Strange Incidents – Accidents: 1.

In my recent, “Flying Ducks, Posties And Me! Blog, I asked, “What is the strangest accident or incident that you have experienced?” To which I received the following reply:
“Hi Walter: In 1966 I was working during the summer at Tidal River for the National Park Rangers. One job was picking up and dumping the garbage. Once when coming back from dropping a load I was sitting on the trailer being towed by a tractor when a seagull flew over head, dropped his load which landed splot on the skin on the top of my sternum having missed both my head AND the vee of my shirt !! Clean as a whistle. ***”
Now that reminded me of when I was odd jobbing at an Orchard at Warrandyte just before going overseas in 1990. On this particular occasion I was about to do some painting from a 4-litre paint tin, and before I started, I held it in front of my chest and shook it vigorously, to mix the paint. So vigorously in fact that the Lid came off and paint spurted out. However when I looked, I couldn't see any paint anywhere. Not on the floor, nor on my clothes. Then I felt it!
It too had gone cleanly down my chest inside my clothes without touching them or my face neck. Both I and the person witnessing this, thought it both amazing and hilarious. Fortunately for me, there was a shower there and I had a change of clothes in the car.
Now that you have heard these two stories, what is your most unusual accident or incident?

Flying Ducks, Posties And Me!

In the Melbourne Herald Sun on April 16 was an article about the sort of problems and injuries suffered by posties in the carrying out of their duties. Along with the getting ran over by cars backing out of driveways (178), dogs (50), wasp and bees (16) overhanging trees (10 and even Spiders (2), was one unusual incident where a Postie got cleaned up by a flying duck coming into land at a pond near us in Mooroolbark.
Now I have not been on a Motorbike when hit by a duck, but I was driving the then Boss’s van back from the warehouse over in Burwood on the Burwood Highway, when a duck hit it very forcibly. All I can say is that fortunately the driver’s window was up; otherwise I would have been hit, smack full in the face. And at even 80 Kms an hour, on a busy highway that would not have been good, I can tell you. So, unusual it may be to be hit by a flying duck, it does happen, and not just to posties either! I know!
So just because a collision with a flying duck is not as frequent as an attack by dogs doesn’t make it any less serious or dangerous does it? So do be careful out there?
What is the strangest accident or incident that you have experienced?

Horsing Around; Short And To The Point.

As mentioned in my “Horsing Around, Or Thinking Outside The Box?” blog, The Melbourne Herald Sun on April 11 had a medium size photo of a young Muslim woman with a small pony and the following words: “ Blind Michigan women Mona Ramouni can’t have a guide dog because her Islamic parents consider dogs unclean. So miniature horse Cali is being trained to help Mona.”
That was it. No more no less. Obviously there was much more to the story than that, but that was all that the paper needed to get the story across. Personally I would have liked more information than that, but never the less, even I concede that that has enough to get the story across.
Now that is an area I perhaps can learn from, as some people think my blogs are too wordy and take to long to get to the point. How about you? Do you have the same problem too? Never use one word when a hundred will do? So in closing, how long does it take you to get to your point? Before or after everyone has been bored to sleep?

Horsing Around, Or Thinking Outside The Box?

In the Melbourne Herald Sun on April 11 was a picture of a young Muslim woman with a small pony and the following words: “ Blind Michigan women Mona Ramouni can’t have a guide dog because her Islamic parents consider dogs unclean. So miniature horse Cali is being trained to help Mona.” I find it interesting that rather than either try and force her and her parents to accept a dog against their heartfelt beliefs, nor to just exclude and forget about her altogether, the authorities have looked outside the box to come up with a suitable alternative.
Are we always so willing to look outside the normal box or boxes, or do we cling doggedly (unintended pun) to ‘the one size fits all’ solution?
Now I have no idea how feasible/practical a miniature horse will be for her or for others, but at least the people responsible there, are prepared to look outside the normal box and try other possible ideas and sources. Again are we willing to step outside our own comfortable little boxes today?

Sand In Everything.

Another item inspired by For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston. This one has 7 frames of a little boy playing in a sand pit and getting sand absolutely everywhere, with the final frame of His mother washing him saying, “How can so little sand get into so many places?”
Ever noticed how laziness and bad habits are like sand in a sand box? They look like harmless fun and are quite enjoyable at the time, but like the sand, they often find there way into places you just don’t want them to be and just like the sand in your hair and clothes, takes a lot of time and effort to get rid of them later so that they don’t interfere with the rest of our living, don’t they?
A little fun and a little sand is not necessarily a bad thing, but we do all have to be careful that we don’t overdo it don’t we, and ruin many other good things that just don’t work with “sand” in them?
Sand in the right time and place is fine, but please don’t overdo the sand usage and get it everywhere and particularly in places where it will cause extreme damage. Over to you now while I go and get my bucket and spade!

Susan Boyle’s Got Talent.

Someone sent me a You Tube site about one Susan Boyle who was a contestant on ”Britains Got Talent” Show.
Checking it out, I found that at first glance there was not much appeal about her. She looks a lot older than her 47 years, a little overweight and frumpy, with shocking dress sense and a strongly accented speaking voice.
A first look that did not go over well initially with the Judges or the audience. And in fact as one of the Judges said later, when she said at the beginning she wanted to be like her idol Elaine Page, everyone was laughing at her.
And they were laughing at Her. Laughing right up till she started singing. Then the laughter stopped and pretty soon, long before she finished her song, the laughter became a standing ovation.
Now whilst I do think that there was probably a bit (a lot) more, she could have done in previous personal presentation, ultimately, she let her talent do the talking for her. Rather than be deterred or put off by the ridicule of everyone, she followed her dream and showcased her talents when this opportunity occurred.
What about you today? Do you have a hidden talent that others don’t know about? A talent just waiting to be revealed to an appreciative audience? If so, do take and make the most of whatever opportunities that come your way and present your case, no matter how much laughter or ridicule you have to put up with. A lot of people with minimal talent spend a lot of time on their presentation and do all right out of it. While others, with greater talent do nothing with their talent, and everybody misses out on enjoying it. So what talent do you have today that is hidden away, when it can be revealed and appreciated by others?

A Tree Growing In A Strange Place.

I was once told that the official description of a weed was, “Any plant growing in a place where it is not wanted. Well this incident reported in The Melbourne Herald Sun on April 16, definitely classifies as a WEED with capital letters.
Doctors in Russia removed a 5 cm fir tree growing in a man’s lung when they were operating on him for suspected lung cancer. It would appear that he must have inhaled a seed, which germinated and started to grow inside his lung and started causing him complications similar to Lung cancer.
Very strange indeed, I think! What is the strangest object that you have found where it was not ever expected to be?
P.S. According to the TV News, this is now being suspected of being a Hoax as a tree should not be able to grow without sunlight. I guess that this is further proof that you should not always believe what you read in the paper or in a Blog, Hey?