate fine, cholesterol 2 which is normal. Blood pressure 120/80, also normal. And at 70kg's I must be the envy of every half centenarian.

Talking of getting on, I've re-written my web-site's About page to reflect my life through the ages from 0 to 49.

A few little and previously untold secrets are revealed. It makes great reading for any long time stalker's out there.

It's a happy new year...

I'm staying at Tony's apartment in Hobart for a few days. Last night we decided to stay in, despite it being new years eve.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the early evening fireworks were rained on, complete with thunder and lightning. Having had a sleepless night the night before, due to a sore back, I opted to go to bed early around 11.30pm.

We still heard the midnight fireworks as the new year kicked in, but I had a good nights sleep all the same.

For me, it's a good new year because two days ago, I discovered Tony had somehow screwed up his ADSL router config and was unknowingly using my login to my ISP.

He'd been download a whole series of SG-1 when the download terminated. On restarting the download, the data was coming in at a tiny trickle. Needless to say, my 15GB monthly quota had been used up and my service 'shaped'.

The good news today is, it's the rollover date when my quota gets reset for the month.

From the archives...

Jason, one of the cameramen at work, has be going through old station archives and photos and found this gem of me with journalist Dianne Massey. It's taken around the late 80's in one of the Betacam edit suites.

Dandy Andy...

Last Friday week ago I attended the Southern Cross TV 47th birthday party at the Boat House in Launceston.

The event was fancy dress, come as a tv personality or character. As I hate dressing up, I thought I'd keep it simple; go as Rove McManus! ...and didn't I get a bagging for that.

Photo: Mark Tripp

Redundant...

Four days after returning from my holiday in Macau, my department head informed me I was being made redundant and my services as a news editor were no longer required. Actually that's not quite correct, the services I do for the company are required, it's just that the work load is being redistributed among the remaining newsroom and production staff. 

Here's the email that went out to staff, just sixty seconds (a little insensitive, don't you think?) after I was told ...

From: ***** ******
Sent: Thursday, 14 May 2009 15:36
To: TAS All Staff - Launceston
Subject: Sad Day
 
Hi everyone,
 
It is my sad duty to inform you that Andrew ‘Smirks’ Shepherd’s role as news ENG editor has been made redundant effective the 30^th of June 2009.
 
It is especially sad given his exemplary record and commitment to the station, in particular the news department but also that this has had to occur in the year he achieved 25 years of service.  
 
This redundancy is not related to the economic situation but rather the company’s requirement that our new non liner editing equipment has a pay back period and associated with the new efficiency of operation gained once implemented.
 
Should you have any questions or concerns please come and see me or discuss with your department head.
 
Regards
 
***** ******

The mysterious third paragraph has everyone dumb struck - well according everyone I've spoken to, particularly the words 'pay back period'. To me it sounds like someone made a monumental cock up when ordering the equipment.

Anyway, I'll curb anymore comment on this as I'm hoping to keep my foot in the door for future work.

To busy to blog...

My life has been in a spin for about a month now, and I haven't blogged a word about it yet. I just haven't had the time.

So just quickly, he's a brief rundown of what's happened....

*Tony and I spent about 10 days in Macau visiting my old friend and mate Michael. 

*I have hundreds of holiday snaps and a few rather lovely, well composed photos from the trip I want to post to my Flickr page.

*On the fourth day of returning to work I received the news I was being made redundant, after 25 years service.

*Tony this evening revealed to me he has his own blog.

Hopefully in the next few days, I'll get around to posting more details about my holiday and my redundancy.

Cutie of the day... from the archives (1988)

Cutie of the day... from the archives (1988),
originally uploaded by Andrew Shepherd.

Check out the pose.

Well, it is New York darling... or maybe it was the 110 degree heat that makes you feel like a wet sock!

Time wise...

I just created a timeline of my online posts with Dipity. So far I've included recent posts from Typepad, YouTube and Flickr.

It looks something like this...

UPDATE:
I've wasted time on this for two days now. The Dipity site held a lot of promise to begin with but with a lack of instant support or help for troubleshooting situations, even just general 'how-to' (it seems not very Mac friendly) it's left me frustrated and wanting to delete the account... if there was a way to do that!

A big thumbs down to Dipity.

Hobart Day 2...

We had a change of plan yesterday. Instead of driving all the way out to Richmond (which we'd done a few times before) we decided to stay in central Hobart and visit the Royal Botanical Gardens. Tony and I spent about two hours here shooting RAW photos of flowers, garden beds, trees, close-ups of trees, tree bark, ponds, pathways... and ducks.

Last night we walked around the docks area and shot some late twilight photos. I think I had my ISO setting wrong. I zapped it to 800 when 400 would have done the job.

Today we go out on the water. There's a ferry cruise Tony booked a few weeks back that's going to Researche Bay and back. This will take all day so I'm not sure if I'll drive straight back to Launceston tonight or take off early in the morning.

Anyway, the piccies are looking good. I'll get some posted on my Flickr page when I get back to Lonnie. Back to work tomorrow.

In Hobart...

I'm visiting Tony in Hobart this weekend. So far we've been out engaging in needless consumerism. I bought some media cards for my new Nikon camera and a few other little gadgets.

This afternoon we're going out to Richmond to do some stalking of the Lightroom Experience team and to see if we run into Leo Laporte. (probably not - updates later)

Silky...

I recently bought some Aussiebum Valentines Day boxer shorts. I had intended to give them away to somebody. However, I liked them so much I decided to keep them for myself.

They are brief and shorter cut on the legs than normal boxer shorts. They also feature a mesh pouch to keep the 'goods' together. The back seam is also rather trim and depending on the size of the package up front, can give you a suprisingly good wedge!

Hey you...

Alrighty, this is to the attention of the one I love.

Mmmm. Now that your eyes are focused, this is what I want for Valentines!!!

I'm not fussy.

;)

Author, Author...

Here's my new book!...

A World Tour of Greek Islands is a three week photographic backpacking tour of five Greek Islands I visited with my friend Tony in May 2007.

View the wonderful landscapes of Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Zakynthos and Kefalonia... and featuring the breathtaking scenery of Samaria Gorge on Crete.

40 pages, 9" x 7", casewrap-hardcover binding, full-colour interior and exterior ink.
$41.20 USD + shipping charges

Fortysomething...

Yesterday I turned 47. While some might shun the thought of being at that age, I'm surprised I welcomed it.

I'm lucky in that I receive compliments on my looks. Many say I look around my mid-thirties and want to know my secret, not that I ever let on. One girl at work wants to know the type of moisturiser I use. I looked at her quizzically and said, "moisturiser?? ...what's that?"

Well okay, as an online exclusive, I admit I do use moisturiser... have done for the past 30 years! Currently I use Nivea For Men.

Oh bugger! ...the secret's out.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Oh wow! Hal Sparks was a bit of a shock, I ain't nothin' like him. That Zsolt guy is quite a stunner, shame I'm not as good looking. And then there's a 64% likeness to the Daiai Lama... I already do some of the Buddhist thing but really, ...will I look like that when I get old?

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

Projects...

It's been a slow start, but I've made some progress on my extended dairy of the Greece trip. I'm adding more detail to what I wrote in my diary, emails, and blog posts. The plan is to create a page on my main website with pictures I've taken and scans of tickets and documents from the journey... similar to my World Tour of Europe in 2000, but better organised. I'm thinking of calling it my World Tour of Greek Islands. Ok, I only went to five islands, but hey, it's another world there. Tony and I also have plans to separately release photo books, the self-publish kind available from Lulu.

Arrrrrgh!

As a condition we were going to Greece next year, Tony decided we'd both have to get ourselves 'fixed', so to speak. By that I mean snoring prevention. Tony says I'm a bad snorer, and I think the same of him. So, to remedy the problem we've both been to our G.P.'s and had referrals etc. I went to an ear nose and throat surgeon while Tony's doctor referred him to a sleep specialist.

My first consultation involved an Endoscopy, basically just an initial examination of the nose and throat. Then there was day surgery where I had a Bronchoscopy, basically this is a more thorough examination done under general anaesthetic, where I'm asleep and snoring so the surgeon can work out exactly what needs to be operated on. Then there was a second consultation to discuss my options and arrange the surgery. Then there's the actual surgery performing two procedures at the same time; a Tongue Base Reduction and a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) which involves the removal of the Uvula.

That operation was Tuesday last week. The reduction of the tongue base wasn't painful at all, but the UPPP has left me with painful soluble stitches at the back of the throat. I've been on painkillers since and returned to solid foods yesterday. I have one more post-op consultation in a few weeks.

In Tony's case, he's having a Mandibular Advancement Splint, a kind of special anti-snore mouthguard, which forces the jaw bone forward, opening the back of the throat while asleep.

Where's my cake?

Today I'm 46... going on 16.

On Sunday I had lunch with the family a Rosevears Tavern. Tony made the trip from Hobart to be there as well, which was nice.

Then last night I had another meal with Mum and Dad at their new house. Mum had asked the old man to get a chocolate/creamed sponge cake for me. When he got to the shop they only had mud cake (which he thought would be too rich, so he didn't get it.) Grrrrr. What he eventually bought was a pecan pie, which for me is a little rich after a few mouth fulls. So, double grrrrr!

PIE IS NOT CAKE!!!

Anyway, my point being, after hinting all week I wanted a frigging birthday cake, I still haven't had any CAKE.

L-R: David (my brother), Jacki (Adam's girlfiend), Adam (my nephew), Me, Tony (best friend and partner), Mum, Christine (David's partner). Dad took the photo.

I am a "rock"...

Each month at my work, staff can nominate someone for their hard work and outstanding achievements. It's not the first time I've received the Employee of the Month award from Southern Cross Television, but it's been a long time since the last one, back in the late 80's. When they first introduced this award, we all called it the "brown nose award", however over the years we've come to learn that winning the EOTM has a few benefits. Anyway, I was selected as the "brown nose" for May.

Here's what my nominator had to say...

Andrew "Smirks" Shepherd is an essential part of the news group who completes his tasks in a professional and diligent manner. Andrew is not just a video editor getting the Launceston and North West coast stories cut for the 6 o'clock bulletin, he also maintains the library and keeps an ever vigilant eye on network transfers.

This year has been an extrodinary new year in Tasmania and, in particular, the north of the state. The biggest news of course was the Beaconsfield Mine story, which placed a great deal of pressure on everyone in the department. The situation meant that we not only had to look after our own responsibilities but help both 7 and 10 Networks. Andrew was a rock who cut for networks, compiled the hours of vision, and volunteered to come in on his days off to help get the job done.

Catch up...

Bugger me... long time, no post! Okay, here's the brief catch up on my goings on...

During my annual leave (back in mid-october) I did a nice day hike in the Freycinet National Park. The hightlight there in Wineglass Bay... white sandy beach, not many people, picture perfect!

Getting back to work was a drag, it took me a week to get back in the swing of things.

Oh, I have new wheels and tyres on the car. Bob Jane, the people I usually go to fitted them. Because the Astra only has four wheel lugs instead of five, my choice of wheel was reduced to three and they all looked similar. Anyway, I chose the ones that best suited the car.

While buying a few xmas presents, I couldn't resist buying an iDog for myself. Cute little toy that bops away to what's playing on my iPod.

Another big splurge came last week when I bought an LG washer/dryer combo. It arrived today and I've just completed a few test loads.

The wallaby has been back a few times. Drew Jnr is looking fit and well, and a lot bigger. He'll be out of the pouch soon I think.

My piece of trade...

Last week I booked The Tap Doctor to come today at 10am. Sure enough, at the booked time they rang to say they were on their way, just slightly delayed. Soon after the van arrived and instead of Dr. Ewan, who usually comes, this time it was Dr. Bryan who jumped out and proceeded with the friendly chit chat (it's part of the training they do) then I got him done to business.

I had a running cistern I needed fixing but was informed that, by law, I should have a dual-flush system. So I said "OK install a new one, oh and do you have taps?" Did he have tap-ware! ...just out in the van, which doubles as a mobile showroom... I was impressed. Anyway after four or so hours and $1274 later I have a new loo, bathroom and kitchen taps. Nice and shiny :-) Thanx Dr Bryan.

I'm on holiday...

Four weeks off, wow, what should I do?

The first week has flown passed but I do have something to show for it. I have a new garden shed that was erected with the help of a builder friend of my dads. Monday he boxed up the area and later poured the concrete. He'd arranged for a mini-truck to deliver it however this huge bloody cement truck turned up and proceeded to back up over my lawn, leaving deep ruts in it. Never mind, the things I have to sacrifice to get a garden shed. The shed (in kit form) was delivered Tuesday and we spend 4 hours on Wednesday putting it up in high winds. Geoffrey, the builder, decided it would be a lot nicer if he rivited the joints instead of using the self-tappers the shed came with. I'm pleased he did. I looks very neat and tidy. I'll work on the surrounding garden area next week, if it's fine.

The house is less cluttered now with the mountain bike and gardening utensils all safely storage out in the new shed.

Today (Friday) is a bummer. It's raining so I'm stuck indoors doing some tidying up on the Mac.

I decided I'd give MarsEdit a trial. This is my first post using it. The app crashed on me while testing it, and I couldn't get the image insert pane to show my weblog, or any weblog for that matter, in the dropdown box. After figuring out what to do and ironing out the bugs, MarsEdit seems to be working they way it should. I think I'll find it easier to post this way than having to log-in to TypePad using a web browser. With a few more successful posts like this one, I'll be ready to pay the shareware fee.

Other things to keep me occupied are a pile of DVD's I've bought but never watched, and keeping up with all my subscribed podcasts.

Happy Birthday to me...

I arranged with Tim my supervisor to have a four-day-weekend for August 12 to 15 (the 15th, Monday, being my birthday). The Friday was a bit of a free day. Saturday I went along to my nephews Uni graduation in Launceston. Sunday was lunch with the family down the river at Beauty Point. There's a cosy little restaurant there called Tamar Cove. My brother is building a house nearby that has a million-dollar view! Sunday afternoon I drove to Hobart (2.5 hrs away) to spend a few days with my best friend Tony who now resides there. Monday was 'birthday' day and Tony had a surprise in order for me. He'd told me several days earlier everything was planned... whatever that might be.

Around 11am Monday morning we headed for the Hobart docks and he purchased the pre-booked tickets for a half day cruise to Peppermint Bay on the Derwent River and part of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. It's a luxury cruise boat and he'd bought first class tickets upstairs (aka, captain's upper deck... nice leather-like seats). We enjoyed a tasty lunch of local delicacies and glasses of Chardonnay as the lovely Tasmanian scenery past us by.

All in all, it was a fabulous day out.

Down under...

Last week I purchased my first pair of 2xist underwear on a recommendation of a friend I'd met in a chatroom - I'm not saying which one. ;-) I bought the No-Show Brief and wow, do they fit nice. I think I'll be buying more soon.