Gotta love technology

Technology is great - when it works. I’m not sure what has caused my latest round of dramas, but I don’t think I’m alone as there have been a few queries on social media as well.

Maybe there are a whole pile of annoyed individuals with ninja tech skills who are stuck at home and have decide to play with us - just for fun. I’m not sure what happened, but several phone calls to Telstra and Apple have indicated that the settings were changed on my emails - and I didn’t do it.

In the meantime, Apple support got me going, and my computer has just downloaded over 30,000 emails and is still going - all but a couple of dozen I have already dealt with. According to Telstra, they’ll just keep downloading until their backup runs out - there could be 60,000…

And all this has come five weeks after the printer dramas - which I have sorted by researching online and purchasing a Brother printer. It has arrived and was easy to set up, although it doesn’t print as nicely as I’d like, it will do. Meantime, we went to Bunnings and disposed of the old printer in their ‘unplug and drop’ bin. A great way to responsibly dispose of e-waste.

So, the newsletter will be out a bit later than I planned, but this is the way we roll, apparently.

Again, it will be much smaller, but we need to keep communications going - especially if all we are hearing is stay home’, ‘practice social distancing’, etc.

Social History

Today the hall was veiled for Anzac Day. Normally, this would have been done earlier, and there would be more, but it’s a little more difficult nowadays.

In the last half a dozen years or so, the traditional Anzac Dawn Service has attracted so many people that we have taken to holding it at the hall. It is usually followed by a gunfire breakfast and a few games of two-up. The hall is bedecked with the poppies, and filled with memorabilia of most of the conflicts our nation has experienced.

As we are unable to do this tomorrow, a movement has been gathering momentum for people to observe this solemn occasion by standing in their driveways at 6am. The ABC will be broadcasting the Dawn Service from the Australian War Memorial, starting at 5.55am (delayed for us), so you can stand in your driveway, and listen to the radio.

This will be an important part of our social history. Even though, around the time of the Vietnam War, Anzac Day and Remembrance Day lost favour with the community, in recent years we have learned more and understand better the significance of remembering those lost to conflict, and those who served, and who are still serving.

The old saying goes that if we don’t learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it. Whatever way you decide to commemorate Anzac Day, or not at all, our thoughts will be with those who suffered, and who still suffer.

If you are standing in your driveway in solidarity with those who choose to commemorate, please send us some photos so we can share with our community via the newsletter, and also by recording this for our history.

mtpleasantbeat@gmail.com

Thank you.

Life in quarantine

There are groups around the district putting together essential information for locals, there will be links added to pages and information dispersed. Hopefully it will be kept up-to-date, and we won’t have to do this for too much longer.

I’ve added a page with quarantine information, that details what I’ve found about those local businesses that are still providing a service.

I also added one called Things to do in quarantine, that has some links on it with some Quite Interesting stuff (that I’ll add to the Quite Interesting page when this is all over).

Sophie Thomson - who has been a great supporter of our local Red Cross branch for nearly thirty years and is a well known Gardening Australia presenter - has put up some videos on establishing gardens. If you are a novice, it’s a great way to get some solid, practical advice.

Maggie Beer has also filmed some videos and I’ve included a link. Taste Australia is a great website to find recipes, and Jamie Oliver’s children also have their own videos.

Keeping your body active is a must. There are some simple things you can do that will assist, and I’ve added a link from Britain’s NHS, which has some good ideas and practical advice.

Clearly you need to keep your brain engaged and there are some really good links from Australia Reads to TED Talks. TED talks particularly cover topics as varied as the design of flags, to housing, to charity, to comedy. The list goes on. Dr Karl is an Australian icon, and he has a great page with information on all sorts of subjects - including COVID-19.

All through this and trying to keep positive is the real fear that so many of our small businesses may never recover, and that makes me sad, not only for those who have worked so hard, but also for our local economy. I am sure w’ll all do our part and support them as much as we can.

It’s a beautiful day for a picnic in the garden.