Star soprano to sing 'Happy Birthday'

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image: Cor Frederiks’ book.

THE countdown to a special birthday party is under way.
The November 10 party at Sirromet Winery will be one to remember, with performances by the district’s star soprano, Mirusia Louwerse, and accomplished bagpipers including Roddy MacDonald, of Wellington Point.
Birthday boy Cor Frederiks is already excited, with his 80th still months away.
"Eighty means nothing – I have another 20 years to go," says the Cleveland accountant. "A lot of very prominent people have been extremely productive in their eighties and nineties.
"You’ll find a list of them in my book."

THE Money Bible, which Cor published in 1998, lists politicians, writers, artists and church identities, aged 80 to 100, under the heading, "You’re never too old!"
The chapter may give a clue to Cor’s birthday guest list.
"If you are dealing with negative people you will be dragged down to their level," he writes.
"Only cultivate friendships with people who are more positive than you are … it will rub off."
Who could possibly be more positive than Cor Frederiks, opening new offices for his accountancy practice this year and serving as Redlands Christian Businessmen’s Network treasurer and on the Redlands Christian Reform Church property committee? Then enjoying music, stamps, coins, paintings and social golf?
Cor says the achievements of his six children and 11 grandchildren – and the birth of a great-grandchild last month – are most important in his busy life. "I have taught them the value of money and how to save," he says.

THE lesson comes from values formed in his birthplace, the Netherlands, during the Great Depression and World War Two, during which Cor was a wireless operator on a Dutch destroyer under allied command.
He came to Australia to study theology in 1951 but ended up with an accountancy degree from Queensland University.
Cor first practised at Moorooka in the mid 1950s. In 1977 he bought a cattle property near Longreach and lived there for a decade, moving to Thornlands after selling the property in 1987.
Before starting his Cleveland practice in 1991, Cor worked voluntarily with the Haggai Instiute, promoting evangelism in the third world.
He now devotes his life to "helping people maximise their potential" with a philosophy based on Christian principles.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

New job comes with bear suit

This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image from www.spareroom.co.nz/rooms/sideswipe/ which has an interesting story about these little bears.

MOTHER of four and grandmother of another quartet of littlies, Angela Kesper loves kids. One month ago she found her dream job in our Classifieds.
The opportunity of a lifetime virtually jumped off the page, with a big headline asking: "Mr Hooker Bear – can you fill his shoes?"
Angela beat about a dozen applicants to wear the bear suit and become the fan-cooled heart and soul of the real estate group’s presence in the Redlands.
LJ Hooker Cleveland, which bought the $5000 suit about four years ago, needed the right person to play a major role in a new program to promote the image.
"I just thought it would be a fun thing to do with all the kids," Angela says.
"It’s my first time in a suit.
"Everyone laughs when I tell them what I am doing – no one believes me,"
Angela says husband Darrin, a tyre fitter, "has a bit of a chuckle" about his wife’s new career.
The couple recently moved from Victoria Point to Redland Bay after settling in the Redlands about 13 years ago.

NEW Zealand-born Angela, who became an Aussie citizen in 1994, already has had four assignments as Mr Hooker Bear.
Kids are notoriously rough with such larger-than-life cartoon characters, and Angela already knows the trepidation of being trapped in a swarm of youngsters, all wanting to give a cuddle and getting just a little overexcited.
"I was mobbed -- they got hold of my legs and I couldn’t move," Angela says.
AGENCY spokeswoman Mary Luke says Mr Hooker Bear always needs a handler.
Mary has not experienced the suit’s interior – "no way" – but trusts the reports from others.
"It’s very very hot but has a fan in the head to keep it cool," she says.
"Once in the suit you can’t see in front. You look out the mouth and can only see down."
Mary says the bear has so far made about 20 public appearances a year but will be on parade more in future.
"We are looking to ‘up’ the program," she says. "Right now, we are writing to schools and kindergartens.
"That’s why we needed someone for the role."
Mr Hooker Bear features fortnightly at Thornlands State School Swimming Club, which the agency sponsors.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great characters in the marvellous community of classified advertising. More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.

New church starts in Classifieds

This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image courtesy webelieveart.com .

THE perception of a church community that is growing, in contrast to the contraction of congregations in "traditional" Christian denominations, has prompted a bold move through our Classifieds.
A recent headline has announced, "New Church in Cleveland". That’s how Tony and Kate Case, who moved from Tamworth in 2005, launched their bid to help enrich the spiritual lives of Redland residents.
Within a month, the couple already has hosted about 20 people, aged 10 to 80, to services in their home, Tony says.

TONY, founder of Liberty Church in Tamworth, came to Queensland after Tony he had a heart attack at 46 years old.
"I have been a financial planner for 32 years and Kate and I thought we would step back from ministry and focus on building the business," he says.
"We have visited many local churches but have come to think others may want to become involved in a new pentecostal church.
"We are not here to take to anybody from any other church. Our ‘market’, to use a term of my profession, is the ‘unchurched’-- those who for whatever reason do not attend the exisiting churches."
Tony was born and reared in Nottingham, England. He was Baptist before he migrated to Australia in 1974 and became involved in the Lighthouse Christian Centre in Wollongong. He went into fulltime ministry in Gosford in 1989.
Tony and Kate met in Tamworth and married in 2004.

WITH another note from his professional life, Tony has lots of figures to show how the pentecostal and charistmatic Christian communities are growing while other denominations are in decline.
However, he says the new Cleveland Church will simply aim to focus on relationships, contemporary music and positive messages.
Tony found some responses to the published notice "quite interesting".
"Some people, clearly from traditional mainstream churches, have asked, ‘Why are you not working through the existing churches?’," he says.
"The world has about two billion Christians, of whom about one billion or half are Catholics. About 600 to 700 million, or one third of Christians, are pentecostal or charismatic.
"And I don’t see any decline in the pentecostal denominations which are in fact increasing exponentially – from only about 20 million in the 1970s."
Tony Case told me his story and verified this account on March 21, 2007.

Schnauzer 'breaks out' in microchip mystery

Image from www.schnauzer.cz

ANYONE hoping an embedded microchip will ensure a rapid reunion with a missing "best friend" may take a lesson from the experience of a Redland Bay family.
When the chips were down, so to speak, after the family’s miniature schnauzer, Maggie, escaped their Redland Bay Road home on a Saturday afternoon, technology proved useless.
An old-fashioned "Lost" sign on a pole, however, worked wonders, just when hope was fading, and distraught owner Lesley Heidenreich again could give the pooch a loving cuddle before a new week of doggy mischief.

SOON, it was like all the drama had not occurred. On the Sunday night, Maggie was again up to her old tricks, sneaking into the bedroom of Lesley’s eight-year-old son, Calum, despite repeated admonitions from Lesley.
Nearby, Lesley’s nine-year-old, Jared, again slept peacefully after a weekend of trauma. Meanwhile, Lesley was thinking how to avoid panic such as began after she let Maggie off her leash on private property.
"We live on acreage and we were in the yard with her," Lesley said. "When I realised she was no longer with me, she would have been gone five or 10 minutes.
"We doorknocked Redland Bay Road and Double Jump Road and put out fliers. I phoned Redland Shire Council but could receive no help outside office hours.
"Maggie is registered in New South Wales but the place with the records is not open at weekends. At lunchtime on Sunday I put up a big sign near the BP garage."

ABOUT 3pm, the sign caught the eye of a Thornlands vet. He phoned Lesley to say he had taken care of Maggie since a woman had rescued the dog from busy Redland Bay Road and asked to leave her at his clinic. Phew!
The experience left Lesley needing resolution on several matters. She immediately found a 24/7 dog microchip registration service.
She also placed a Lost & Found notice saying, "Thank you to the lady who picked up my dog … I would like to thank you personally."

ALMOST a week passed without a response but Lesley was still optimistic the meeting will occur. After all, Maggie came home, didn’t she?

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.
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Cue-game business takes winning break

THE Redlands business community was a little puzzled a few years ago when a highly successful company supplying tables and accessories for the gentle sports of billiards, snooker and pool disappeared from its high-profile location.
Master cabinetmaker Rod Jeffries and wife Christine had come from Tasmania in the mid-1990s, set up a formidable presence for Unique Billiards on Redland Bay Road, Capalaba, won the Redlands Small Business Award in 2000 and kept expanding.
Then the signs came down and Unique Billiards retreated from the commercial heartland to Mt Cotton Road, Sheldon, making many wonder if something had gone wrong.

JUST over four years later, the bewildered can be assured the move actually meant things were going right – so right, in fact, that Christine says the firm has "never looked back".
"We were getting bigger and bigger but cheap imported tables and accessories from China were starting to flood the market," she says.
"We decided what we really wanted to do was make top-of-the-range high-quality tables. The staff here are like family really – we would rather have them than buy a container load from China.
"So we moved from high volume sales to personalised design and service."
With Christine as designer-decorator and Rod’s skills from nearly four decades in his trade, Unique Billiards has sold tables between Newcastle and Emerald.
It is now meeting a surge in demand with sales doubling in the past six months, Christine says. Prices range from $2000 to $16,000.

CHRISTINE says Unique Billiards has made some magnificent tables, including one in New Guinea rosewood and with handcarved legs for a room in the same timber. The client was a Redlands timber merchant.
Although the tables often feature exotic and special timbers such as Tasmanian oak and blackwood Christine says buyers’ tastes are changing.
"We are now also producing contemporary designs in stainless steel and chrome, and with maybe purple cloth instead of the traditional green," she says.
Unique Billiards imports cloth from England and slate from Italy. Ex-Taswegians now in the Redlands may remember television advertisements featuring Rod as "Hoss Cartwright" and offering a bonanza from his Devonport business, Bedroom City.
Christine says her husband now prefers to keep a lower profile and a hands-on approach with the firm’s five other trade specialists.

THANKS for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Rebel finds God in spraycan

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image courtesy of "Sudsy"

MANY must have sighed with relief in the mid-90s when a court case involving many charges of willful damage and trespass unveiled the face behind the graffiti tag, "Sudsy".
The face belonged to teenager Oliver Walker, who migrated with his family from England in 1980, lived in Perth before moving to Brisbane in 1983 and, after seeing the cult movie, Beat Street, devoted himself to the graffiti underworld.
"Sudsy" admitted tagging just about anything that stayed still in the Brisbane and neighbouring areas for almost a decade before the law caught up with him.
The sentence of more than two years jail must have been sweet for the mainstream community that dismissed his expressions as vandalism and an affront.
The penalty certainly would have delighted those counting costs of restitution of his "canvases" to their gloriously blank states but "Sudsy" later "got off" with probation, fines and community service.

HISTORY shows the wisdom of the appeal system in giving that reprieve. Oliver, now 32, married and with kids aged 6 and 3, says the "breathing space" allowed him to understand himself better and to want to help others -- not necessarily with paint supplies but simply to offer a caring hand and sympathetic ear and to share his art and life in other ways.
Oliver Walker says he called himself "Sudsy" because someone once made a practice of holding his hands in near-boiling dishwater as discipline. He was just a little child.
But Oliver does not seek sympathy over his own past sufferings. He says his escape to WA after the court case was "light at the end of the tunnel".
He worked with Fremantle groups including the city council, youth service and art centre, and in the years since, he has also worked in WA and Queensland in aged care and with the disabled, and qualified as a chef.

NOW a youth worker at Brisbane Youth Detention Centre, Oliver says he "rediscovered my Christianity" along the way. He has lived at Birkdale and Alexandra Hills for the past five years. He still paints for himself and others.
Oliver, who has advertised in our Fast Find Services under the heading "Murals/Artist", told me his story and verified this account on February 28, 2007.

Computer skills give early start in business

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

FIVE years ago Dave Lee was only a teenager when he took a step that can cause nervous jitters in people many years older and with a lot more worldly experience – he started his own business.
Working from his family home at Cleveland, Dave and a mate who was studying information technology at university set up Bayside Computer Services with little more than their ability to understand and fix computers and a trickle of customers.
Today, at age 22, Dave runs a Cleveland shop and is building a base with some important corporate clients, as well as individuals who need “anything at all” in the field of computing.

BAYSIDE Computer Services features under the heading “Computers” in The Redland Times Fast Find Classifieds but it is a lot more than an emergency service for private computer users needing a fix in a hurry.
“Your place, our place,” the notice says.
But “your place” is just as likely to mean a business as a suburban home.
“At first the jobs were just computer repairs but I did a diploma of IT network engineering at Southbank Institute, started a little bit of networking and now I have a few big companies behind me,” he says.
“I am network administrator for Century 21 at Victoria Point and Redland Bay, Sea Eagle Electrical at Victoria Point, Multifix Constructions at Logan and a few other smaller firms.”

ABOUT one year ago, Dave’s younger brother, Simon, joined him to work from the Doig Street shop. The pair aims to provide a 24-hour service, attending to any need the same day or the next.
The brothers get along well, with Dave saying Simon has been a great addition to the business.
Dave, who had his introduction to serious computing as a student at Sunnybank High, has not been a typical “geek” and neglected physical pursuits.
For most of the past 10 years, he has played soccer with the Beenleigh and Redland clubs as a forward.
“I wasn’t playing too well last year so I am going to have a season off,” he says.
It looks as though Dave will need the extra time as Bayside Computer Services keeps growing.

THANKS for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Sisters treat mum to impromptu concert

This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image from www.en.wikpedia.org

ONE of those heartwarming experiences of parenthood occurred a few days ago in the Munro family household at Wellington Point.

Leigh Munro, mother of three daughters, heard a special performance, including Ode to Joy, on clarinet and violin.

Youngest daughter Carly, 11, put her new violin under her chin, and her elder sister, Sarah, 15, reached for her clarinet "for the first time in quite a while".

"It sounded a bit out of key but they played it together - it was great," Leigh says. "I was quite delighted, especially when I saw that Sarah can still play these songs."

Carly, now in Year 6 and part of the Birkdale State Primary School music program, played her new full-size violin for the first time.It replaces a half-size instrument that Mum advertised in our Classifieds last week for $100.

ALL the Munro girls, with the eldest, Emma, completing the trio, have been through the school program.

Emma, now in Year 12 at Wellington Point High School where Sarah is in Year 11, has since given up the flute.

This was a mild disappointment for Leigh. "I always wanted to play the piano and I have always hoped they (the girls) would find enjoyment in something that I never could," she said.

"I never push them though."

Another of the musical Munros was missing from the concert the other day.

"My husband, Gerry, is Maori and can bang out a tune on the guitar but the guitar has been broken for a few years," Leigh says.

LEIGH'S for-sale notice imparted a cute image, saying the instrument would "suit year 3-4". Seeing and hearing the "littlies" grapple with the disciplines of formal music education is always very special.

Carly was given her first violin when she was eight years old and in Year 3. "It was a bit hard on the ear at the start," Leigh says.

The new owner is another young starter on the Birkdale program, of which Leigh is a devoted fan. She says it has certainly given her girls a good start in music.

"When Carly got the new violin a few days ago she immediately played two songs off by heart and although Sarah hadn't played the clarinet for a while she remembered what she had learnt," Leigh says.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Golfer makes cut in business

This column appeared today in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image courtesy of http://www.redlandbaygolf.com.au/. That's where Dan plays his golf. His Redland Bay hometown is south (right) of the course.

A LOT more than fat and juicy fruit and vegetables has grown on the rich red soil that gave the Redlands its character.
Entrepreneurial spirit cannot be packed into a carton and trucked to market but nevertheless has become one of the bumper crops as the Redlands has transformed from market garden to a special type of suburbia.
Every day Redlanders are applying their minds and energies to doing great things in life and business.
This may be a good talking point with Dan Howard at the 19th hole at Redland Bay golf course, where he is likely to be swinging merrily any weekend.

THE course has been handy for Dan throughout his 30 years of life. He is one of the privileged who can still say he was born and bred at "Reddy Bay".
Dan started golf when just nine years old but drifted away from the sport in his mid teens. For the past couple of years, however, he has been back on the fairways and greens he loves.
It must be the perfect recreation for a rising star in business. Both in golf and business, Dan knows the importance of setting goals.
On a handicap of 13, he plays in every Saturday competition and is firmly committed to winning something decent.
While he has "nothing yet" in golf, the story is a little different at Walken Marketing, which Dan established about 18 months ago in partnership with Wade Kennett, of Sherwood.

WALKEN markets discounted car servicing door to door. Dan says the business has benefited from its work with some of the biggest companies in the field, including Midas and Repco, and operates throughout the State.
Dan says the partners are negotiating to expand into New South Wales as part of their plan for a national operation.
Walken’s recruitment notices give an upbeat image to the marketing system by listing five reasons to join the team.

THE good money, five-hour shifts, free weekends and management opportunities must draw a lot of eyes. But the "free beer on Fridays" must be welcome after the sales force pounds the pavements. Dan, however, monitors this one closely at the interview stage. Excessive interest in that little word may not be healthy.
"I just throw that one in to show that it’s a fun work environment and there’s no seriousness," Dan says.
Teamwork is important to Dan in another of his interests. He plays bass and is forming a covers band to play at Redland and Brisbane venues.

'Blue Danube' hits flat note

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Picture of Johann Strauss II, composer of The Blue Danube, courtesy www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Strauss_II

THE dignity of European heritage, particularly in music, sounds in each syllable as Julie Lacey speaks of the grand piano she has listed for sale in our classifieds.
Her Hungarian accent invokes images of a rich culture in a region that has experienced more than its fair share of suffering through history.
When she recalls her early years of music training in the town of Szeged near the Yugoslavian border, you can almost hear the World War Two German tanks rolling past the conservatorium room, where in the filtered light, a little girl sits at a piano practising scales.

THE teacher suddenly turns and accuses: "You have been playing something that is not classical, haven’t you, Julianna?"
The pupil confesses, "Yes, madam, I have been learning to play The Blue Danube." And the teacher snaps with rage, "No, no, no, you are to play only classical," striking her baton so hard on the piano that the instrument of authority snaps, too.
But that was long ago, and many years have brought new memories since Julie finally left Hungary during the 1956 revolution when, as a young woman, she feared she was line for a firing squad after the secret police caught her distributing anti-communist literature.

JULIE walked and hitchhiked for two weeks to get to Austria, almost falling into Russian hands at the border.
"It would take you too long to write all this; there is so much I could tell you," Julie counsels. So we talk about the pianos she has owned since she escaped Hungary and settled in London for almost 25 years before coming to Australia in 1981.
The Challen, the Beckstein, the Broadwood, which was a full-size concert grand … there have been a few. Julie is worried she has left one or two out.

BUT this talk is supposed to be about a certain grand piano, with a price tag of $4700. It’s an Irmler, made in Leipzig, Germany in 1914.
Julie bought it about 20 years ago from a Sheldon couple and had it reconditioned about five years ago. She is selling it in preparation for the inevitable move from her Thornlands home to something smaller.
The day’s not quite here and Julie will still have another piano to play as she reflects on her colourful life.
FOOTNOTE: Julie is not related to Les Lacey who featured in Classie Corner last week.

'Hair's your new job,' says salon boss

This column appeared yesterday in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image from www.scissorbook.com.

JUST one year ago at age 23, Wellington Point High School "old boy" Les Lacey walked into his favourite hairdresser’s for a trim and walked out with a new career.
The hairdresser, Dean Sullivan, thought Les, then working for a big retailer, may make a good hairdresser and offered him a job.
Les is now a second-year apprentice at Sulli, Dean’s Wellington Point salon. The appointment started Dean’s long-term plan to foster developing talent in hairdressing, which rates highly among the nation’s growth industries (no joke).

READERS of our sister paper, Senior Lifestyle Bayside, already know Dean through a feature last year on his voluntary work with Rosevale Court Nursing Home residents.
Today, the subject is near the other end of the age range and on the other side of the scissors but let’s start with some background
About a quarter of a century ago, Dean moved with his family from Canberra to Alexandra Hills. After leaving Cleveland High School at 16 years old, he returned to the capital and served three years of a hairdressing apprenticeship in Centrepoint.
"Seven years ago I was 31 when I decided to come back (to hairdressing) and start from scratch again," Dean says.
"I started as a first year at Blue Dog in Cleveland and finished the apprenticeship in 23 months.
"After that I worked at a salon at Paddington in the city but decided to find a business for sale closer to home."

DEAN says the location of the Main Street salon, away from the hustle and bustle of major centres, suits his philosophy of building up personal clientele rather than catering for the "walk-in" trade.
Men have traditional barbering on one side, while women have their hair "sculpted" on the other.
The style of business also suits Dean’s aim of employing one new apprentice a year with a commitment to see them through their full term and longer by providing the best work conditions and training program.
"I want to look after them well and make it so good to work here that to leave is simply not an option," he says.
Dean received about one dozen applicants to a recent classified notice seeking Les’s successor as Sulli’s first-year apprentice.

Teenage growth creates uniform market

This column appeared today in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

THE rapid growth rates of high school students has reflected during the countdown to a new school year, with lots of uniforms and sports gear on sale in the Classifieds.
Carmel College has featured most but this does not mean its teenagers grow faster than those at other schools.
Nevertheless, the rates and types of adolescent development are certainly a focus for the college’s new principal.
Bernice McLellan, who has worked in Catholic education for a quarter of a century, comes to Carmel after nine years as principal of San Sisto College, Carina.
Mrs McLellan had a brief holiday in Tasmania, where she and husband Robert sat at the famous Constitution Dock at sunset for a memorable feed of Bruny Island oysters.
Then it was straight to work, setting up her office, getting to know the college culture and community, and generally preparing for the big day, January 30, when about 750 students will take their places.
She rates the induction of the Year 8s among her first major assignments.
"San Sisto is for girls only, so I am looking forward to returning to co-education," she said. "It is good to get a handle on teaching boys again, especially in light of the discussion of their educational achievement."
Mrs McLellan has been focusing on research into boys’ education and has noted considerable improvement in their results in the most recent Queensland core skills tests.
Educational strategies appear to be working.
She said her challenges included keeping a balance between the specific needs of the female and male adolescents and ensuring the college did not neglect any group with special needs.
The mother of two girls and two boys – now aged from 22 to 27 – said her personal experience had helped her understand the different development rates of learning.
She also had the benefit of much research, especially since the 1990s when key Australian educational figures raised the alarm over the failure of boys to achieve academically.
Carmel College opened at Thornlands in 1993. It draws its name from Our Lady of Mount Carmel and looks to the traditions of the Carmelites for spiritual leadership.
The McLellans still live at Carindale but have been inspecting Redlands properties in preparation for a move.

Mindpower backs women jobseekers

This article has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

REDLANDS business livewire Alison Blomkamp is having a busy start to 2007.
Alison is best known for her work with the innovative support agency, Business Grow.
The agency, with Redland Shire Council funding and sponsors including The Redland Times, has helped dozens of local businesses with advice and training.
This January, however, Alison’s focus is a project that looks at the needs of a different sector of the community.
Alison is project manager of the women2work program, It’s Time for ME, which aims to help Redlands women return to the workforce.
Almost 100 women have responded to the call for enrolments in the next round of the program starting February 5.
The strong demand has also had project coordinator Regan Keane’s phone running hot.
The team, including co-facilitators Penny Delfs and Kathryn Giovanis, faces a difficult task selecting just 20 women for the seven-week course.
"It must come down to those who are desperately seeking work," Alison says.
"There is an expectation that after the seven weeks they will go into the workforce.
"Their previous failures to get a job may come from many reasons. They may have been unsure of themselves in the interview situation or did not know what to put in an application letter.
"A lot of people write a very bland application that does not really say what they stand for and why someone should employ them."
It’s Time for ME includes about 20 modules in a format that the team designed to cover the main "soft" and "hard" skills that win jobs.
Personal skills such as self confidence and attitude are on the "soft" list, while computer skills are among the "hard" essentials.
The program includes a TAFE certificate I in information technology to give a grounding in the dominant Microsoft applications.
Another round of the program will begin in April.
It’s Time for ME has funding from the Queensland Department of Employment and Industrial Relations and runs in partnership with Redland Council.
Alison faces a busy 2007 with Business Grow soon to expand its services and require another staff member on a "point-five" basis
In February, Alison will celebrate the fourth anniversary of her move to the Redlands from Charleville, where she was a regional business adviser.
More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.

'Rabbit food' putdown is now bad taste

Image from Wikipedia

HEALTHY eating must have been on the minds of Redlanders this festive season, maybe thanks partly to the millions of dollars worth of advertising pitched at the public’s diet conscience.
But, although the "eat right" theme has been the flavour of the month in public health promotion, at least one Redlands business has been quietly doing its bit in the field for many years.
Food Le Naturel is a salad specialist with its factory on a former strawberry farm in Bunker Road, Victoria Point.

THE French name reflects the Swiss origins of the family that moved to the property in 1982 and farmed fruit and vegetables before building a small factory 12 years later and settling on meeting demand for a range of salads from the best fresh ingredients.
The firm still makes all its dressings, mayonnaise and sauces for a range of more than 30 salads. It supplies consumers big and small, with its high-volume customers including Qantas.
Yvette Sunier recalls that another airline, Ansett, was among the handful of big customers that gave
Food Le Naturel its flying start. She was there on day one, undoubtedly washing, cutting, chopping and taste testing.
Yvette has reduced her involvement with the business but nevertheless has returned for extra hours during this busy Christmas-new year holiday.

SHIFTS in public tastes over the years stand out in such peak periods. In the early days the classic Berliner potato salad was among the most popular products, Yvette says.
This year "Bush Tucker" was the word and taste on many cusomers’ lips. The ingredients are potato, sweet potato, carrot, onion, garlic and Food Le Naturel’s own dressing.
"Bush Tucker", at $6.40 a kilogram, is midway in the firm’s price range, from $4.85 to $9.85 a kg.
Yvette says the public certainly seems to be more health and diet conscious nowadays.
"My daughter, Corinne, was still at Cleveland High School when we started but now she and her husband, Sergio, have taken over the business," Yvette says.
Corinne and Sergio Pinto are busy raising a new generation of salad makers. They have four children, aged 2 to 10.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column appeared yesterday in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Newborn takes season limelight

Image from Free Gifs & Animations

http://www.fg-a.com/.

AUSTRALIA always loves to find a new star actor, so remember Christmas 2006 as the debut of Elijah Samuel Stone, who appears destined for a big career. Elijah has top billing for a major production this weekend. He will play Jesus in the Christmas story for St Luke’s Catholic Parish, Capalaba. Just three months old, Elijah will be back at the Degen Road church where parish priest Peter McCarthy baptised him a few weeks ago. This time in an outdoor celebration, Elijah, the fourth son of Peter and Anne Stone, of Capalaba, will be under the heavens instead of the holy water. Well, not quite, but the school undercover area may be space challenged in a summer storm. Fr McCarthy must suffer a crisis of conscience because a priest obviously cannot pray for fine weather during a drought.

THE Christmas Eve outdoor mass has become a popular event over the past 11 years since Fr McCarthy started his first parish appointment and decided to celebrate Christmas "right under the Southern Cross". He estimates about 900 people attend the annual mass and Christmas story that he says gives a focus for children and adults who appreciate an event outside the traditional church experience. "People just want to do something of a spiritual nature at Christmas and not everyone is into church," Fr McCarthy says. "This is a balance. It’s a lovely atmosphere."

A "REAL newborn" must be the lead role in any Christmas show but Elijah will compete for the attention of the congregation. The cute cast includes not only the parish children but also animals from Old Macdonald’s Travelling Farms, all in the setting of a specially built stable.

The time, 6pm Sunday; BYO chair.

"FATHER Pete" has been especially busy for the past few years at Christmas, which he calls "the boss’s birthday". He has also been in charge of St Anthony’s, Alexandra Hills, since the retirement of Fr Paul Rooney in 2004. The added responsibilities were necessary because of the shortage of priests, Fr McCarthy says.

(On Tuesday, December 19, church notices took almost a whole page in the Bayside Bulletin, Cleveland, Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia. Classie Corner will resume in the Bulletin’s sister paper, the Redland Times, on Friday, January 3).

For sale: The smallest back yard

Image by Jenny Rumney

(This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia)

ONE of the cheapest plots of Redlands property has featured in our for-sale column but it does not offer space to swing a dead cat.
It is the smallest back yard anyone is likely to occupy – a burial plot.
More later about the "Cleveland single cemetery plot" that was sandwiched between "cheap scooters" and "computer desk".
FIRST, a warning about the catchcry, "You’ll get an answer to that on the internet." After clicking on countless quotations websites for the origin of the "swing a dead cat" adage I felt almost ready to place a deposit on that advertised plot.
When I found myself checking "The Farmer’s Cookbook" for "dead cat" I knew it was time to deal with the "deadline".
This sort of black hole is probably why so many readers still prefer the "classies" they can hold and feel – those in their local paper.
BACK to the plot, advertised by a Cleveland woman: Her husband said she had acquired the site about 25 years ago during her first marriage and could not remember the cost at the time.
The woman now wanted to be cremated so they decided to test the market, after suggestions the site could bring $5000. Two callers had asked for the price but had not called back.
A Redland Shire Council statement showed why Cleveland cemetery is, indeed, hot property.
It said the cemetery had reached capacity but extra grave spaces had been created in areas that originally had not been burial areas.
Just 15 unreserved grave spaces remained. Perhaps an extra 40 sites could be created if an older pathway was used for burials but extra graves might alter the "feel" or aesthetics of the cemetery, and any such action was undecided.
ON prices, it said: "Since 1998 Council has not sold outright burial rights but has accepted only a $250 deposit if the grave was not for immediate use.
"The last time it was possible to fully purchase the burial rights would have been June 1998 and the cost was … a total of $1195. On top, there was a burial fee for that year – if it was used that year – of $600.
"Today the burial fee is $1606, including maintenance. The total cost of a grave for immediate use is $2866 so, when the burial fee is removed, the burial rights today cost $1260."
We hope that helps.
MORE stories on http://www.classiecorner.blogspot.com/.

Collector, 79, 'disposes' of some advice

A LIFETIME of collecting antiques and art objects is behind this tip from a Wellington Point woman: Beswick appears to be coming into prominence among the collectable ceramics.

The English brand is already known to many collectors, thanks partly to the Beatrix Potter figures it started making half a century ago.

However, the firm of potter John Beswick had its origins in the late 1800s and has created a mountain of limited edition collectibles.

Our antique adviser, 79, has been advertising the "disposal" of some of her collection after moving to a smaller home.

Obviously, she is not selling Beswicks this time and only the direct inquiries get her list.

She is, however, free with advice that demand is rising and those wanting to start collections of something may look to Beswick's sculptures of animals and humorous characters from literature, film and television.

The site, www.john-beswick.co.uk, in a 2005 post, said John Sinclair, a Yorkshire business man, had bought the Beswick brand from Royal Doulton to save it from extinction.

Mr Sinclair planned not only top-range pieces made in England but editions of animals in the style of the originals and made overseas.

"Commercially, I recognise the pressures existing within UK manufacture today and, therefore, a second highly affordable range, intended as impulse buys or gift purchases ... will be made overseas," he said.

Novices should be wary of possible future confusion over old and new Beswicks.

Our adviser says: "Do your homework, read as much as you can, think long and hard before you buy and only buy things you like.

"If you buy something you don't really like, the chances are that others won't like it either, when you come to sell.

"Accept that, apart from the rare cases, you won't make money out of collecting. Very few things will realise more than what you paid for them, in comparative terms, even after about 60-odd years but the value is in the enjoyment they give you."

"TASSIE" has kayoed "Silky" in a title bout at Victoria Point where a retiree advertised his old desk for sale.

The two words "silky oak", when in fashion, are enough to make a prizefighter coo like a baby. But apparently not this year.

The ex-businessman wanted $250 for his silky desk, which he was told came from a school principal, but no one called, indicating the fashion-conscious crowds, prefer the look and feel of tassie oak, too.

(This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia. Picture courtesy www.john-beswick.co.uk)

Don't be a donkey, use classified advertising

THE echoing cheers from the spring racing carnival's focus on stayers are merging into the murmurs of the Golden Slipper lead-up and a focus on two-year-old first campaigners.

But punters may throw away their form guides and look to the classified advertising of their local paper to come up the real winners.

At least, that seems to be the tip from racing writer Phillip Bate, whose column, Down the Straight, appears in Queensland Country Life, a member of the Rural Press group and a cousin to the Redland Times.

"Next time you read your local paper, don't forget to read the classified ads," Phillip has told his followers.

"Samford racing enthusiast Joyce Ziesmer did just that and ended up a winner when her horse Bold Benny won his second race at the Clifton Cup race day."

Joyce paid only $1500 for the gelding as an unbroken three-year-old after he featured in a classified ad, Phil wrote.

This ad appeared on another "track" but that doesn't affect the message that members of the marvellous community of classified advertising may always be winners.

Even "window shopping" for bargains is like perusing the horseflesh in the saddling yard.

THE marvellous community also gets people talking. The Classie Corner report last week about "Mary Poppins of Birkdale" finding an umbrella blowing in the wind certainly whipped up a mini tornado.

Mary's phone rang hot. A friend from Victoria Point called before the ink had dried, after she identified Mary, whose real name was not published.

"I know what you have been up to; I read it in the Times," the friend crowed.

An Alexandra Hills woman noted the reference to Meniere's disease and was quick to suggest an alternative treatment that had worked for her.

Then, Mary's daughter, Beverley de Silva, chipped in, saying she would email the report to family members around the nation and as far as Bangkok.

The octogenarian Mary Poppins who met Bob Dylan on a windy Redlands day may now hover with her brolly over technocrats the stature of Bill Gates, if Beverley has her way.

"If all goes to plan, I'll be going to Kuwait to work next year, so I want Mum to learn how to communicate online," Beverley said.

The email campaign with Classie Corner "might also help me convince Mum to learn to use the internet and email so she can surf the net (she's a voracious reader/researcher) and keep in touch with her 'spread across the globe' clan", Beverley said.

(This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia)

Meet 'true believers' of classified advertising

Classified advertising touches the lives of so many people it must be bigger than any of the world’s political or religious movements.
This statement is not just hyperbole. Here’s a story that shows how the marvellous community crosses national borders:

THE boy who played beside one of the mighty rivers of regional Australia is now working beside the Thames.
That’s Tristan Greenacre in the picture, front row second from left, with his workmates.
Half a world away from the Bellinger River on the New South Wales north coast, where Perth-born Tristan grew up, he still keeps a keen interest in his Aussie homeland through his work with

www.Gumtree.com .
Gumtree is part of the rapidly growing online sector of the marvellous community of classified advertising.
Tristan, 26, has a key role in the London-based online community’s down-under push as Gumtree Australia market developer.
He found his way into my address book after I placed a link to classiecorner.blogspot.com on Gumtree’s Brisbane site.
Tristan sent an email bulletin seeking testimonials from users of the free classified ads, I replied and we are now like old mates with a common interest in the power of classified advertising.
All this aside, Tristan’s pathway to the leading edge of the field should be an inspiration for the Aussie kids of today.

HE’S usually a hardworking defender at soccer but Tristan Greenacre is delighted to be part of the Gumtree attack force and get his kicks in another fashion.
The right back and midfielder, who played for Southern Cross University (2000-01) and Coogee United in Sydney (02-05), still serves the sport, with Wembley Park in London.
In fact, Tristan’s involvement with Wembley Park FC started through classified advertising.
Here’s how the saga has unfolded:
"After finishing School at Bellingen High School in 1998 I moved to Lismore, NSW, and studied information technology at Southern Cross University between 1999 and 2001.
"In 2002, I moved to Sydney and worked in business development/sales for almost four years until deciding to 'see the world' and brave the cold winters of England.
"However, after a slight detour I found myself living in Venezia, Italy, for seven months, working on business development/SEO (search engine optimisation) for an online hostel booking website.
"When I finally moved to England I was happy to get myself involved with Gumtree, a company that I felt offered a fantastic free product to the community.
"I actually used Gumtree.com in London to find a place to live, find a football team to play for and also to get my job here.
"So for the past five months I have been busily putting my skills to use in getting the word out in Australia about the free sites that are so popular here in England.
"Australians are a suspicious lot so it’s great to hear when people are finding the site a great help and it's also great to see the growth both in traffic and listings, I get a surge of excitement when a new milestone is reached – how I get my thrills :)"

TRISTAN’S recent thrills have included the lodging of a record 543 notices in one day on Gumtree Sydney. The milestone has come late this month.
He says Gumtree hopes to open its Australian headquarters next year in Sydney.
"Since the introduction of the Australian Gumtree sites two years ago growth has been quite consistent but has exploded recently as more and more people are discovering this free tool to find flatmates, sell their unwanted goods, find work or even advertise community events," Tristan says.
"Gumtree.com was founded by two English guys who worked in the Banking Industry for many years.
"Their jobs took them to many different cities around the world (including both spending many years in Australia) and the one thing they found was that it was always difficult to locate and get in touch with like-minded people in a foreign city.
"They returned to London and launched Gumtree.com as ‘an online community website for Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans’.
"Since then the site has grown to become ‘London's online community’ for all nationalities, as well as launch many local regional sites around the UK and abroad.
"The five Australian Gumtree sites – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth – were launched in 2004.
"All of the Gumtree sites are run from our London Gumtree office by the Gumtree team (see pic) and three of us work on the Aussie sites."

THE Australian Gumtree sites claim a daily total of more than 1,100,000 page views and 24,000 unique visitors.
Early in November they logged more than 700 new ads a day, up from 350 in August.
It is easy to understand why the mainstream publishers, some belatedly, have been scratching their clawholds into this sort of market.
Gumtree is just one significant players in a momentous market battle. The Goliaths stood aside at first to watch small independent operators do all the hard yards in development.
Then, the big boys shouldered their way through the herd to gulp around the trough.
Competition and diversity undoubtedly brings benefits of choice but, if the technology and drive eventually concentrate into fewer hands, people with ideas and commitments to their communities of interest may shrug and say, "We are up against big money here, what’s the use?"
In any discussion of classified advertising, respect must be paid to the publishers who started it all on paper and keep the presses rolling, despite the overhead costs being higher than those online.
Even the keenest online devotee must recognise that a big chunk of readership still likes to get its classified advertising on paper, but the world is changing.
It also must be said that the success stories in the new order will come from the user-friendliness of the sites.
Consumers, accustomed to generations of "voting with their feet" and turning the page, are already voting with their fingers and clicking through the options.

The entire Gumtree team features in the picture. From left, back row:
Andrew Hunter (Aussie Gumtree), Sophy Silver, David Edwards, Doug Monro, Mark Gibson (Aussie Gumtree), Phil Chambers and Mark Riley. Front: Emma Lovell, Tristan Greenacre (Aussie Gumtree), David Walsh, Magdalena Marczak, Laura Caldecott, Sonia Dhamrait, Angela Moore and Jennifer O'Connor.

Mary Poppins meets Bob Dylan on windy day

IT is more than 40 years, my friends, since musical poet Bob Dylan found his answer blowin’ in the wind.
But the gusts at Birkdale on a recent spring day actually posed a question for a local woman, 81, during her daily walk.
Who owns the umbrella that she found caught on a post?
The brolly could not have fallen into better hands as it blew around the Mary Pleasant Drive area.
The finder placed a free notice in our classifieds, saying simply, "Found, blowing in the wind, 1 lovely umbrella …"
Knowing the value of a good umbrella, not only for protection against the rain and sun but also for support, she is disappointed no one called.
She says the brolly is more like a parasol than a traditional umbrella but, like her own umbrella, it has a sturdy construction and wooden handle so it can serve as a walking stick.
"They call me ‘Mary Poppins’ around here because I always carry an umbrella," she says. "I walk 3km a day and I think my muscles, rather than my bones, are holding me together.
"I must have looked pretty eccentric that day carrying two umbrellas."
The Rockhampton-born octogenarian, who has lived on the bayside for about three decades, has Meniere’s disease, which affects her balance, and she recently learned she has "the bones of a 90-year-old" because of osteoporosis.
A widow since her marine engineer husband died in 1980, she appreciates her privacy but likes to talk about the shipboard romance that blossomed on the Shaw Savill cruise liner Largs Bay in 1950 and the 1951 marriage that produced six children.
"I am a bit disappointed that they have given me only six grandchildren," she says.
"I have a younger friend who is a great-great-grandmother but I haven’t even reached the ‘great’ stage yet."
But back to the umbrella or parasol: I will be happy to take messages from anyone wanting to contact this lovely lady. Call 3409 1275 or email fourjays@bigpond.com.
THIS week is the first anniversary of Classie Corner in the Redlands after a history in regional papers in two states.
The "season" started in the Bayside Bulletin but we soon swapped to the Times, believing stories from the community of classified advertising would better suit the Redland Times magazine format.
On this birthday, I thank the Rural Press decision makers who trusted that the column would help emphasise the reader value of classified advertising, the dozens of Redlanders who have trusted me to document aspects of their lives and the readers who join us each week in "a marvellous community".
See you next week. More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.
(This column appeared yesterday in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia)

Design engineer takes star role

THE high level of community interest in the new Victoria Point cinema complex, now under contruction, put Sheldon resident John House in the limelight after a weekly church meeting.
Members of the group asked when the cinemas would open.
A member of John’s family pointed to the quietly spoken design engineer, who soon became the centre of attention and under siege for a "please explain".
"It was a bit amusing really," John says.
"They didn’t know I was involved in the project and when they did, the message was, ‘Come on, put your back into it and get the job done. We want those cinemas before Christmas’."

THE partner in the Cleveland consultancy Hendriks/House, after receiving a message that apparently came all the way from the top, could happily report that the job was now progressing well and the opening was expected about March.
John said this week the project had required a lot of the expertise he has acquired in 30 years as a design engineer.
"The site was difficult,’ he said.
"It had a history of various types of uses, for instance, for sand extraction as a type of quarry and also, we think, as a concrete-batching plant.
"There was stuff in the ground all over the place, various obstructions, pretty much lumps of concrete, which were broken up and used as fill."

A TEAM comprising John, two structural designers and a civil designer, worked on the nine-cinema complex as part of the Victoria Point Lakeside development of Redlands company Fox and Bell.
Hendriks/House has operated in civil and structural engineering in the Redlands for 13 years, after both partners left another company to start their own business.
The consultancy, with John based at Cleveland and partner Mat Hendriks at Morayfield, has had a long association with Fox and Bell.
The two firms have worked together on projects including the Redlands Bay village about four years ago and, in the late 1990s, the commercial development at Wellington and Shore Streets, Cleveland.

HENDRIKS/House advertised twice this year in our Classifieds for a design engineer to join its team.
The recruitment effort found a qualified engineer almost in the consultancy’s own backyard. Paul De Weger, of Alexandra Hills, joined the Cleveland office in September.
(This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia)

'Orchy' receives refreshment

FEW products manage to claim such a place in the thinking of consumers that a brand name becomes part of the language.
For many years "Orchy" was the Aussie word for orange juice.
The juice that left a Redlands processing plant seeped deeply into the nation’s culture.
Its profile dropped over time due to reduced activity in the marketplace but Orchy is now getting back on the lips of thirsty Australians, thanks to a family from Mudgee, New South Wales.
The Etheringtons, with a 25-year-long heritage in fruit processing through their company, Bevco, bought Orchy and its Thornlands plant in 2004. (Image from http://www.bevco.com.au/)

MANAGING director Larry Etherington and his director-sons, David and Scott, now run a two-state operation with 90 employees and a commitment to keep growing as a truly Australian identity in a climate of foreign influence in the food product sector.
The trio is also determined that Orchy will continue as a hallmark of the Redlands.
The Etheringtons looked at all the options after they bought Orchy and decided to remain in Redlands and keep the things that Orchy has always stood for – quality and Australian ownership.
"Our Orchy team are fantastic and do a great job,” David says.
“They bring significant skills and experience to the Bevco business.
"We've made a significant capital investment to ensure the production facility is up to speed and running efficiently.
"Our plans are to grow the brand and business through continued investment and the assistance of our great team.”

ABOUT 20 people applied recently for two new positions as production workers at the Kinross Road plant, after recruitment through our Classifieds.
David says the mission to regain Orchy’s former market profile is a challenge that he looks forward to.
Research shows that Australians aged over 30 are still likely to use "Orchy" as their name for that orange thirst quencher, leaving lots of scope for coordinated marketing through various population sectors.
The plant’s 100% juice products include not only orange juice in a star role but also pineapple, blackcurrant, apple, mango and passionfruit, which has long been Orchy’s best seller.
It also produces a range of fruit drinks, spring water and other ancillary lines.
Most of the fruit comes from Narromine and Griffith in New South Wales and Mackay in Queensland, thankfully without critical shortages from the drought.
(This column has appeared in the Rural Press newspaper, The Redland Times, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia).

A day in the life of a guitar

THE picture shows what may be one of the world’s rarest guitar brands. A Google search today for the name, "ColTone", returned only one guitar reference. It was for "original 60s ColTone bass guitar" at $59.
The item has since been removed from ebay, so a research stream ran dry.
My ColTone two-pickup solid came from a garage sale just a few years ago.
The vendor, who looked to be in his 50s, said he had owned it since he was a kid.
The guitar is similar to my first electric, an Ibanez two-pickup solid, which I bought, also in the 1960s, through classified advertising in the Launceston Examiner.
The full story appears on my new blog, adayinthelifeofaguitar.

Tennis court heads for 'white light'

WHEN rat-race refugee Helen Van Bladeren arrived in the Redlands about 15 years ago, she had no idea she would eventually be responsible for demolition of a tennis court.
With a mission to bring up two daughters well away from Sydney’s social pressures, Helen was more interested in mothering than looking into the future.
This is not unusual but Helen may be expected to do a little crystal-ball gazing. She is a clairvoyant but does not read the future.
Her gift is relating messages from those who have "passed over".
That’s about it: No promises, no predictions, just the comfort of contact, which Helen says helps many in grief’s grip.
The term, "passed over", means the deceased are in a peaceful state that Helen defines as "white light". The opposite is "earthbound" for those who have not reached the light. Helen has no contact with them.
She first knew of her gift when about five years old.
"I used to see spirits and talk in other languages," she says. "I remember getting into trouble for not talking properly.
"But there is none of that now. I have a counselling-like approach. To me, it is like a thought pattern and I relate that back to the people."
The tennis court features here because it is on a Boundary Road, Thornlands, property where Helen operates The Redlands Creative Centre to focus on natural healing.
She looked into hiring out the court but found insurance costs were too high. Callers swamped her last year after she offered "free tennis court" through our Classifieds.
Helen was then occupied planning the centre’s expansion and missed the opportunity to see the synthetic surface worth thousands of dollars grow legs and walk away.
Again, the court’s days are numbered, with a tea house and outlet for herbs and natural products planned for the site. Watch the Times and Bulletin Classifieds for the court offer.
In our Natural Therapies column, Helen has announced the centre "makeover", offering studio space for photography, yoga, pilates, personal training, workshops and seminars, and rooms for acupuncture, massage, reiki, reflexology, chinese medicine, counselling and psychology.
A fashion party plan is also getting under way.
More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.
(This column appeared in the Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia)

Community finds a focus

The wonders of the internet … The April 9 post recalling Classie Corner’s attempt to find the best "stayer" in the secondhand fridge market – in other words, the most dependable – found its way on to a site called www.encyklopedi.net/topic/Norge.html .
Every so often I do a search to see who is using the copy and how, and get some interesting results. It is really amazing to sit here on an island in beautiful Moreton Bay and create interest in Classie Corner from as far as Europe.
The concept of blogging about the marvellous community of classified advertising has also created a lot of interest in the United States.
Links I have posted on the US free sites are used quite regularly, according to the usage reports they send.

IT was also satisfying to see the Google Ad links for my last post relate to classified advertising rather than the many subjects that Classie Corner touches.
The marvellous community of classified advertising indeed is on a high plane with me blogging for such an assortment of interests. This must be a career highlight for any journalist. After reporting from three state parliaments, courts of all levels up to Supreme, 23 local councils in three States, murders, floods, fires ... Nothing surely could match the credits that appears at the right of this page.
What the hell, just have a look yourself. Over the next day or so I will post a great little story fresh from the marvellous community.

Just mouthing off about the Classies

NOTHING gives me more pleasure than writing about the marvellous community of classified advertising.
Well, maybe one or two other activities are "up there" on my grinometer.
The grinometer is a handy tool in the cut and thrust of the modern culture of political correctness.
It works not only internally on movement of the mixed muscles that operate the smooth tissue around the mouth but also gives a barometer-like measure of lip pressure within range of two optical scanners.
The probabilities range from genuine humour in all its teeth-flashing glory to the dark clouds of sarcasm and upward pressure on the cheek tissue.
Intermediary categories include irony, courtesy and drunk as a skunk.
However, operators need a high level of training – a lifetime, in fact – to distinguish between the visual subtleties of, say, a "saw-you-coming" putdown and a "pleased-to-meet-you" uplift.
That is why the grinometer comes with a full range of optional accessories, including:
Flexible rubber-look stereo audio pick-ups with a swivelling capacity in selected models;
Multi-function sound card hooked to two in-ports and output device with variable volume and tone;
Five-digit sensor to test handshakes; and
Olfactory sensor for use in difficult cases.
The grinometer connects to any standard CPU but requires minimum specifications such as sense of humor and healthy scepticism.
Which all leads to promise more humour on this site in future. Today, the image file, below, reflects on the importance of classified advertising in people’s lives. Click on the image then use the expand button to get a readable size.

Urban water savers, Part 2

THE drought is worsening. Water sources are running dry over much of the Australian continent. The rural sector, long accustomed to coping with drought, is running scared.
A report this week in the Rural Press newspaper, Queensland Country Life, said the record numbers of sheep through Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre was solid evidence of the drought’s severity.
The centre continued to set record yardings as farmers offloaded stock rather than feed them through another dry summer. The weekly record stood at 67,000 after a massive six-week sell-off.
In the urban context, we are told virtually every day this region, south-east Queensland, is on the brink of a catastrophic water shortage. Politicians, planners, scientists and experts from many disciplines are looking for solutions.
A few weeks ago Classie Corner presented the first of a series on home water savers from the marvellous community of classified advertising.
Today, part two, also comes from the Redland Times, another Rural Press title. Water watchers aside, media watchers may note the report in The Australian today about some interesting activity in Rural Press shares. I hope the buyer is not the Irish invader.
Now, back to water …

THE warnings about south-east Queensland’s dwindling water supply prompted retired plumber Norm Thompson to use a bore he had left idle since he moved to his Victoria Point home about two decades ago.
Now, after recommisioning the bore that "came with" the Colburn Avenue address, Norm admits he should have bought a pump many years earlier.
"The water tastes good," he says. "I sent it to a laboratory to be tested, and it’s good to drink or do whatever you want with it.
"I don’t know why more people around here don’t have bores. There’s a hell of a lot of water down there. Right here, there’s about two metres of it, about 10 metres down."
The hook-up was not all plain sailing, however, for even an old hand with pipes and pumps.
A few months ago, Norm, 68, bought privately a pump that the vendor assured him suited the task but expert advice later was that the pump was unsuitable for depths greater than seven metres.
Norm bought another. That is why our Classifieds featured a four-impeller Pump Easy unit, "as new with manual" for $350.
The lack of response to the For Sale notice has puzzled Norm in view of the continuing publicity for the drought.
He received only a few calls during three weeks of advertising, even though he says the price is several hundred dollars cheaper than that of a new pump.
Norm says his bore, which was sunk about 45 years ago, is a reminder of the recently "suburbanised" area’s rural heritage.
"It was all paddocks and bush around here," he says. "You would never have thought we’d have two Woolworths and a picture theatre down the road."
"But it’s not all bad. I use the facilities and I reckon they’re fantastic."
Pending the opening of the new Victoria Point cinemas, went to Loganholme this week to see the new Aussie flick, Kenny.
" Kenny is a plumber – he puts in portable toilets for the Melbourne Cup, shows and that sort of thing," Norm says. "It’s hilarious, especially if you are a plumber, I guess."
Norm, by the way, helped about 15 years ago to found the social golf club, The Hackers, on the nine-hole Coochiemudlo course.
He had a break from the administration after serving in most positions but he says he is now starting to get involved again and playing off a handicap of 16.

Classie Corner readers or indeed any classified advertising users with home water-saving products or ideas are welcome to send me a report for publication on this website. Use as many words as you wish and cap off the package with a low-load Jpeg, even if it is of just your own face. Even bores are allowed to take advantage of this free offer.

Bayside welcomes mum, daughter

CLEVELAND on beautiful Moreton Bay (picture from more2redlands.com.au) triumphed over some choice mediterranean addresses after Aussie ex-pat Beverly Dowell looked for a change from her longterm UK base.
"I looked at a map, thought that would be nice and here we are," she said.
A compelling family reason, however, was the ultimate decider of Beverly's new home.
"My mum went into a nursing home and I came here to live with her and look after her," Beverly said.
"I am fortunate to be able to do it and we rub along well together.
"She's much happier now."
Her mum, Charlotte Torvell, is Queensland born but, like Beverly, is new to the Redlands.
Beverly grew up in Sydney. In 1972 she headed for the United States where she lived for six years before crossing the Atlantic.
The United Kingdom was her base for 27 years and she developed a deep love of European culture and antiques.
Meanwhile, most of her family were "drifting up to Queensland".
Beverly enjoyed time in Italy and France, but her antique focus stayed British to the core.
She studied English antiques from the 16th to 20th centuries at Cambridge University.
"Down under" for the past year, she undoubtedly misses the connection with such a long heritage.
However, she is pleased to have found a pleasant area near the ocean, a major criterion during her map gazing.
Has she had any disappointments with Cleveland?
"None. It's nice to be back in the sunshine and I can see my nephews and neices growing up and I did miss that."
Beverly, however, has become a television "culture vulture" who enjoys watching the news in other languages.
She can even list the daily foreign bulletins in order - Italian, German, Spanish and French - and she surprises herself by understanding "little bits".
"There is such a great mixture in Europe," she said.
"I miss a lot of it."
In the UK last year, Beverly bought a complete Italian language course to prepare for a possible shift to Italy.
She decided a few weeks ago to advertise the Linguaphone course for sale at $125, citing the new value at $300.
"It has everything you need – tapes, videos and text books – and has never been used," she said.
"I thought that I should allow someone to get some use of it."
(This column has appeared in the Redland Times, Queensland, Australia).

THE image of spooks from government, quasi-government and all sorts of private agencies tickling the search engines in a twist on George Orwell's vision in Nineteen-Eighty-Four (Classie Corner, September 23) has prompted an interesting analysis.
My post told how an insurance company had opened an official investigation into the affairs of a northern New South Wales man after finding his name on this site in a column from the Classie Corner archives.
BayJournal.com.au publisher Lee Shipley, a veteran of the Australian IT industry, boils down the issues to trust and the responsibilities of governments to protect the privacy of individuals.

THE search problem. Remember that every commercial aircraft design is based on a military project. What you see in Google today is declassified top-secret military or espionage software that was being used a decade or more ago.
Try the word "echelon" in the search engines and see what you get -- lots of conspiracy theory but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

THE Wikipedia entry gives a level-headed assessment. The hardware and software for putting together the electronic transmission of all kinds into a surveillance whole is possible but the incompetence of most spy organisations is breathtaking.
How exactly did, with all the sophisticated gear that they had, did the twin towers occur? Incompetence at every level.
1984 is technically feasible but not practical: Our spies always look for the wrong things in the wrong places.
The US counter intelligence people were looking for Reds not Jihadists. Churchill was more worried about the Reds than Hitler between the two World Wars.
The stance should never be "I have not done anything wrong and so have nothing to fear." Instead we should be asking what right do others, particularly corporations or governments, have to pry and then accuse. How can you possibly know what may or may not be considered wrong at any one time?
We have principles, now being flouted by Government, about retrospective laws. We have privacy legislation that is regularly being ignored by companies.
"Man, proud man, drest in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he's most assur d..."

FROM this we need protection in the same way as we need protection from burglars, rapists or loonies carrying AK47s.
Granted the potential of much of the software available now for surveillance we have much to fear from those driven by greed. But the answer is not in banning such software but in disciplining those who would us it against us.
Insurance companies need to be halted by statutes of limitation, police prevented from having the automatic right to listen to all conversations without warrants, tax information not given out to private companies, spammers threatened with prosecution and ... You see what I mean.

THE key resource that has enabled us to build our civilisation has not been, as many think, capital.
It is trust. Insurance companies, for example, only exist because enough people trust them to pay out if something goes wrong.
Lloyds famed acceptance of its liabilities for the loss of a vessel after only a verbal agreement had an enormous impact in creating the insurance market in the UK.
Every day we need trust and take account of its value. A camera, for example, can command a better price if it carries an Australian warranty.
We cross bridges, fly in aeroplanes and buy kilos of peanuts by trust. That is civilisation --
where trust is high, where people live without fear, where we work together in free association we thrive.
Trust, not God, enables modern large-scale government to stay in power.
Despite protestations to the contrary, we trust our politicians to do the right thing.
My observation during the last state election in Queensland is that the majority of voters in my own electorate elected the candidate they believed they could most trust.

WHAT the pollies have to decide is how to maintain that trust. Not just in themselves but in the society as a whole.
Otherwise civil disobedience will rise above the normal dull roar of criminal activity and see wide spread break down in order.
If you rent a house, an important clause in the contract is that you will have "quiet enjoyment". This means that you will not be subject to spot checks without notice or be watched.
Humans just do not thrive otherwise so we build it into basic principles and laws of our country. But we have not yet learned how to contain the new technologies.
Steps have been made in the right direction. The privacy legislation enacted a few years ago were a good attempt.
The anti-spam legislation and faltering attempts to rein in the use of mailing lists are slowly starting to bite. And this just goes to remind us how difficult and fragile this trust may be.

FOOTNOTE: The full Shakespearean quotation is :"Man, proud man, drest in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he's most assur d, glassy essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make the angels weep." Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene 2.
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