Wombats and cents

Wombats on the move

In an effort to reduce costs (especially since I am so rarely posting anything these days - sorry about that), I have decided to move Wombats and Cents to a new home.  From now on you should be able to find it, including all of the archives, at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/.

Land of contrasts

It has been an interesting summer here in Melbourne.  We spent most of the summer trying to keep out of the oven hot temperatures with the hair dryer winds, including three consecutive days in the mid 40s (that's around 110F) with high winds.  In the months of January and February we received only a few mm of rain in Melbourne (normal is about 80-90mm for that period).  At the start of February there was a further windy 40+ day followed by a windy cool change that resulted in the deadliest and most destructive forest fires in Australia's history...

This post has been moved.  You can read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2009/04/land-of-contrasts.html

Hard to judge how rational the fear is

A recent article in Salon.com about peanut allergy got my goat.  Here's my reaction.

Fear is only irrational if it is out of proportion to the risk. The problem with peanut allergies is that, for many of us, it is difficult to assess the risk of us or our children becoming severely ill or dying from exposure to peanuts. Certainly, for some people, the risk became quite obvious the first time they or their child was rushed to the emergency room, but for many others the allergy is identified in relation to treating less sensational threats, like eczema or asthma. For those people identified through skin prick tests or blood tests as likely to have an allergy, or those who had a reaction to eating peanuts that was not confirmed by a physician, assessing the risk is decidedly more fuzzy...

This post has moved.  Read the rest of the post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2009/02/hard-to-judge-how-rational-fear-is.html

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

I became an Australian citizen this week.  The final step in the citizenship process is a public ceremony in which I pledged allegiance to Australia and received a certificate of citizenship and an Australian native plant.  It had the solemn feel of a school commencement ceremony, and it was a commencement of sorts.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2008/03/aussie-aussie-aussie.html

Mix and match your duplo

Semi trailer with excavator like the ones we saw when they pulled down the house on the corner - using truck base from cement truck kit, wheel base from Lofty kit, caterpillar tracks from Muck kit, back hoe and cabin from Scoop kit, warning sign base from one of the Bob the Builder sets to provide the articulation between the truck and the trailer, generic pieces, and rubber bands to create the loading ramp.

I've always known that lego (and now duplo, its larger cousin) was a fantastic toy.  With a few blocks and a little imagination you can create a stunning array of things, from pretend power drills to guitars with strings to pluck (granted, not with particularly good tones).  With the addition of a few specialized pieces picked up from the Legoville collections or Bob the Builder sets, you've got everything you need to create an extensive array of construction equipment.

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2008/02/mix-and-match-your-duplo.html

Wanted: waffle maker

In seven years of living Australia I have seen specialized electrical equipment designed for a single purpose, such as cooking pizza, cooking sausages, baking donuts (aren't donuts supposed to be fried), grilling sandwiches, boiling rice, grinding coffee, making coffee, or baking bread.

So why is it that I can't find a waffle maker in this country?

This post has moved.  Read the entire post at http://wombats-and-cents.blogspot.com/2008/01/wanted-waffle-maker.html