Life in Eureka

What is a lead mean to everyone? Is it difficult to understand, or does anyone familiar the role of leadership during the meeting, teamwork, workplace or in the community?

One person wrote a blog and this person mentions if anyone wants to improve the skill into a great leader. The top 15 essential guides are:-

What is a lead mean to everyone? Is it difficult to understand, or does anyone familiar the role of leadership during the meeting, teamwork, workplace or in the community?

One person wrote a blog and this person mentions if anyone wants to improve the skill into a great leader. The top 15 essential guides are:-

• Honesty and Integrity
• Confidence
• Inspire Others
• Commitment and Passion
• Good Communicator
• Decision-Making Capabilities
• Accountability
• Delegation and Empowerment
• Creativity and Innovation
• Empathy
• Resilience
• Emotional Intelligence
• Humility
• Transparency
• Vision and Purpose

Another article by a different person wrote along with a useful example of skills anyone must-have.

• Patience
• Empathy
• Active listening
• Reliability
• Dependability
• Creativity
• Positivity
• Effective feedback
• Timely communication
• Team building
• Flexibility
• Risk-taking
• Ability to teach and mentor

It is essential to have any of these skills anyone requires to get involved with the meeting, workplace, government agencies and other types of business.

What about People with disAbilities, including Deaf people involving other people in the Health Sector group, EGL Leadership (Enabling Good Lives), Organisation such as Blind Foundation, City Council?

What are ‘crab in a bucket theory’, ‘tiger economy’, piranha theory?

Not a drop of rain in sight since the last year.. when did we including our neighbours last receive heavy rain?

Each day I travelled to work in the city of Hamilton or other towns – Cambridge, Te Awamutu and noticed many farmlands are going brown quickly.

Take another look at the photos –

A couple photos of cows in our neighbour’s share farm land. There are no sight of green grass for cows except for weeds that cows loves to eat plants. Not the poisonous weeds. In our vegetable garden, there is some sight of green weeds among the brown grass.

Here is couple photos of our section under the trees.

There is a mixture of brownish and green around our large property. Most of the green grass is shelter by the shade which prevent from drying out in the harsh sun.

When you walk and you could hear the crushing sound coming from your shoes where I cannot hear, BUT to feel the crushing movement under my feet for I know it is scorched as tinder leaves.

From mid-2019 to the present year, it is becoming more dry and less rain as we noticed the difference from 2014 when we moved here. Over the winter season, there was less rainfall – less than 40mm in a month while the next month was 10mm a month.

The farmers here are planning to install a large water storage pond which stored water for emergency. There is a catch – the high cost of making a large water storage pond, the materials such as irrigations, black liners and the paying of the delivery water from one supplier.

For me, I am careful when I do watering the vegetables gardens and flowers/herb garden sections. It is essential to think about what kind of vegetable plants, flowers, herbs, even young fruit trees can withstand less water or more water feed. Every two or three evenings, I watered the gardens for one hour and any other days I do hand water from the bucket in the greenhouse. We do have a couple large water tanks plus bore water with the hand pump via the pump hut here. We have two options to switch on and use water from the storage tank via Council Reservoir or switch off and to use the hand pump from our ground bore water. So far, we have not to use the hand pump to take bore water yet.

Are we people facing global climate warming, or is it “mankind” destroy the climate and environment?

 

When you are happy or sad

When you are hurt or feeling great

When you are busy or feeling bored

When you can not decide on what you want, or you decide what you want to do

When you are weak or strong

When you love someone or hate someone

the lists go on..

Don’t despair for your life has been made on what you are doing in daily routine by above – God or things do happen automatically if you are atheist.

My favourite pastime is to sit down, relax and look out the window or out in the pasture even in the garden.

Start looking at yourself if you are doing the wrong thing, pushing yourself too hard, feeling envious over your friends/family, stop blaming or hating someone even being jealously over another person. Don’t start worrying too much; otherwise, it will go down pitful.

I am grateful for what I achieve something I need, gain something little into big, rebuild my health one at a time and often constantly double-check over few things to make sure it is alright or not.

Being deaf along with health issues that I live with these symptoms all my life, do not bother me for I am is what I am the person around. My deafness does not stop me from doing anything in my daily life.

Stop and ponder what you are doing for!

Do you complain where the money has gone out the window?

Do you complain or grumbling the food prices among other technology including electricity and fuels has gone up?

The world is changing so fast than the good old days where foods and fuels were cheaper. Of course, there are so many wars, fighting, killing other people even animals, climate-changing – bushfires, drought, flooding and the list go on.

I came across the famous quote by Albert Einstein as above. It reminds me daily – like riding a bike every day and keep balancing my life where ever I go.

 

 

Unable to hear the sound for I can not hear anyone walking down the lane in Milan, Italy.

Walking down the corridor at the Milano Centrale Railway Station, seeing people rushing, chatting, yelling, dropping bags,  children even babies crying – unable to hear them.

Persons waving their arms and hands in the air caught my sight BUT did not give me any clue for it is body gestures on what they were asking.

Coming out of the Train Station, taxi drivers bombed at my face as they were talking, for I can not pick up any Italian conversation. One thing for I noticed their fingers rubbing against thumbs – sign for money, pointing themselves to take you and in the car, pointing out there where to go.

Try hard to lip read the Italian language such as i tassì, lo albergo, la tariffa, and try to think of the word ‘deaf’ in Italian – sorda (feminine). End up signing/pointing and facial expression as no via shaking head sideways in front of the taxi drivers. Only one good Samaritan driver forward as he understands for sono sorda (I am deaf). 

Seeing the traffic – drivers waving their hands in the air, beeping their car horns and facial expressions such as angry, mutter, frown even annoy on the way to the lo albergo (hotel). So alien to me – their Italian culture. So strange to me!

Arriving right up to the front of the ingresso dell’hotel (hotel entrance), tassista (taxi driver) pointing himself and pointing to my luggage for he carries my baggage to the reception dell’hotel (hotel reception). Try to lip read tassita to the persona di accoglienza (hotel reception) – nothing works for me, but I see him using his hand flat and patting to his ear if it means to block or nothing to hear. The tassita turned and gave me a number sign for the la tariffa in return I gave him the money.

Travelling around Italy by tour bus – oh what fun to meet new people and to learn a new language. The tour manager/guide was great, for she knew that I am deaf among the hearing visitors.

Torre pendente di Pisa – Tower of Pisa

The impressive sight of Torre pendente di Pisa, surrounding many people who were chatting, clicking their cameras, talking and seeing their facial expressions of awes, walking even shouting each other. Nothing helps me to hear except to look at the wonder of Torre pendente di Pisa and walked up to the top. Wow, seeing a beautiful view on a sunny and warm day. Oh, what a peaceful calm for me!

Mind you! Watch out for the beggers, crafty people walking around with a double folded newspaper, children hanging around you even behind your back. Beware if you were carrying the bag over the shoulder, backpack for they are intelligent enough to pitch your expensive camera, purse, passport, and many other presents/items. Watching the crafty men who carrying a double folded newspaper – oh boy how quick they were, and they were sneaking as a snake. Oh boy! How Amazing their thief artwork in pitching money, purse by bumping you, or tippytoe passing you. Do not hear the sob story from the fake beggars and dirty clothes children wear in the street. Saw a couple children running down the alley street after pitching the visitor’s money out of their bag while the visitor taking photos. How so quiet the children pitched the money out of the purse. I looked up at the visitor’s face in terror and shouting for help when everyone looked at the visitor by hearing the cried of support. I was quick to read the body language, the surrounding of the places, in the street and stay alert, even to stand behind the person from your tour group.

Sitting down in ristorante pizzeria (pizza Resturant) and enjoying the delicious sizeable thin crust pizza – twice as the dinner plate for I eat the whole lot. My new-found friends from California were learning my sign language and gestures over pizza, the il cameriere (waiter) watching me signing in the air for he was interested in my sign language and walk around by collecting dirty plates, washing the tables surrounding us.  A time to pay la fattura (the bill), noticed il cameriere talking to il gestore della pizza (the pizza manager) about me. Hard to lip-read what they were saying, for I saw they put the hands up to their ears. Il gestore della pizza granted us free for the meal we ate, OH what a delightful surprise for il gestore della pizza signed back to me in Italian sign language. I understand a few Italian sign language in my early days. 

In Firenze (Florence), a person handed me the phone as thinking I will talk over the phone. I signed in no – each hand moved oppositely and pointed to my ear – nothing to hear. How stupid or lack of understanding che cosa è sordo per te? (What is deaf mean to you?)  Oh, bother! Do I need to explain or walk away? Lovely chap for he is hard of hearing muttering to his daughter. Impossible to lipread this chap for I understand he was telling her by his stern facial expression- what a stupid girl! I can not hear the phone even can not speak over the phone. The daughter was so embarrassing for I saw her face went shocked and showing a few rosy cheeks.

There is no such language to learn to speak in Italian except to signs and sights of beauty surrounding lands and places in Italy. BUT to learn to read their Italian nouns and basic sentence tan to lip-read their mouth.

Many trips to Europe – Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria, Monaco was one of my highlight experiences. I wish to go back to Europe again….

 

 

What hotter day in Eureka so far!

Today the temperature is climbing to a big 30oC.

Not long ago, I need to go to the toilet room and only just to found Joseph, our older dog sleeping in the laundry next to the smallest toilet room.

Blast! Joseph for he won’t shift to make way for me to get in. Rat! I climbed over him.

Our other two dogs – Jazz the young one while the newest pup waiting for me near the dining table.

I put many ice cubes in their water bowl so our newest pup can play with it. Oh, what a fun way to play with fresh ice cubes by suckling it or patting the water into splashing all over the floor.

Dogs are struggling to find the right place to keep their bodies cold while I am working in the office with a couple of windows where the lovely fresh breezes coming in. Haaa, what a refreshing cool breeze is in my office at home, for I am resuming to work today!

I would not allow dogs to go outside for the grasses are far too hot for their little paws this afternoon, and the lawns are dying for the rain to come.

We, in the rural community, are brisking for a long drought for the second year in the Waikato area. We all are careful about using the water when milking the cows, washing the clothes, watering the gardens, even vegetable gardens, and the list so on.

We live here for 6 years and we were lucky to have our skills in conserve of the environment.

 

 

Growing flowers, herbs, or shrubs such as Lavenders, tobacco, Thyme, or Rosemary in the garden.

If you are living in the hot and dry or almost to the drought time of the summer season. Do you want to save money on buying herbs, tobacco, any types of flowers into beauty cream such as hand/face cream or for health through eating and cooking flavour in any meals?

It is not hard to make or to grow flowers, herbs, and shrubs from cutting or bought seeds/plants in the nursery centre or in the shop. I was grateful for our grandparents, and great-grandma taught me to grow anything from the garden or even to save buttons, materials for recycling clothing, and other products around the house.

You probably think that I am an old fashioned deaf person as a greenie person or frugal person. I used my skill to create something useful to recycled item for future use or make herb flavour/spices, a healthy product like lavender pillow, soap. It is basically on budget-wise on saving the cost than buying expensive or rubbish stuff from the supermarket, health shop, or online shops.

Since my travelling days over and my studies in BA degree were over back to 2009, I began to grow flowers and vegetables into food such as jams, chutneys, plum, and tomatoes sauces and reuses broken items such as bookcase into a wall shelf, or a planter box. I found that when I am doing this and it saves me the cost without spending an expensive item or buying plum/tomato sauces at the supermarket.

My partner came into our relationship, and he found the price on buying tobacco is higher due to the MPs want to put tax and price up each year. For example, this year, a packet of tobacco – Rothmans Red 30g cost $59.90. The MPs wanted every smoker to cut back or stop smoking due to high lung cancer. I told my partner that I could grow tobacco in the garden but not allow to sell to other people due to the law. Anyone in New Zealand can legally buy seeds and develop their own tobacco. Although it is legal to sell tobacco seeds, it is illegal to sell home-grown tobacco plant material or to give it as a gift. Tobacco, which is grown, must be for personal use only. He could not believe it that I learned to grow tobacco from our great-granduncle, and my partner said, why not and go ahead if I am okay to grow and know what to do. So I am growing tobacco and keep thousand of seeds over 11 years. He still buys tobacco from the shop and switches to homegrown tobacco from time to time. It gave him the benefit of cost saving for bills to pay or himself.

What did I do with the lavender? I picked the seeds and use for baking scones, perfume as pot Pourri, or to make a little pillow, wheat bag. I cut and dried lavenders by hanging upside down in the sunroom. I used the same way by growing garlic bulbs, herbs into dried leaves for baking.

Growing fruit trees and vegetables in our extensive gardens, and I use fruits such as plum, feijoa, crabapple, loquats into sauces, chutneys, and jams. With vegetables, I use any vegetables such as tomatoes into tomatoes sauces, chutneys or salads, pies or quiches. Yes, you can freeze any vegetables up to 6 months or a year. The more you can make sauces or jams and store in the pantry, and it will give you a long run. As my partner often complaining that I made too many and he provides some chutneys, sauces or jams to his workmates.

So why not start growing simple plants such as lavender, herbs, get a fruit tree, and you will have time to wait for another 2 years or ask your family or friends if they got any fruit trees to give you some fruits. Be sure to provide jams or sauces in return to your family or friends in the way of saying thank you for the fruits or vegetables.

You will be amazed by how much you can save on any cost and enjoy making any items at home than buying in the shops.

 

“The Beginnings is always today.” Mary Wollstonecraft.

This morning I woke up in the early hour of this morning and sitting outside in the courtyard reflecting on our plan to do today. Rusty (my partner) was telling me about the mega bushfire in Australia over the radio news. He knew that I can not hear people talking through the microphone at the media stations. I looked out at our large silk tree standing next to the carport and there was the sun shining through many branches. Something was telling me that it is a new day for them to face the latest challenge to fight through horror times.

Horror, dismay, frustrate, pointing at someone to blame, calling for more help, and the list so on. The biggest disaster of all is the most significant bushfire in Australia from October 2019 to present the year of 2020.

 

Story from the NZ Herald and a Photo from AP

Here are several quotes that I found through my memory in my studying in History via Linguistics papers at the University of Waikato.

1. With the new day come new strength and new thoughts by Eleanor Roosevelt.
2. Every day is a chance to begin again. Don’t focus on the failures of yesterday, Start today with positive thoughts and expectations. By Catherine Pulsifer – author.
3. Every moment is a fresh beginning. T S Eliot
4. New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings. Lao Tzu

Today the amount of burning fires covering about 10 million hectares around Australia than anywhere in the other countries in the past.  Many people found it is hard to believe the size of the burning lands. The last bush fire was in Siberian, and they lost 2.7 hectares the previous year.

There is a history of the bushfires in Australia dating back to 1851 – Black Thursday in the state of Victoria. They lost 5 million hectares over several weeks, and 12 people died. The temperature back in 1851 was 47C, according to the record held at the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. Here is the picture below.

There had been 12 worst bushfires dating back to 1851, including 2019-2020 in Australia. You can check out these 2 websites here – Forest Fires Management in Victoria, Australia

– Bushfires in Australia

The hardest thing that people may or may not know that there are many people/children with disabilities out there. I learned there were two Deaf families lost their farms, business and their contents even machinery equipment from the Facebook via Deaf Community group. I recently read many comments in the social media via Facebook by other D/deaf people struggle to understand what happens, where to find help, the need for Emergency evacuation by what kind of types of equipment because they can not hear the warning sounds, radio warning or door knocking etc.

The biggest problem was the lack of interpreter on breaking news through many social media such as a news channel. Not every Media Networks, they provide an interpreter along with Chief Police, Fire Officer, Civil Defense or the Prime Minister. Of course, many Deaf people are angry for the lack of interpreter on television because it is not accessible for them as communication through visual sign language instead of voice/speaking language. To my understanding that most Social Media does not own or provide a contract interpreter for all D/deaf people even elderly people.

It is impossible for any D/deaf people to lip read them if the speaker is not facing the camera or mumbling along while talking. We, Deaf people only pick up around 25-35% of lip reading.

For God sake! Put interpreter on ALL new media programme during the disaster event and do not leave the interpreter out when downsizing the camera screen and facing the speaker only. Of course, I am getting annoyed with the Australian Media for the lacking of providing an interpreter and leaving the interpreter out when camera downsizing to focus on the main speaker during the outbreaking news in Australia. Yes, there were captioning showing but not every D/deaf people even People First (people with learning disabilities) can not read or understand the whole sentence.

Did you know about the history of the bushfire in Australia or in any other countries? Do you understand why there is a danger of having a bush fire even feeling threaten by bushfire? Do you understand why there is a long drought anywhere in the world even in here soon? Have you ever learnt any history of bushfire, natural environment disasters at school? Perhaps it is time to persuade the Ministry of Education and teachers to set up a curriculum on history at school. We can teach any children and student to learn from the past to the future so we can avoid or to adapt the life-changing out there.

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile phones everywhere in the street, in cars, in the cafe, in the toilet room, on the bus even at home.

Good grief! It can be damn nuisances to see these young people, students, and adults using mobile for communicating out there on your sight.

This morning we went to Morrinsville to avoid the city of Hamilton for quick shopping, paying the bill for the person I am supporting and my mileage claim cheque at the bank. We decided to head out to a cafe for our morning tea, and we sat outside, looking out in the street.

Thinking about the past – how people communicate?

How difficult for many Deaf/Hard of Hearing people because of the barrier?

Here is what the telephone looks like many years ago.

These kinds of phones were permanently installed inside the house or in the phone booth. These phones can not be removed to take away when you are traveling to another city/town. Imagine the photo on the right – a boy was calling Santa during the 1940s. All Deaf people couldn’t hear over these kinds of phones because of no face to face. It was okay for you, people who can call and visited any of your family or friends. Many Deaf people take a car or bus to visit a friend or family on the other side of the town/city, but only to find their Deaf friends were not home, then to travel to another Deaf friend’s home. It was a waste of petrol, money if they were catching the bus and times.

Who really invented this type of phone?

It was Alexander Graham Bell along with Thomas Watson by 1876. Did you know that Alexander had a deaf mother – Eliza Grace Symonds Bell and his deaf wife – Mabel Hubbard? Did you know that Alexander was a teacher of the Deaf (also he was an engineer/inventor)? His mother and his wife were an audism by using lip-reading and speech therapy. Of course, no sign language!@

Moving forward with much new technology of communicating trends and it made people, including Deaf/Hard of Hearing people’s lives better and easier anyway in the world.

The problem is everyone is carrying with them by walking, driving and having a meal at the same time looking at the social media on the table. It is dangerous to send a text or chat over the mobile while driving the car. Where are the manners?

For us, we put our mobiles in the pocket or in my handbag when we go out shopping or to see the doctor. When my partner drives a car, he would pull over to the side lane/bream of the road and answer the call.

Yes, it made our lives better to communicate with Deaf people, staff, doctors, police, and family.  From old phones into fax machines, then mobile by using texts or voice over mobile and internet such as social media, twitters, Facebook, chat, messengers, emails, skype, video conferencing, and many other apps. Sadly not to all Deaf people who can not afford or their ‘funding applicant’ declined for any ‘wonderful’ communicating technology.

 

Waking up in the early hour of the morning!

Peeping through the glass window while having breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Mm, what is the next plan to do out in the extensive gardens?

Let sort out which projects I made a list to do over five years. To complete the new vegetable and herb garden or do weeding in the large centre flowers, native shrubs, and carpet roses garden or do the clearing of the old displaced house that to be disappearing by the end of the year?

What more can you or I do for the lovely beautiful day? Why should the lovely day spoil my plan or your plan? Fear not! I have the most extended holiday – four weeks leave, for I have not had any holiday throughout this year apart from having muscles/nerve flared up and bronchitis for a month due a wet season.

One of the big jobs that have been sorted and we will have to wait until the second week of January 2020. One tallest tree – gingko out in the cherries field for I called this field because five cherry trees bloomed light pink flowers each year. This gingko tree will be chopped down to the ground, for it is creeping toward the live power line that has 11kvolts. One most significant oak tree – one most extended branch will be prune hardback to the main trunk of the oak tree away from the power pole. Hooray, for I will not let Peter prune this tree. It is a dangerous job. Then the sunlight will be peeping through the future new garden, and a few fresh fruit trees in the soon-to-be disappeared house section. The third tree is a Euonymus, and it will be pruning down to the roof height. Who will be doing the tree jobs? Well, the WEL company arranged the arborists, and we will keep cut up woods for our fire heating and mulches for our gardens at no cost.

Mm, probably do the vegetables and herbs garden first because I need to make the compost bins made from old roof sheets of the displaced house. It is budget and recycled wise saver for any of you – the gardener who wishes not to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on the garden.

Oh, oh, what a fun way to do the gardening when you get stress or feeling annoying by a bad new or a bit of bother!

Ohh, what a sight of the rose garden blooming next to our bedroom window!

Must not get grumpy for the box hedges are not a complete set as Joseph the dog spoilt it by peeing few box hedges while Jazz ran inside the rose garden chasing rabbits. Mm, it is still looking nice and handy for me to walk inside the rose garden without lifting one leg over the box hedges.

Another day has gone past!  How flies fly out through the day into night!

Sigh, let rest and sleep through the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A time to think about Jesus and the family, especially God’s gift to everyone, including people with disabilities like myself!

I often get ‘pity’ or ‘feeling sorry’ for I am deaf by other people, BUT they do not actually realise Jesus gave me a gift – deaf among with other skills such as leadership, advocacy, mentoring, ability to do problem-solving etc. Whenever I meet new people, and I tell them that I am deaf. The new people gain some shock or disbelieve that I am not deaf because I speak if they do not sign to me.  I am happy that I was born deaf and got the ability to become independent from an early age to the present.  I do not need a cochlear implant or any other type of medical devices that make me hear better. Yes, I do have a pair of hearing aids, and I use for work, around the home and in the community. I know some of the people blame themselves or feeling guilty if their child or one of the members in the household when a child/person became a disability. Then they turn to look for a cure under medical/science. For example, my hearing partner – Peter suffered 28%-33% of burns during his bad experience with his ex-family in the past, and Peter also had two hip implants during his motorbike accident. He did not blame himself, and his past is no longer with him because his life is moving forward where Peter is happy and enjoying with our dogs and me in our home. Peter is on the journey by rebuilding the relationship with his son and his new family. That is a start from 2013 to present.

Everyone is different in their own lives! Not everyone is Christain, Muslim, even non-Christian or Atheists.

Wars and fighting around the world, people, including children, are starving, becoming more poverty, homeless and many other issues. The weather such as firestorm, tornado, heatwave, even a volcano erupted, play a significant impact on people’s lives and their homes, businesses where they lost everything.

We can not control Mother’s Nature in here, and we need to learn to live with this and change the way we do, e.g. chopping all the trees down and suddenly caused to have a landslip. We need to plant new trees to control the soils in the ground to prevent from landslip, for shelter/shades even to build a new home or furniture.

Reflected in 2019, it has been a rough start for anyone:

• bushfires in Australia, California, Europe
• the heatwave in Europe and Australia,
• violent storms in Asia, the volcano erupted recently in New Zealand
•  violent wars
• families and friends who lost their loved ones, including our family, lost an aunty.
•  the epidemic of measle in New Zealand, Samoa
•  the protesting over Brexit in the United Kingdom and Europe
• and many other issues around the world

Every early hour of the morning, I woke up to find a sunrise over our existing house and the new vegetable and fruit gardens. Count me blessings for I wonder what God provides a job for me to do before I start work. My faith is remaining strong and find a way to do the work for our home and garden, to assist people with disabilities even Deaf people, the people in the community whenever I go and visit, involve with many Advisory and Leadership groups.

Of course, some people often left me out or tend to forget about my turn to speak (sign)  during one of the Leadership meetings. Usually, not everyone took my advice that will work for them, sadly they choose somewhere else and often does not work or found a bit of problem.  I read one of the poems and here is one which is useful. It is called “Don’t Quit” by John Greenleaf Whittier.