Category Archives: Stuff!

This time next week I will be a Doctor!

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I have spent the morning ordering a bound version of my thesis and organising my academic gown. The puffy hat will finally be mine!

Last Monday, I received advice that I had fulfilled the academic requirements for my PhD and that conferral would occur on the 31st of July. As I read the letter, I had a feeling of joy and my favourite person one of relief!

It is the culmination of the first chapter of the journey thatI entitled “What’s Next” when I started this blog. It’s a theme I have returned to since, as a fifty-something, I contemplated retirement from the professional firm I had been privileged to have been a partner for more than 20 years. With the completion of my PhD, I feel that the transition is complete, and a new chapter of What’s Next will begin.

When I commenced the journey with the assistance of Michael and Tim, I had no idea where it would take me. Through many conversations with Michael and Tim and the benefit of Hermina Ibarra’s book “Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career”, I am now just over 7 years into that journey.

Across that time, my favourite person and I have been lucky enough to travel to Italy several times; I have seen my first EPL game live and walked the beautiful beaches on the Isle of Sandy in the Orkney Islands. Other highlights have been attending my first large academic conference and becoming a published academic author. Across that period, there has been the joy of two of my children marrying, the arrival of three wonderful grandchildren and my youngest daughter’s graduations.

So “What’s next”?

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An IOU Christmas

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Well, that’s Christmas done. An awesome day with family and such benign weather after last year’s heat and fires had such a disruptive impact.

Our family Christmas table a year late!

When I said that Christmas is done, I meant the day is over not so the present giving in our case. My favourite person’s main present is in transit. It seems to order it six weeks before Christmas just wasn’t earlier enough. It should arrive next week.

As for me, my children have told me they hope my presents will arrive soon! Again ordered weeks ago, the pandemic has struck.

My youngest daughter thinking on her feet hastily altered cards for a couple of small gifts so I received something from my other daughter and a bottle of Rhubarb Gin from my son and his wife meant I didn’t feel I’d missed out at all. As for my favourite person, she didn’t miss out receiving a new bag hastily arranged with the help of one of her favourite stores.

The lack of gifts made absolutely no difference to a wonderful day Christmas.

We were so lucky that we were able to celebrate with all of our family when so many people in Australia and elsewhere were denied the opportunity.

Thirteen minutes to the Moon

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There are two events that I count as the most significant historical events in my life. One is the bringing down of the Berlin Wall and the other is Man walking on the Moon. If I had to rank them, there is no doubt that Man walking on the Moon in July 1969 is the one I would rank highest.

In 1969, I was in Year 6 and like so many school age children I was captivated by the voyage of Apollo 11, in fact the whole space program.

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Australia’s bushfires

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I have a basic rule for my blog. I won’t post or comment on politics. I learnt with one tweet very early in that this was a very bad idea and I continue to confine my tweets and posts to things non-political.

This post is to say thank you to all of those paid or unpaid who are working tirelessly to save property and life during this bushfire season.

I have seen firsthand the damage that these fires can do. I am not posting photos because I didn’t take any as we went to visit my sister and her partner at their hills property for a belated Christmas celebration. Her house only exists care of the brave efforts of their neighbours. To them, I say a special thank you.

As the bushfire crisis continues we seem so pre-occupied with political point-scoring. Until so recently, as a country when disasters hit we banded together and got on with it and let the politicians deal with it at some point in the future.

In my lifetime there have been many such occasions, Cyclone Tracey, Ash Wednesday Bushfires, Floods and more Bushfires. Until recently it was how can we help? Now its who can we blame?

I’m sad.

Warning Warning Warning

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Following an email this morning that my website had been the subject of some form of attack I thought it might be worth reposting this post from 2014. I am pleased to report that with a further upgrade to my security package the threat is now resolved.

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A couple of nights ago I received an email from Sitelock telling me of a critical vulnerability at my website.

I only had a vague idea of what that meant although I was sure it wasn’t good!

After a chat with Sitelock who are webcow, my webpage host’s security provider it was clear that it wasn’t good, in fact it was very bad. Apparently, I had inadvertently linked to something nasty and if I didn’t fix it my blog would be blacklisted by search engines.

After more than a year of posting and a month spent on seriously building www.browney237.com web presence, this sounded disastrous. What did I need to do? Who could help? I was in a mild (actually not so mild) panic.

As someone not the slightest bit tech savvy, I knew it wasn’t going to be the one who was going to be able to fix this problem. The good news is that in the words of every boat owner a “cheque will fix it”, although in my case it’s a Visa Card! The security provider was able to remove the malicious links and then for a further modest fee I was able to buy annual protection so that this never happens again. What a relief!

It’s a valuable, albeit scary lesson.

I’m protected, are you?