Anyhow, enough about me and my online skills. Let me now tell you a bit about my "other side", the dark side. I have black hair, dark eyes and dark skin but wait there's more...... My princess name is "TooManyStilettos". I am professionally employed. I read non-fiction, biographies/ autobiographies, selected novels. I read newspapers while waiting for my skinny latte with half shot of vanilla made at 55 degrees Celsius. My daughters call me the Resident Geek and I speak English and Technology.
I am a humanitarian, ideas diva, I draw on fogged up windows; a powerful multi-tasker, I am a qwerty keyboard basher, and I am much more than it meets the eye. My life for now, revolves around work, daughters, volunteer work, consulting/website work and not necessary in that order. I do not smoke, and if you do, it’s cool - your life, your choices, and if you wish to blow your money in smokes, while killing yourself a bit each day, good on you. If you have children, there is a 43.6% chance that they will start smoking before the age of 14 (Source TBA - don't quote on on this one)
I am a mother to two beautiful daughters. My first born is turning 21 in August this year (2017), and my little one is 14 going on 25. My girls are my world, and I exist, because of them. It is not easy raising children on your own, but I think I am going a pretty good job. My 2 cents to other parents out there, when you want your children to do some work or you don't see them because they are confined to their smelly caves, just turn off or change the wi-fi password. They will surface along with some of your neighbours ;)
I believe in hard-work, honesty, integrity and my word. I am also a gifted napper. I can spell, and punctuate, but I suck at typing, although I have advanced to 3 fingers each hand from two finger typing.
I am a third generation Indian born and bred in Fiji. My forebears came to Fiji under the British Indentured System, under which some, 60,500 Indians were transported to Fiji between 1879 and 1916 to work in the plantations in Fiji. The British and other European colonial powers started the Indian indenture system in 1838, as a cheap source of labour to the colonies after African slavery was abolished in 1833. Under this system, some 1.2 million Indians were displaced from India to the colonies between 1838 and 1916. I have conducted a very extensive research on this subject, it took me a bit over 4 years to compile the data and publish it on a website. My research focuses on the 60,954 Indians who served their indenture in Fiji. My research website serves as a research tool and a knowledge-base and has been recognised by the National Library of Australia (Canberra). The website is constantly updated with information as it comes to hand and recently, I successfully uploaded the details of the Immigration Passes (similar to a Passport) of the Indentured Labourer's into a searchable database. The website is available especially for the descendants of the original Labourers who are passionate to find out more about their history and wish to verify their heritage. The website is available at www.Girmit.org-Acronym for Agreement
I can also change the washer in a leaking shower, check the level of oil, water in my car. Wipers blades torn, AutoCheap, sells them cheap, its very easy to replace it. I can differentiate between a mechanical and electronic issue in vehicles and when a car breaks down, I will be able to diagnose the problem - exaggeration alert, but I think I will know whether the issue is battery related, a fuse gone, or the starter motor playing up. This skill is particularly important when I take my car for servicing, because I know if my brake pads are gone or not. I know when the timing belt needs replacement. These skills were inherited from my first ever (unpaid) and later paid job in a wrecking yard. My position was titled, "Junior Parts Cleaner" and my job was to dissemble and wash parts using diesel - fyi diesel smells foul, petrol is much better. Therefore, my limited (enough) knowledge in the automotive mechanical space. I feel it’s important to mention that the wrecking yard was owned by a great man - my (late) Dad, I was also his Bookkeeper and "the Boss's dibber-dobber daughter", as very unprofessionally addressed by his other employees. I also believe that we are abusing the services of the lovely RACQ Roadside Assist Servicemen, for calling them to change a flat tyre, this is killing our tyre changing skills which I have been proficient in since the age of 14 - for real.
While having a shower, I am either thinking about the origin of the universe or crying while listening to Adele and James Blunt. I do not, I repeat, I do not play any musical instruments, I recently found out that an air guitar is not classified as a musical instrument.
I do not know how to swim - no need to repeat this. I am not a big fan of water in a large area. I prefer a bathtub and a shower more than a swimming pool. I blame my parents for for seemingly not recognizing swimming as an essential skill. My mother believed it was more important for me to learn Yoga and Dance from a "Guru" then wander around a public pool in a bathers.
FYI, I was born and raised in Fiji, and I lived next to the Pacific Ocean. In my pre-teens, I was collecting shells, when one of my uncles pushed me into the water and the fear of dying in water still remains. And to this I recite the adage, “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” (Mahatma Gandhi). I don’t have any enemies, however if fear is one, then I will leave it alone, so no swimming for me. Fear ! Guess who said “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” I suppose the Dark Side was a giveaway, it was of course the great Yoda. It’s a bit too deep for me – interpretation of quote, I shall not. I do not sniff on textas anymore - proud of myself for breaking this big bad habit. I do not have any convictions and I don't have any pending driving fines.
Some years ago, I was working at the Australian Aerospace as a Contract Administrator and managing maintenance contracts for the ARH Tiger and MRH90 Helicopters for the Australian Defence Force. I had a meeting at the hangers based in the backstreets near the Brisbane domestic airport. It is important for me to mention that the roads around the hangers are owned by the Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC). To cut the long story short, after a couple of weeks I was called in the HR Managers office who showed me a Speeding Fine, and since I entered the date and time of using the company car, it was tracked to me. I got fined for driving 95 in a 60 zone; but wait there is more…. I got another fine for the return trip by the same camera that was strategically placed on that spot, at that particular day and time to get me. They were after me, seriously why did the Police have to place a speed camera on infrastructure owned by BAC? Roads that are seldom accessed by the general public, but only by speeding drivers like me.
Anyhow, I got clocked 100 on my return back to the office (again it was 60 zone). I was in tears. I took ownership
– I could have said “it wasn’t me” but guilt was written all over my face. I paid $1200 in fines, in installments over 12 months and was given the option to either drive on 1 point for 1 year or have my driving license suspended for 3 months. I chose option 1 and for 1 year, I felt like I was Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy. If you are a member of our very fine, hardworking and underpaid Police Force, I have a lot of respect for you and I love your work - seriously no sarcasm intended; but on this matter, all I ask you is 'please explain'.
My gun license is current but I don’t own any firearms. I have a valid Australia Defence Force clearance I am a clay shooter and this can be an expensive hobby. I am a legal immigrant and came to Australia based on my skills, education and knowledge. I have paid a lot of tax to the Government and I call Australia home. I am of the opinion that Turnbull needs the boot, Hockey to come back, reinstall Abbot and game on. Okay maybe not Hockey. And my favourite dinosaur, Velociraptor.
My interest in the telecoms and data space is because I was once a Telstra retail outlet owner. I co-owned the shop with my former husband of 20 plus years, but after we got divorced, he decided that he wanted the shop and since my middle name is "Generous" I relinquished my share in the business and every other partnership I had with him. My favorite board game - Monopoly, winner, three years in a row from 1989 - 1991.When it comes to mobile operating systems, I am an android enthusiast. I believe that Apple is overpriced and secondly, I don’t like iTunes. I was an iOS/Apple user until Apple released iPhone 6 in September 2014, when I became a born again Android-er. It seemed to me that someone had rolled a rolling-pin over the iPhone 5 and made it flatter and taller which turned into an iPhone 6. So I bit the bullet and picked up the Samsung Galaxy Edge 4 from the shelf at the Store and never looked back. I still own two iPads, the 2nd Gen with my name engraved at the back and the iPad Air, I only use it to sporadically and lightly stalk people on the “Interweb” and for testing the responsive-ness of the sites that I build, on an iOS device/tablet. I am in love with my Samsung products/toys which includes my mobile device, the Samsung Galaxy S8+, I find it interesting that a mobile device can be used for so many things.
I use mine to tap and pay, use the universal remote app to control my TV, Foxtel and to get Michael moving. Michael is my vacuum cleaner.
I suppose it’s accurate to state that I use my mobile device 20% of the time to make and receive telephone calls and 80% for other things then calls. No one calls me (insert sad face here), I only talk to my daughters, my solicitor who I rather not talk to, my mother, brother and Telstra, because I always have issues with them, it’s either about incorrect billing and when my Wi-Fi speed drops below 30mbps. Yes you read it correct, my Wi-Fi speed averages 50mbps and up to 100mbps on the Ethernet, and that’s Cable 3.0.
This is super-fast considering NBN’s Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) which offers similar speeds and Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and Fibre to the Building (FTTB) is pretty sluggish at 25mbps average downloads. Even if you choose to pay for speed boost, your NBN service can never go faster than the maximum line speed available at your premises. This means for FTTN and FTTB, the maximum speed achievable on the NBN at your premises may be slower than the speeds offered by the “Very Fast or the Super-Fast Speed Boosts, meaning a speed boost will not improve the speed performance. My opinion on Australia's NBN - slightly low, misleading. Firstly, NBN Co justification as to why they were/are rolling out FTTN rather than FTTP, is, according to NBN Co, FTTP is too expensive for Australia, claiming that Australia is not on a level playing field with other countries that have FTTP - seriously ?
Their justification is based on population density. NBN Co says that Australia's low population density is at the main problem. NBN Co is correct in saying that Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul has high population densities, however they goes on to compare the population density of Singapore with the average population density of the whole of Australia. NBN Co fails to mention that 90 per cent of Australians — those people originally targeted with FTTP under Labor's NBN — are in cities and towns with relatively high population densities. Nobody wants to admit that the strategy changed with the change in the Government from the conception of NBN to its rollout. Secondly, their justification for not rolling our FTTP is because of the rollout cost. NBN Co has been crying for many years that the cost of FTTP will be $4000 (appox) per premise. This justification is misleading, since the past 3 years, the roll out practices for other benchmark countries have reduced the FTTP costs up to 40% . Why cant NBN Co validate their number against international benchmarks? Lets not go far, just across the Tasman, our friendly neighbour's, New Zealand operators have reduced their rollout costs by 44%. New Zealand's Chorus has indicated that that they have reduced the cost of deployment from about NZ$4400 in 2013 to about NZ$2800 in 2016. (Source: Tucker RS, (2017). [online] Available at: http://telsoc.org/ajtde/2017-03-v5-n1/a94.) Excellent research article by Rod Tucker from University of Melbourne - worthwhile read.
Moving on... bragging on... Let's get a cuppa tea and some popcorn shall we.
I have a 27 inch Samsung curved gaming monitor which I use for my website work, a tiny bit of Netflix and YouTube for informational activities, I must admit that YouTube can be very scheming as it deceits you into watching more videos and often an hour later of watching work-related DIY video, I am looking at “How to train your fish", when I dont even have a fish, if I had a fish I would eat it and not train it - thinking again, train a fish to do what? I love action movies and documentaries over chick flicks. I have been a fan of DC and Marvel since a child, and sometimes I believe that I am the 7th Avenger, a clumsy one of course. I have a collection of movie files in a couple of hard drives. My collection includes and is not limited to, Disney banned cartoons – these are from the days when the Characters used derogatory terms, and they smoked. I also have the entire collection of Mad Max, Die Hard, Monty Python, Fresh Prince of Bel Air and all other 80’s and 90’s classics.
What I dislike? I don’t like Kale, I never heard of Kale until 2015. Now Kale is like the biggest thing – ever ! I recently learnt that Kale was considered a weed (dominating and fast growing), however during the War, when food was scarce, Kale was eaten, despised but eaten. When things got better, no one ate Kale. Today, Kale is a “super-food”. I still love my spinach, which is also super tasty and super healthy – remember Popeye and his guns (biceps). Well that’s spinach for you, if you want some great spinach recipes, contact me, I know this absolutely divine spinach with lamb and coconut milk recipe which is to die for and I doubt you can find that on Google.
I loathe an affair, any form of extra-marital affair, it’s wrong on every level, there are no gains, no justifications, but it’s suffering for the other person in the marriage who has invested their life in it.
I dislike a lot of shows on TV including reality shows, where abuse is the prevalence, where people are being rude to each other and act crudely when exposed to stressful circumstances - although it could be staged, and I hope I share my sentiments with you, when I say that it will take a lot for me to compromise my standards, values, and class in the event if I was asked to portray an image of someone who I am not and will never be. Having said that, its TV's bread and butter, although "I am a Celebrity, get me out of here", didn't save Channel Ten. I honestly believe that the Opex led to the demise of Channel 10 and not to mention Julia Morris; but I shall not go there. I must admit that I watched the last session of Married at First Sight, then the Stripper left, John and the "Fruit loop" Deb who "really wanted to marry a Polynesian" left, then I left. That was enough reality TV for me. I like "Who wants to be a Millionaire" (me). I am not a big fan of Eddie but Millionaire without Eddie will be like a Lebanese without a cousin.
I don’t like camping, only because I cannot allow anything creepy crawling over me while I am asleep at night. I am not scared of spiders or scorpions, however, these little creatures confront you in your sleep, and I believe in fairness, I rather have a battle when I am awake. I prefer taking part in activities that are clean, and not soggy, muddy and I cannot have a communal bathroom. On this, I would like to stress that I have done my share of “camping” type of activities when I was in Fiji. I am probably the best camp fire lighter that you have ever met. Everyone in Fiji has a wood oven in their backyard for cooking and so did my mother and I have prepared the fire, and cooked in an open fire. Other than that, I have also collected firewood – not from a forest but loaded them in my father trailer from a Timber dealer.
Music – yes, I love listening to it – its therapeutic and food for soul or something like that. I am allergic to cats. I am a sucker for lame jokes. I collect vinyls. Currently my vinyl collection includes, all originals, including Ghostbusters, ABBA, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, 1986 Way to Go, with Jimmy Barnes, David Bowie, Pseudo Echo, Robert Palmer, Billy Ocean and so many more. If you have vinyls, let's haggle, or I challenge you in scissors paper, rock. I win, I take the record and you clean my car; you win, I get to drive you to the airport when ever you need to go to the airport.
Music – yes, I love listening to it – its therapeutic and food for soul or something like that. I am allergic to cats. I am a sucker for lame jokes. I collect vinyls. Currently my vinyl collection includes, all originals, including Ghostbusters, ABBA, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, 1986 Way to Go, with Jimmy Barnes, David Bowie, Pseudo Echo, Robert Palmer, Billy Ocean and so many more. If you have vinyls, let's haggle, or I challenge you in scissors paper, rock. I win, I take the record and you clean my car; you win, I get to drive you to the airport when ever you need to go to the airport.