Strudel Strudel Strudel!

In an ode to "Mrs Cake", I decided to document my dessert making process this afternoon. Today's tasty treat is Strudel. (And yes, that word is fun to say, especially with a German accent. Strudel, Strudel, Strudel.) Anyway the saddest part for you is that you can't see the end product all cut up and tasty looking - as its not being eaten until about 8pm tonight. "But it smells so goood," I hear you say. Yes, yes it does. And I'm going to eat some now put it aside until later... Toodles!



(My attempt to show the steam coming off the top... Damn it looks tasty! elegant and sophisticated!)

• There are 11.6 million children in sub-saharan Africa who have been left orphans as a result of Aids
• 1.1 billion people in the developing world don't have access to an adequate water supply
• 1500 women die PER DAY while giving birth
• Half of the world's 2.2 billion children live below the poverty line
• Approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked EACH YEAR
• Finally: 10.5 million children in the developing world die before their fifth birthday

And we sit in our comfortable houses, or we buy that second car, or we drink that extra large frappuccino, or we go on our overseas holidays, or we give our children birthday parties with bouncy castles, or we buy the fancy camera with all the extra features, or we fly to another city for a two hour meeting....

And we can still look each other in the eye like it doesn't matter.

Its a shame this blog isn't more interesting, really. And I had such high hopes for it. Perhaps it was just that I got boring?
(Thats not a question for you to answer)
Everyone else seems to find the time to write witty anecdotes or tasty recipes or sensual poetry, but I find myself devoid of creativity. Devoid of effort, of caring, of knowing what defines me anymore.
I spend most of my days at home, working on assignments, and when I'm not doing that, I'm sleeping. And, perhaps sadly, thats not a euphemism.

Who am I now? I'm not the funny girl, the cute girl, the girl talking in a circle of friends. I can't be bothered to go out anymore, and when I do, I find I'm easily bored or intimidated. Usually both. I don't care about small talk, or topics that don't interest me, and I've lost my smile.
You know, the bubbly one that overflowed into laughter and thoughts of squirrels or foxes or fun things to do. I'm too cynical, too lazy, too deep. And increasingly I find myself questioning how it is that we end up living the lives we do: the choices we make to get here, the boxes we feel confined to, the laws that society or religion dictates for us and we rigidly abide by.

However, the one area in which I'm non-conformist draws me back in and reminds me that I have a deadline in two weeks. A deadline for five assignments that all must be finished, and well, if I'm to stick it to the man in the manner I wish to.

Great scott, its great socks!

And in other, perhaps less interesting, news: I AM WEARING A T-SHIRT!! The first since April! w00t! Bring on Summer!!

And while I'm talking about clothes, I got some great socks last weekend - bought seven pairs in one go (Husband was horrified...): one woolen pair (The first pair of kids' woollen socks I've found, sadly, in Spring), five long-ish pairs (yay for Kmart and their size 13-3 kids socks), and three ankle socks (yay for Farmers kids socks - they have cool pictures of cows on them). Hurrah. The long-ish pairs are great - I can actually walk in them! Most pairs of womens socks are "one size fits all" (it doesn't) and I can't walk much without my feet slipping around in them - does anyone else have that problem?? So I buy kids socks, but sometimes they have tight tops, as I guess they're made for smaller cankles than mine =P Anyway, these Kmart ones are great!

Okay - enough about socks!

Workplace discontent

In the past week, I've read some very interesting articles about the current workplace climate and, in particular, research into the effect that Bosses are having on their workers at this time.

The first is from Hudson, a recruitment agency, about how during the current downturn, employees are feeling concerned, distressed, and disgruntled but employers are totally missing this. The article talks about how Businesses are concerned even more with increasing productivity, but this means workers are working harder and longer hours, and end up feeling annoyed or stressed - not good for workplace relations. In the study quoted in the article, 32% of employees surveyed said that they felt their employers considered them lucky to even have a job, so they didn't need to recognise or reward the work employees are doing. This is leading to resentment, which, in turn, means that employees are increasingly seeking new jobs and are willing to leave their current job as soon as a better opportunity comes up.

The second article is from Stuff today, and talks about the idea that Bosses are reverting to a "1950s-style" management, where they are spending more time "bossing" their staff around than engaging with them. Bosses are employing cost-cutting measures like eliminating staff priviledges (such as coffee or biscuits) yet are still receiving comfortable pay packets and bonuses themselves. This is having the effect of alienating employees, making them feel unvalued. Also interestingly, this article briefly mentions Bosses who are now unwilling to receive input from those lower down the chain, resulting in the feeling of employees that Bosses see them as needing close supervision or don't trust them.

I feel like I've seen examples from both articles in my own workplace, and it seems like it is a common thing for Bosses not to notice how employees are feeling a bit alienated or undervalued at this time. I'm sure Dilbert would have something to say about soul-less managers who are oblivious to employee sentiment. In fact, here or maybe here or maybe even here. You know, Dilbert has something for every disgruntled employee moment, this also is applicable, as is this and even this. Oh wait - that one was not related, just funny.

Anway, I'm getting distracted. The point is, work places and bosses aren't opening their eyes to see employee discontent and stress in a time that is already difficult for all. If you show your employees you value them even more during a trying time than usual, they will really respect that - and will probably give the greater productivity you were hoping for by cutting hours/pay/biscuits and critically supervising their every move. Funny, isn't it.

when mauling by tigers would be a good punishment

So I saw "the lion man craig bush" on tv last night, speaking about how sad he was that his favourite tiger had had the misfortune of eating a keeper, and it made me think....

How come he's still respected after being convicted for assaulting his partner?

Tony Veitch, in comparison, has been totally taken down by the media, his employers, and the public.

I don't think that what Tony Veitch did was right, but how come there's such a fuss about what he did, but no one makes a fuss about the thousands of other NZ men that bash their wifes too.

What if their faces were all paraded on tv and people stalked them with cameras and microphones trying to get a good story?

Mr Veitch is certainly a sorry mess after this kind of treatment, and losing his jobs, and all that.
If only the other wife beaters out there would feel that kind of shame and despair over their stupid actions.

ignorance

I think New Zealand is in a hole. We really are the antipodes, and to be honest, kiwis are pretty good at ignoring what's going on outside of these poetically named North and South islands.

And I think we use that as an excuse to forget about some of the less desirable things that are happening in the rest of the world.

Me especially.

As part of my passion for history, I love learning about war, especially World War Two, and the Holocaust.
Okay - can't be bothered typing a lot, I'm not going to be a procrastinator today - What I want to say is that lately in my research for a course, I've been checking out overseas newspapers, and i am so so amazed at what doesn't make the news here.

I didn't really know that there was a sort of war going on in Sri Lanka at the moment - I'd heard that there were troubles with the militant group, Tamil Tigers, but other than that?
Okay, so I checked a "real" newspaper (as opposed to my usual stuff.co.nz) and saw this which is well worth checking out, especially the video clip at the top.

If I care about the Holocaust, I need to care about modern day examples of genocide and war crimes.
I don't want my geographic isolation to be an excuse for inaction and ignorance.