Roofer on run in wet season

The following column appeared in The Redland Times late February: Image of the tunnel run courtesy www.clem7.com.au/

THE wet season drags on. Those with ageing roofs pray we can get through another few weeks without the sight and sound of drips coming through the ceiling and hitting the floor, presenting one of the most horrific experiences of 'householding'.

Despite the many days of grey clouds and showers, Redland City roofs seem so far this year to be coping pretty well.

Luckily, by yesterday morning at least, we have missed the severe storms that quickly show up the faults 'up top' and keep roof repairers busy.

Victoria Point roof and guttering maintenance contractor Jason Dahler, who trades as Weatherite Enterprises, says business has been steady and he has been grateful for a pretty laidback wet season.

JASON has enjoyed his weekends this year, with sons Lachlan, 13, and Joshua, 11, playing cricket with Faith Lutheran College. The college plays in The Associated Schools (TAS) competitions, so Jason, his wife, Sara, and their daughter, Isobel, 7, have been on the sidelines of many fields around South East Queensland. A drive to Warwick is on the Dahler agenda this Saturday. On Sunday Jason, Sara and Lachlan will compete in the Clem7 Tunnel Run, part of an open day at Bowen Hills celebrating the latest addition to SEQ's transport infrastructure. The Dahlers certainly have an athletic focus; the family has had membership of Bayside Runners for some years. Jason admits that after a hard week's work he usually leaves it to Sara to contest the longer events.

THE trio obviously looks forward to joining thousands on Sunday in the 10km run, which will start and finish at the Bowen Hills tunnel entrance. Some athletes apparently have worried about the tunnel's suitability for such an event. The run website lists among FAQs: "Will it be humid or uncomfortable in the tunnel? Conditions inside the tunnel are dependent on conditions outside the tunnel. There are a number of jet fans inside the tunnel which will be operating to keep air flowing ... Participants will enjoy shade for most of the event. The only areas where participants will be running outside is at the start, at the turn-around point (at Woolloongabba) and at the end of the race."

A LATE-summer downpour should not have much effect on these runners, as Brisbane's new pride and joy doubles as a gigantic covered stadium.If the heavens open and Jason gets an emergency call for a roof repair he'll simply have to say, "Sorry, I'm too busy -- I'm being run off my feet."

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

Guitarist keeps presto pace

Image courtesy of www.visibleink.org/sam-sheperd/

A BUSY year is shaping up for Victoria Point musician Sam Shepherd. The award-winning guitarist has found himself in demand for some important gigs, marking the 10th anniversary of his first major public performance.

Sam was only four years old when he started learning the guitar from his dad, Gary, and at age 11 he was on a camp with his Victoria Point Primary School Year 5 class when a talent contest gave him the opportunity to show his skills.

"It was a turning point for me," Sam says. "That was when I decided I would like to make a career of playing the guitar. I liked the applause.

"The pupils of that class are now turning 21. Sam already has that key, and looking at his calendar he notes that a run on 21st birthdays is on his 2010 schedule.

THE past 10 years have cemented Sam's place as a mainstay of guitar in the Redlands. He obtained a Certificate in Music from Alexandra Hills TAFE and in 2005 was the National Young Jazz/Blues Guitarist of the Year at the Frankston International Guitar Festival in Victoria, competing against dozens of older guitarists, including some with conservatorium credits.

In 2009, he graduated with a Bachelor of Popular Music Degree from Griffith University. He has performed at the Grafton Arts Festival, the Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival, the Redlands Bluegrass Convention, and at Tamworth, and he opened the second Celebration of Guitar Concert in Brisbane in 2006, playing alongside internationally renowned Australian fingerstyle guitarist Michael Fix, US session guitarist Louie Shelton and Australian singer-songwriter Peter Cupples.

SAM has also performed many times on stage as lead guitarist for Cupples. Sam's 'bio' sheet quotes Cupples as saying, "He's as dedicated as anyone I've ever known", studio guitarist Kirk Lorange (“Sam is well on his way to being one of the greats”) and Fix ("He undoubtedly possesses amazing skills"). The sheet promotes Sam's first album of mostly original music, while previewing another album for release this year, and his internet presence, www.myspace.com/samshepherdmusic.

SAM has conducted many guitar workshops. He has about 15 students at his home studio and also teaches at Victoria Point and Redland Bay Primary Schools. His notice in the Classifieds Training & Tuition column says, "Play guitar today!" and promises immediate results without "boring scales and exercises". After all, that's the way his dad taught him -- and it worked.

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

US loses grip on line-dance lasso

THE romance between Australia and the US seems to keep growing stronger but surprisingly one 'very American' pastime has been losing its cultural stranglehold.

Line dancing, the partner-less style that lonesome cowboys are credited with devising around their campfires on the prairies, has broken some of its country-and-western domination.

Ormiston line-dancer Liz Keenan makes this point when talking about the classes she holds at the Donald Simpson Centre and Redlands RSL Club, Cleveland.

"NOWADAYS, while American country music is still very popular we dance to any type of music whatsover, whether it be from Michael Buble or any of the other popular performers," Liz says. "There is still the country but not as much. Line dancing has changed; the music is extremely varied now."

Liz was born in Ireland and lived in the US for four years but she did not see any line dancing until she lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1990s.

She took up line-dancing after moving to Queensland about 12 years ago and saw a notice for classes at the Thornlands Dance Palais. She has been the head teacher with Emerald Line Dancers for the past three years.

"A LOT of the modern influences come from the choreographers in England but we have a lot of good Australian choreographers too -- like Gordon Elliott from Sydney and Jan Wyllie from Hervey Bay," Liz says.

"The internet has played a role, with sites like YouTube allowing us all to see what others are doing around the world, and there are also some good line-dancing sites."

Liz says the Donald Simpson Centre classes each Monday draw about 35 regular dancers. "It's extremely beneficial for anyone aged from nine to 90 as it exercises the mind as well as the body," she says.

"You start by learning the sequence but every dance is different - it's exercise, fun and social."

OLDER dancers sometimes take their grandchildren to the classes but many like the independence of "just being able to come along without worrying about a partner or anyone else", she says.

"Our oldest dancer was Grace Mitchell, who passed away last year at 92 years old," Liz says. "She stopped dancing less than nine months before she died.

"Age has no bearing on line dancing."Although the American form of line dancing started its march around the world in the 1980s, earlier forms of folk dancing are acknowledged as playing a part in the evolution of the style.Liz welcomes new dancers and advertises beginners' groups in the Classifieds Training & Tuition column.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. More stories at classiecorner.blogspot.com. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/clipart/results.aspx?qu=computer&sc=20

Looking for life-rafts in cyberspace

THE oldies who refused to use automatic teller machines and personal computers could be having the last laugh nowadays.

The eager brains behind the computing culture once labelled as a "Luddite" anyone who dared to question their passion for technology, with the term inferring a primitive attitude and rejection of change.

The original Luddites in England in the 1800s went on rampages destroying machinery during the Industrial Revolution. But through the entire march of technology at least some fear and suspicion is justified.

As time has passed, technology has bred maybe millions of evil geniuses who devise schemes such as the latest fake ATM card reader to milk accounts, viruses that destroy the intellectual property of countless computer users and other scams, or 'techno-tricks'.

Add the crashes that turn the dreams of computing into nightmares and many must feel the world without computers wasn't so bad.

But there's no going back, and we can be grateful that at least on the PC front help is available from the Classifieds' Computer column, where Jenny and Peter Sharp, of A Class PC Service, Cleveland, are long-time regulars.

Peter started working on computers 20 years ago as a hobby. Friends turned to him to fix their breakdowns and about five years later he had a part-time business, which led to fulltime trading as A Class PC Service since January 1997.

Jenny, with a business degree specialising in information technology, worked in the IT sector and spent four years in management with an international software development company before she joined Peter full time in 2003.

"Within six months of this, we moved our business, originally from our home, to our current business premises at South Street – and we have not looked back since," Jenny says.

"In addition we now have two other technicians. Our business is built on a high level of service and honesty."

She says the couple has advertised each week in the Classifieds for almost 13 years."We always have a fantastic response rate with our local paper advertising, and find that around 30pc of all our new customers come from the local paper, around 30pc from customer referrals and the remainder from various other advertising sources," she says.

The firm has been busy helping victims of one of the latest techno-tricks, scareware, which Jenny says has been disrupting and even paralysing internet browsing. She will email a fact sheet on request (Jenny@aclasspc.com.au).

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/clipart/results.aspx?qu=computer&sc=20

Holiday reading in Classifieds 'back editions'

Image of Fellomonger Park from http://www.epa.qld.gov.au

IF it's old, knock it down. That seems to have been the mindset of many Australians through much of our national history.

In Queensland, our noses are continually rubbed in the sins of past eras – notably, the loss of buildings with heritage value decades ago during the Bjelke-Petersen crane-counting regime.

Older readers will recall how, during the development boom of the 1980s, then premier Sir Joh measured the success of his leadership by the number of cranes he could see on the city skyline.

THAT wasn't all bad. But it left some long-mourned casualties and deep scars in the Queensland identity. When the metropolitan news editors scramble to fill space and time slots during the "silly season", they seem to simply assign the relatively easy task of yet another post mortem on a couple of the demolitions.
An episode of such "file vision" appeared during my holiday reading, which did not relate to Redland City Council's "10 hottest books in the Redlands this summer".

While the library and its devotees celebrated the words of list topper Bryce Courtenay's The story of Danny Dunn, back issues of the Classifieds provided my inspiring and relaxing read.

A PUBLIC Notice in the Times in September yielded an intriguing glimpse into the Redlands' colonial history, with the Department of Environment and Resource Management announcing Queensland Heritage Council decisions to add two local sites to the heritage register.

The sites are the Ormiston Fellmongery, Fellmonger Park, Ormiston, and Cleveland No.1 Cemetery at Lisa and Scott Streets.

The department's website has well-written detail on both sites, and answers one of the key questions: "The process of fellmongering appears in the early 1850s in the Moreton Bay region. A different process to wool scouring, fellmongering processed sheepskins in order to remove the wool in preparation for tanning. The wool was washed and dried, and the skins were processed into leather."
The documented history is fascinating. Browsers can almost hear the convict's chains clinking.

SO, I did learn quite a bit from my holiday reading, thanks to the Classifieds. For those more interested in the highbrow, here are the other books in the library's top 10: I, Alex Cross, by James Patterson; Nine Dragons, by Michael Connelly; The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown; The Silent Country by Di Morrissey; Maralinga, by Judy Nunn; Mao's Last Dancer, by Cunxin Li; The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes; The Five Greatest Warriors, by Matthew Reilly; and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, by Stieg Larsson.
Great books – I can appreciate that. But for me, the Classifieds will always win. They show the culture of our lives and times as well as any blockbuster novel.

This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Two words that mean a lot

This column appeared in The Redland Times just before Christmas 2009.

TWO special words are the chorus of the day at this time of year. They will reach a crescendo in exactly one week from today.
"Thank" and "you" undoubtedly should be not only on the lips but also on the minds of everyone year round.
Sometimes, we don't manage to verbalise this important sentiment for some reason or excuse like laryngitis or emotional paralysis, so Christmas is always a great occasion to get square with your conscience.
Classie Corner, dedicated to the great people in the marvellous comunity of classified advertising, has just started its fifth year in The Redland Times.
WITH the mighty press to cool a little as the sun sets on 2009, my thanks must go to the Times team – including Brian Hurst and Julie Burton – that allows space for this column and presents it for the readers.
Thank you, too to all who have featured in Classie Corner during 2009. As I have lamented previously, much of my records disappeared in a mid-year computer disk crash, so when I moved to identify all the deserving parties I set a laborious task of combing through remnant files.
For this reason I ask for the forgiveness of anyone who takes umbrage at omission from the following:

Amy Dakin; Angela and Kent Griffin; Barbara and Tony Wills; Barry Crocker; Barry McKenzie; Bob and Diane Metcalfe; Bob Possingham; Brian Forsyth; Brendon Prior;
Carole Oliphant; Carol Sefton; Charles Neophytou; Christina Mayor; Col and Kay McInnes ; Danny Mayers; Debra and Gordon Kuss; Denton Wade; Elizabeth Bigges; Elvis Presley; Emma, Reuben and Eathan Baker; Gary Wheeler; George Frideric Handel; Graham Josefki; Graham Easterbrook; Horace; Inge Drake; Jack Sim; Jan D’Arcy; Jesus; Jim White; John Gallon; Karen Struthers; Katrina Goldsworthy; Les McDonaugh; Liz Hall-Downs; Margaret and John Sullivan; Mary and Ross Gibb; Merv Alley; Mervyn Moriarty; Neville Wright; Nicole Bennett; Norman Purse; Norm Taylor; Patricia and Ross Harris; Paul Dobbyn; Paul Truscott; Peter Lawrence; Ray and Cherry Norris; Rebecca Dunn; Rod Johnson; Santo Coco; Sheryl Daley; Sheryl Galbraith; Stan Lewis; Steve and Evelyn Rae; Stiven Jakovich; Trent Cowan; Trevor and Helen Ehrlich; Wayne Adair; Wayne and Ella Fullard; Wendy Gardner. Special mention to the late Bill Orr and the late Glenn Prior.

To all on this list, thanks again. And to everyone, my best wishes for a merry Christmas and a very happy new year.

More about lady in white dress

Image: Historical picture of the old courthouse that is now a restaurant and function centre. See www.courthouserestaurant.com.au.

THE "lady in the white dress" is set for a starring role as author Jack Sim painstakingly researches for a new book.

The lady is known as "Elizabeth" – and Sim says she gave him one of his closest encounters with a ghost during his two decades of researching the supernatural.

Elizabeth featured in Classie Corner this year in a report about a 'freshening up' at The Old Courthouse Restaurant, Cleveland.

Restaurant properietor Mary Gibb told how a district landowner and publican, Francis Bigges, built the courthouse in 1853.

WHEN Mary and husband Ross bought the restaurant about 10 years ago, they were told it had a resident ghost, Elizabeth, Bigges’ wife.

"One day I was on the phone to a friend and she floated past me," Mary said. "She had short dark hair and a long white dress; she floated across and through the wall after she seemed to give a nod of approval."

Sim believes he also saw Elizabeth some years ago when he conducted a "ghost tour". He was with a guest who was taking a picture inside the restaurant when "we both saw a shimmer of light and movement near the door to the verandah".

"When we looked again we both think we saw the image of a piece of cloth vaguely in the shape of a person," he says. "It moved about two feet and then vanished."

Sim says he has found reports of the courthouse ghost in newspapers dating from the 1960s and indicating that sightings were made at least as 50 years before that.

ELIZABETH is among the 13 Redland ghosts that the author, who specialises in true crime and ghost stories, is documenting. He will talk about them on "an evening with Jack Sim" at Victoria Point Libraryon Thursday, December 17, from 6 to 7.

Over the past four years, Sim, who is is the publisher of the Murder Trails, Ghost Trails and the Boggo Road Gaol series, has completed 10 titles, including Haunted Brisbane: Ghosts of the River City and The Ghosts of Toowong Cemetery: Brisbane's Necropolis. The work in progress is titled Haunted Redlands.

SOME consider losing all your computerised records in a disk failure as an unpardonable error. I am weary of hearing, "Why didn't you back it up, silly." But the real pain comes from the loss of contact details of people who have contributed this column during its four years in the Redlands. Could those who have shared their lives in these dozens of columns please email me so I can reinstate your addresses in my now empty book? Tell me how you are going and what you are doing now and I'll be happy to share it with others in the marvellous community of classified advertising. Email: fourjays@bigpond.com

Thanks for joining me in the community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia.

How AMP man gave sunbeams to many

THE atmosphere was 'electric' throughout Australia on the morning of June 15, 1998. Throughout the nation, people were keeping one ear on the radio, one eye on the television and logging onto news websites.
In the newsrooms, we were doing all this and more, continually checking the agency news services, lining up interviews with financial analysts and moving to identify the beneficiaries of one of the most significant trading days in the history of the Australian share market.
It was easy filling the next day's news pages with the twists and turns relating to that first day's trading in AMP stocks after the demutualisation and subsequent sharemarket listing of the nation's 'iconic' insurance group delivered share issues to 1.6 million people.

SOME who had invested with AMP over decades through their insurances received issues that potentially were worth as much as Lotto wins. But there were also small windfalls galore for others who had simply taken out basic insurances.
The AMP Prospectus relating to the listing estimated the base share price between $12.50 and $16. On that first heady day, it rose and kept rising to peak momentarily over $40 and close in the low $20s.
Even for those who missed that sort of profit, the shares -- despite subsequent devaluation in comparison with day one -- remained a valuable, albeit unexpected, reward for loyality to a truly Australian service company.
The AMP share issue, in fact, changed people's lives.

IN the Redlands on that winter morning 11 years ago, one heart must have beat at least a little faster as Bill Orr, then aged 78, monitored the breaking news.
Bill, who had retired after a long career with AMP, was delighted that he had paved the way for dozens, perhaps hundreds, to benefit in the nation's biggest share 'giveaway', his daughter, Katrina Goldsworthy, recalls.
It was a fantastic post-career highlight for the World War II pilot who became an AMP agent in Tamworth in 1963 and moved to Brisbane the next year. Bill moved to Buderim in 1981 and to Ormiston in '86.
Within a month of the AMP listing, however, Bill and his family suffered the tragedy of the death of his wife of 52 years, Millie.

BILL died at age 89 on November 18. His funeral service heard of Sydney-born Bill's rich life, including how he skilfully bellylanded "his beloved Mosquito" aircraft during a reconnaissance flight to Borneo.
Bill Orr was remembered as a loving father of three, grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of two. The younger generations called him "Big Bill".
The service heard that William Leslie Orr, also known by some as "WL", would sing a line, “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam”, from an old children's hymn, and his private and professional lives underscored that happy spirit.

Thanks for joining me in the community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia.

How to save your tax records

Image from http://www.brisvegasremovals.com.au

THE dreaded task of moving house can push normally placid people 'over the top'.
No one knows this better than the removalists who deal with some 'testy' tempers. A mate working in the field once told me removalists must be on the lowest rung of the social scale, a conclusion that followed countless denigratory lectures.
He was fed up with copping blame for scratches that his crew had not inflicted and for 'missing' items that could not possibly have even been loaded.

WITH this in mind during my last move, I greeted the removalists with a warning: "I want to tell you blokes one thing ..." Their faces showed a here-we-go-again gloominess.
"My possessions require special handling." By this time one bloke rocked from foot to foot and the other had turned his face toward the heavens as if to ask God to shut me up.
"Some boxes contain my tax records and I require you to lose them." We all had a good laugh and worked happily together throughout that demanding day.
When I told this yarn to Wayne Adair, a longtime specialist in relocation services, he quickly asked: "Did they lose the boxes for you?" Unfortunately, they didn't.
Wayne knows the value of a sense of humour on Move Day. He started in transport administration with big companies as soon as he left school after growing up mainly in the Wynnum area and has specialised in relocation management for most of the past decade.

IN partnership with Brisbane couple Steve and Evelyn Rae, Wayne has been working hard on their business, the Wacol-based BrisVegas Removals.
In 2007, the partners bought the then 35-year-old Redland firm, Bayside Removals. To complete the Redland link, Wayne, his wife Kellie and their daughters Aneka, 4, and Isla, 2, spend much time at their Macleay Island "weekender".
Wayne appreciates the "laidback island lifestyle" after his busy weeks managing a fleet of 10 trucks. BrisVegas employs 26 staff and sends the trucks, ranging from 13-metre pantechs to a semi-trailer, through the eastern States.
BrisVegas and Bayside Removals promise to "ensure your move is smooth and stress free".

"WE'RE here to help you make moving as easy as possible," the firm's mission statement says. "We are a reliable and friendly removal service. We pride ourselves on offering exellent customer services, backed up with the skills and knowledge."
They even "can arrange the entire move" from packing to relocating pets, cleaning, pest control, carpet cleaning, unpacking and making the beds.
In case you are wondering, the statement says nothing about tax records.

Thanks for joining me to meet 'the people behind the notices' that appear your local paper. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia.

Family funds jewellery sales

TWO pleasant surprises have meant a happy spring 2009 at the Capalaba house that Patricia and Ross Harris have called 'home' for the past three decades.
The Harrises have had many happy times at the Sutphin Street address where they have lived since August, 1977, just five months after their marriage. A lot of laughter and joy would echo around any family home for a couple and their three daughters.
Patricia was working in medical records at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and Ross in car sales when they tied the knot in March that year.
They had an early setback when the company employing Ross ran into financial difficulties but he soon found a job with an industrial packaging company and is still in the same field with another company.

THE couple had a daughter, Rebecca, in 1981, and another daughter, Melissa, in 1985. Their third daughter, Vanessa, was born in 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary.
Now, more about the fantastic quinella that has featured in the Classifieds in Melbourne Cup week, 2009. Patricia had organised an engagement notice for Melissa, when Rebecca called from Western Australia to say she was also getting engaged.
The result has been back-to-back notices honouring this special time for the family.
"I am so excited," says Mum. "I think it's lovely to put it in the paper."
This shows the great heritage of publishing that local papers such as the Times and Bulletin have inherited over generations of service to their local communities.
Patricia, now working part time as a home carer, agrees some would see engagement notices as old fashioned but says they are a great way to share the good news.
But I'm getting off the subject(s): Patricia says Melissa's fiance is Timothy Day, known around the Harris household as a jack of all trades, after his recent experiences in gardening, wood turning and tool-making for the mining industry. Melissa is a dental assistant at Morningside.

ONE of Patricia's great joys is her first grandchild, Melissa and Timothy's 18-month-old daughter, Lucinda.
Patricia says the other enagagement stems from a New Zealand tour by Vanessa and Rebecca in 2008, when Rebecca met West Australian sandmining operator Nathan Armstrong.
Patricia knew some serious romance was under way when Rebecca returned from the tour, spent almost a month in Bunbury, WA, then moved west to work in insurance claims.
The Armstrongs are also part of the marvellous community of classified advertising. "Nathan's mum and dad put a notice in their local paper too," Patricia says.

Thanks for joining me to meet 'the people behind the notices' that appear your local paper. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/clipart/

From Durban to Capalaba

Image of Durban Town Hall from en.wikipedia.org

THE south-east Queensland climate attracted the interest of a young South African toolmaker when almost three decades ago he looked for the right place to build a new life for his young family.
Graham Easterbrook was working in the port city of Durban, where he had grown up. He wanted to ensure his wife, Kathy, and their two infant sons, Justin and Gareth, had the security of a new homeland.
In 1981, Graham, then 25 years old, looked at migrating to Australia and found his toolmaking qualification was in demand.
He came to 'test the waters' and then settled his family at Victoria Point, where they lived for three years before the couple saved a deposit on their own home at Alexandra Hills.

GRAHAM and Cathy had another two sons, Kyle and Ashley. In 1988, Graham set up a business, The Machine Shop, in Neumann Road, Capalaba.
The couple celebrated the birth of their first grandchild in 2006 when Justin and his wife, Kristy, had a daughter, Natalie.
Justin is now aged 31 and working in information technology; Gareth, 28, specialises in window, blind and awning installation; and Kyle, 22 and Ashley, 20, are taking the same path as apprentice plumbers.
Ashley was the "hardworking, competent and reliable" third year apprentice who advertised recently in the Classifieds' Positions Wanted column.
Graham says he will never regret the decision to bring his family to "such a good country".
"I haven't had any disappointments over that – never," he says.
Graham says other family members have come to visit over the years and liked the Redland lifestyle so much they have returned to stay.

LIVING in Honeymyrtle Court, Capalaba, for the past two years, the Easterbrooks still have their two youngest sons at home.
Graham is proud of his business's claim as one of the leading precision machining engineering companies in Brisbane, using the latest equipment and machinery "capable of catering for all metal and plastic engineering needs".
He is confident of taking on just about any machinery component porject with equipment including computer numerically controlled (CNC) lathes.
Sadly, he says the growing trend for such work is offshore sourcing, from countries including India and Thailand.
Despite his pride in his own profession he is also happy to know his sons have shown their independent thinking in following their own paths in life.
That, after all, was the reason he and Cathy came here.

Thanks for joing me to meet the great families that are part of the marvellous community of classified advertising.This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia.

Mr Fix All builds business base from bay

THE term, "island lifestyle", may evoke images of escape from society's mainstreams but it had a key role in Stiven Jakovich's business plan when in 2005 he moved from Western Australia to take advantage of south-east Queensland's growing demand for service industries.
Stiven and his senior business partner, Dr Charles Neophytou, saw the potential in the region's population growth to further develop their service-based concept, after more than a decade of providing home maintenance services and associated project management in Perth.
A painter and certified interior and exterior designer, Stiven now has clients from Redland City to the Gold Coast as he builds the business from a Karragarra Island base.

THE business slogan, "We maintain", now applies to boats and cars as well as homes.
Stiven says Dr Neophytou has a background in management for major construction companies and has brought these skills to their partnership.
The partners have formed a team of tradespeople ready to take on big and small projects, while giving clients the security of Stiven's personal management of the work -- from simple clean-ups to major repairs and renovations such as room additions and wall removal.
The expansion to boat maintenance has again offered not only relatively straightforward services -- this time including pressure cleaning, anti fouling and detailing -- but also the more complex, such as interior timberwork and solar panel installation. Mechanical and electrical work is contracted out to qualified trades people.

ON the marine services, Stiven says: "We can fit and supply blinds and curtains to measure, supply signage and striping, fit and supply custom cedar doors and cabinets, and fit and supply toilets, pressured or chemical."
He says he has "been around boats most of my life" and he tells owners, "I would love to work on your baby."
The firm offers a contract schedule for ongoing and regular maintence, as well as one-off support.
Stage three in its development has put car maintenance, including dent and scratch repairs, on its service list, which will soon get longer.

IN 2010, the Neophytou and Jakovich Group's Mr Fix All services will include gardening.
"We are a 'one-stop shop' for maintenance of the home, boat and car, and establishing a gardening division will complete the perfect package," he says. "It's an exciting time for us."
Stiven says the business has found a niche in sprucing up homes, cars and boats before they are offered for sale.

(Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia).

Social housing uses Public Notice

MOVEMENTS in property prices and the multitude of associated waves and ripples through our society always prompt a gush of analyses.
Issues of home ownership, such as changes in mortage rates, invariably ride the first wave but, on another level in the continuing ebb and flow of influences on the housing sector, escalating rents are putting families under increasing financial pressure. Property and housing-related investment has long been a rewarding province for private sector entrepreneurship but, understandably, profit is the driver, so it is comforting to know that rental earnings and capital gains are not the only motivators in housing provision.
Substantial public-sector mindpower is focusing on the broad social needs for housing security, so those in need can have the dignity of affordable accommodation.

THE term, 'public housing', has made way for a new description, 'social housing', but a Public Notice – rather than a 'social notice' – appeared in the Classifieds as the State Government proclaimed its commitment to provide 4000 new social housing dwellings in Queensland over the next three years.
Family and Homelessness Services, under the Department of Communities in the restructured State administration, announced the proposed development of eight two-bedroom apartments and 27 studio units on a 3103 square metre site in Napier Street, Birkdale.
Just last week, Housing Minister Karen Struthers said that by June next year almost 500 new social housing dwellings would be built in the first stage of the Nation Building and Economic Stimulus Plan.

A DEPARTMENT spokeswoman said the Napier Street project was not part of that total but was subject to the department's core social housing funding, separate from the Nation Building package.
Ms Struthers said thousands more homes were due for completion by December 2010.
She said the $1.2 billion investment in social housing infrastructure was on top of $500 million from the Bligh Government’s Future Growth Fund to boost social housing in homelessness hot spots.
“We’ve got 60,000 dwellings in our social housing stock across the State,” she said. “Less than 1.5 percent are vacant, compared with a vacancy rate of 4.6pc in the private residential sector at the end of June.
“A number of vacant properties are being spruced up for new tenants to move in, others have been newly purchased by the department, and some properties are being modified for tenants with a disability.”
Ms Struthers said the housing program created jobs for local builders and “we’re building homes for people who need a roof over their head”.

(Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/).

Singer kicks habit and kick-starts career

Image: Danny Mayers' new album. Visit www.myspace.com/dannymayers and www.dannymayers.com/

ONE of the golden voices in the legendary Australian band The Delltones revealed a secret during a recent visit to Macleay Island.
Lead singer Danny Mayers, relaxing with his partner Christina Mayor during a break from his busy concert schedule, told barbecue guests at the home of a jazz-singer friend, Carol Sefton, he had breathed new life into his musical career by kicking the nicotine habit.
"What giving up smoking has done for me is simply amazing," Danny said. "I no longer get tired like before; I can taste food; my clothes don't smell; I don't cough anymore; and my [voice] range was always high but now it's higher."
He said he would always marvel that the improvements started the minute he walked out a hypnotist's door after just one short session.

DANNY's story was enough to send one guest scurrying for Redland City information about hypnosis. Redland Bay hypnotist Angela Griffin, who advertises in our 'Massages/Therapeutic' column, said Danny was one of many fortunate smokers.
"As well as those who stop smoking after one session there are others who are not ready to deal with the causes and may require several sessions," Angela said.
"There is a misconception that you only have to go to a hypnotist once and a miracle will occur but the mind is very complex and work may be needed for the results that are required."
She said the hypnosis success rate was also good with gamblers and drug addicts.

ANGELA is among hypnotherapists anticipating a rush on such treatments. She said the July 1 introduction of health fund benefits for hypnotherapy had prompted her to complete her membership with the Australian Hypnosis Association; she believed the membership was only weeks away.
The honour will come about two decades after she received hypnotherapy for anxiety and anger. "My mum encouraged me to see a hypnotist and as a result I became a lot more positive," she said.
Angela and her husband Kent, who is a remedial massage therapist, practise their therapies from their Auster Street home.
They have found the combination of their skills has been valuable in helping those who suffer a wide range of conditions.

THE combination had achieved "a very positive effect" for a man after a car accident; it had improved his state of mind and attitude to life, Angela said.
She said her techniques include analytic hypnosis to help people deal with the emotions that relate to memories of past issues but she also incorporated other counselling systems.

(Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia).

Grins and grimaces of garage sales

AS the spring cleaning gains pace, garage sales abound in The Redland Times' Classifieds. It's timely to warn vendors – don't lose your useful, treasured and valuable objects.
Think carefully about what you need to sell and resist the urge to slap a tag on everything you think you can spare.
Ask yourself how many times you have sold something at a garage sale only to pay top dollar for a replacement, sooner or later?
This sort of 'sell then buy' madness probably has happened to all of us sometime; we may blame stress from rising in the pre-dawn as cars pull up, even though we have advertised a 7am start.
Then there's often the frenzy of carrying and pricing items, and generally getting ready for the rush.

HARDENED bargainers, including dealers, usually are the first wave, undoubtedly knowing the value in negotiating with someone who is weary from a hard week's work, has been deprived of sleep and is likely to make errors of judgment.
A mate sold two gas bottles for a fraction of their value, then late in the day bought some fillet steak with the sale cash, only to realise he had just sold the fuel for his barbecue.
The solution was a trip to the hardware store to buy a new bottle for more than he earnt from the sale of two.
A few years ago and preparing to move house, I rose early, taking all the sale items to the front lawn. I carried out a lounge chair without realising it contained hidden treasure.

AT the time, I habitually put my wallet under the cushion at night.
After two men, without haggling, immediately handed me the $15 price and hastily loaded their trailer, I realised something was wrong and managed to snatch back my wallet just as they were about to drive off.
A 'must' for vendors may be double-strength coffee but the golden rule is to prepare early, thoroughly inspect everything, minimise sale-day stress and always have someone on duty against theft.

FROM the smaller polfolio of buyers' loss case studies: The day after a sale in the 1990s an elderly woman arrived at my house: "Have you by any chance seen the stone from my ring? It's a ruby. The ring was my grandmother's. I went to 15 garage sales yesterday and along the way, somewhere, the ruby has fallen out. I am retracing my visits."
The gap in the old rose gold was huge. This was a tragedy. I could only wish her luck – and the same to all the buyers and sellers who will fight it out tomorrow.

(Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/).

Host talks of rugby, business and Moreton Bay

FEW can match the cheerful nature of Lamb Island's Col McInnes.
Affable Col seems to always wear a broad smile and be genuinely pleased to shake another hand in greeting.
His personality certainly suits his role as host at the bed and breakfast he and wife Kay set up in 2002.
At the time, the southern bay islands badly needed guest accommodation and the couple blazed a pioneering trail, gaining recognition with a Redlands Tourism Award for hosted accommodation in 2005.
The McInneses, who have notched up three more credits as award finalists in subsequent years, are great believers in the power of the Classifieds in their local paper, advertising Lamb Island Bed & Breakfast on our Find Us First page.

SYDNEY-born Col has long known the benefits of such promotion. He says he started his first business at age 17 and for some years he sold advertising for community newspapers.
But Col is not the sort of business mind that sacrifices the 'scent of roses' for the cold facts of the balance sheet. He certainly aims to get out there and enjoy life to the full, even if the effort sometimes leads back to a business element.
A love of rugby, for example, lined him up Col for a stint as treasurer of the Queensland XXXX Golden Oldies Rugby Club.
B&B guests with even a passing interest in the great game have undoubtedly heard of the club's trip last September to an international carnival in Scotland, where Col wore the centre's jersey and, of course, revelled in his Sccottish heritage.

COL and Kay are longtime supporters of the Redland Gathering of the Clans. Col often catches eyes of passengers on the bay ferries when wearing his kilt to official functions.
Such functions include his masonic meetings. Col, a past master of Redlands Masonic Lodge, carries a weighty title with the Scottish lodge that meets at Kedron.
Grab a cup of coffee to help you get through this … he's a Most Excellent and Perfect Companion of the Order of Rose Croix.
Phew. That probably reflects the complexity that exists behind that affable smile.
Col has just taken a new title after his election as Karragarra Yacht Club treasurer, adding to his commumnity involvement in the island group he loves.
Col and Kay are gearing up for a busy summer trade at their fully self-contained two-bedroom B&B, which has everything guests need for a luxurious weekend – including a private six-person spa.

AFTER a day on the bay guests can enjoy a drink at the bar and, of course, chat with Col about anything from the fortunes of the Wallabies to the joys of sailing.

(Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times. Image from www.lambislandbandb.com.au).

Stamp interest sticks no more

THE dreams that generations of hopeful children have carried into their adulthood have ground to an agonising end, if the experience of retired engineer and teacher Norm Taylor is any indication.
Norm, 75, looks back on decades of stamp collecting, peruses his four albums and sadly admits: "You always hope you will find something that is really valuable but nobody is interested in stamps anymore.
"These are really of very little value."
Lancashire-born Norm took up stamp collecting during the dark days of World War II while growing up in Manchester, where his dad Abraham was doing war service working on the Rolls-Royce Merlin V8 engines that powered the Spitfire fighter and Lancaster bomber aircraft.

NORM's earliest prized acqusitions included a 6 million deutsche mark stamp he says shows the inflation in Germany under Hitler.
But even that trophy and Norm's treasured 19th century stamps are part of the collection he is offering for sale. He has been considering a price about $200 but says, "I think I'llk be lucky to get even that."
Norm says he came from a lost culture of stamp collecting, an era when kids's stamp clubs met in school libraries and the fervent members bartered, traded -- and picked up some knowledge of the world.
At 10 years old, during the wartime shortages, he made hinges out of Drum papers and the scrounged-up sticky edging from the post-office stamp pages.

SIXTY-five years later, the hopes of striking riches have disintegrated like a mouldy first-day cover but news was not all bad after Norm recently advertised seven mint-condition Australia Post albums, issued between 1997 and 2003, for $300 – more than $100 less than face value.
He says the elderly woman buyer said she lived in hope her grandchildren might eventually catch a stamp bug if such an pandemic ever were to reoccur, but his son and grandchildren have no interest in stamps he kept for them.
Norm knows people who bought commemorative coin issues rather than stamps and had significant rewards, with values rising up to 300 per cent in less than a decade, while stamps have gone backwards.

LUCKILY, Norm has had a lot more areas of interest in his life. He qualified as an science and technology engineer in England before coming to Australia to work on the space tracking stations.
He moved into teaching in the early 1970s and ended his "second career" in Townsville.
Nevertheless, he admits that the sale of the stamp collection will mark the end of an interest that petered out over the past 20 years.

(Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/).

Clutter gives headspin

BEFORE you journey with me on another fascinating browse through the marvellous community of the Classifieds, take a few seconds to look around you, wherever you may be.
No matter who or where you are, that quick 360-degree headspin would undoubtedly have put at least one item of clutter into your field of vision.
Negative words like "confusion", "disorder", "jumble" and "heap" feature in the Maquarie Dictionary's definition of clutter.
Nobody wants something like that hanging around their life. The problem always seems to get worse in winter,.
However, once the Ekka extravaganza breaths its last gasp each year and the autumn wind blows away the winter blues, a genetic alarm stirs instinctive impulses deep within the soul of the 'average' Redlander.

A MESSAGE from the DNA says it's time for a good old-fashioned spring clean to exterminate clutter. As we march into another battle in a never-ending war, it's nice to know help is available.
Important alliances are no further than the Cleaning Services section of the Trade Services pages.
A notice headed, "Clean de Clutter", put me in touch with a partnership of two women who share my dream of a clutter-free world.
They have already been advertising "spring cleans".
Sheryl Galbraith and Sheryl Daley, both of Victoria Point, met about 10 years ago but started the cleaning service only last year.
"We're a bit like the two Ronnies, only we're the two Sheryls," Sheryl G said. "We're both from New Zealand – I came from Dunedin and Sheryl came from Christchurch -- and we met because our husbands both work in the meat industry.
"We decided to do something for ourselves and started the cleaning service."

SHERYL G said Clean de Clutter had not done a lot of recent decluttering but has been busy setting up some new kitchens and with move-out and move-in cleans.
The pair works through several real estate agencies.
This week, the Sheryls did a move-in clean for a property buyer who ordered a thorough job to eliminate all traces of the former owners.
Sheryl G said an option for people who did not want a full cleaning job was to focus on one or two areas, such as the kitchen and bathroom, for professional attention.
"Things have been humming along very well," Sheryl G said.
She said she and husband Peter have never regretted settling in the Redlands. "We spent about six months on the Gold Coast before we came here and it felt like about 10 years – it wasn't for us," she said.
"Our daughters were 12 and 14 when we came, and they have grown up here.
"The Redlands is an easy place to live and love."

(Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified adverstising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia. Image from http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/).

The Classifieds: A colourful new world

(This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia).

THE doomsday brigade, chanting that newspapers are out of fashion in an internet-savvy world, has a shuttered existence, peering through computer screens into a brave new world and becoming blind to other blossoming beauty.
Just glance around the bright, modern and interesting information package surrounding this column. If you look for opportunities of any sort, the next may be here, whether in a blaze of colours and images – courtesy of the high-tech press at the Fairfax Media Ormiston plant – or simply through one word in small print.
The Classifieds represents a wide range of interests, not only offering a marketplace but creating a special community of sellers, buyers, dedicated readers and browsers.
Yes, folks, you just read a derivative of that 'b' word, 'browse' – straight from the media 'old guard' of publishing on paper.

THE concept of the "browse" did not come from Bill Gates or any other computer techno, or geek, call them what you like.
Many generations have delighted in browsing through their local papers. The way of life existed long before the internet explosion of Windows 95 and will continue probably until the Second Coming (not the name of the next operating system).
The 'onliners' claimed "browse" but no one sought my permission. I can get over the affront with 'one-liners' because the marvellous community of classified advertising in my local paper has never looked better.
My talks with buyers, sellers, employers and service providers indicate strong satisfaction with the results from their notices.

OUR consultants are available to look at instances where the desired outcome has not been achieved, working through relevant factors such as position, pricing, categorisation and general presentation to suggest an action plan to sell or get a message "out there".
You may want to target browsers. The Classifieds' Find Us First page is always a great browse.

FIND Us First 'Accommodation' just put me in touch with Wendy Gardner, proprietor of the Bay Retreat Motel, Redland Bay.
Wendy says a lot of the motel's clientele comes from the local market for family/guest accommodation on special occasions such as weddings and 21st birthdays.
She says the pace of trade is picking up after seasonal factors and the general economic shock. It was interesting to hear the motel hosts a lot of New Zealanders shopping for Redland property.
But Wendy's most important message: "It is amazing how many of the people who come here immediately ask for the local paper."
Well, that's my browse for this week. Thanks for joining me in this marvellous community.

Transplant patient leads gym class

(This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Queensland, Australia.)

A SPECIAL class is under way at a Victoria Point gymnasium. Newly qualified instructor Amy Dakin celebrated her 24th birthday by conducting her first fitness group at One Life Health and Fitness Centre.
Amy soon had another special occasion. Monday, July 27, 2009, was the anniversary of her double kidney transplant at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
The past four years since the 15-hour-long transplant operation have been tough for Amy, who studied nursing for three years but had to seek a different career because the immuno-suppressant drugs that stop her body rejecting her new kidneys make her vulnerable to catching infections.

“EVERY time I went out looking after sick people I ended up very ill,” Amy says. “The last time, I almost lost my life.
“It started like the flu but then all of a sudden spread through my body and I almost lost my transplanted kidneys.
“I was in hospital for 12 weeks.”
Two years after the transplant, Amy needed a second operation to remove her native kidneys, which were causing infection in the new ones.
But, after suffering neurogenic bladder disorder and reflux since she was eight years old – with four years on dialysis and several heart attacks linked to the kidney condition -- Amy has taken all the knocks in her stride.
“It has been a bit of a struggle,” she says. “But I guess it just makes you stronger.”
She says she developed a strong interest in fitness over the years and formerly has instructed in bellydancing at One Life.

NOW, she sees all the threads coming together, with her assistant nursing qualification and her new Certificate III in fitness playing complementary roles.
She has kept her most up-to-date medical text books but offered the rest of her collection – including medical encyclopedias – free through the Classifieds.
About 15 callers responded to the ad.
Amy says she lived all her life in the Brisbane suburbs, mainly Coorparoo, before moving to the Redlands about four years ago.
She is excited about qualifying as a group fitness instructor using pre-choreographed techniques for strength and endurance training, and she is really enjoying life.
“Even when I was sick I tried to keep driving myself into sport,” she says. “Now I feel healthy enough to do it.”

(Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times).