Penny - Commercial Diver

Yep.. My latest title to my list of jobs!

Who would have thought sitting there with my Careers Advisor in school that Commercial Diver would be on the list!

I completed my Commercial Dive course over a year ago with the idea to use it in support and body double work in films.  This intention faded as quickly as the Australian dollar did the same thing to the American dollar leaving it in the shade as the Australian currency made it too expensive for American production companies here.

I wanted to get out of the Recreational Dive industry here as an Instructor, so Commercial Diving seemed a logical fork in the diving career.

So it was with surprise that I received a call asking if I was free for a week to undertake Commercial Diving work.

Without hesitation I answered 'yay!' (and that wasn't because I was asked to spend the week with a bunch of buoys!).  My 'job' at the moment is a 3 day one (highly flexible on the day front) for minimal wage and for commission, selling advertising space on the local online newspaper.  I also worked an extra 2 'free' days for them last week so there wouldn't be any objections to me taking the week off.

And so I rock up last Saturday night ready for my new job and adventure.... with a bit of trepidation as the weather forecast was 25-30 knot winds and high waves for the week... and the boat didn't look so big too me!


........... Will update this in a few days.. I will leave you with some pics to carry you through.....

The boat awaits 'Viking' or commonly known as 75581QC

Also awaiting 25-30 knot winds and high waves... like being on the set of The Perfect Storm

Standard view from the back deck of the boat - laying the moorings and checking moorings and buoys

Back deck view as the storm subsides..

Just an idea of size.. the hard eye with my soft hand!

The back deck looking like a giant macrame puzzle

Michaelmas Cay - strange irony - was here in 1990 doing a Discover Scuba Diving Experience - how strange that 23 years later I would be back working as a Commercial Diver!

Lizard Island.. the island for the jet set and the famous.. don't know what I was doing there!  Ah yes... cleaning, installing and inspecting their buoys

Coming back into Cairns after the week.. all hands on deck.. or bums on counters as the case may be

Collateral damage - aching, bruised (where I slipped down the stairs),  and my hand literally 'popped' on the last afternoon as I was pulling in a rope of the tender (the boat behind) and it got caught with my hand... soft flesh, inanimate object in small space with a sudden velocity of 20mph of inanimate object.  Literally squeezed the fat out of my hand!  Went to the hospital on the return and they cut off the fat.  So I even got liposuction to my thumb!

Some tips on life...

This follows on with the flow of my thoughts from my last post.... I wish I could paint tattoo these on my arm... so I can be reminded every day that to wake up is a good day!

Written by a 90 year old

This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it..

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

11. It's OK to let your children see you cry.



12. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it...

14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

17. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

22. The most important sex organ is the brain.

23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

25. Always choose life.

26. Forgive but don’t forget.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does..

31. Believe in miracles.

32. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

33. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

34. Your children get only one childhood.

35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.

39. The best is yet to come...

40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

41. Yield.

42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

The oldest youngest person I knew.. in memoriam

This is my Great Aunt Joan who died this week.

She was the most inspirational woman that I know, despite pain, blindness and problems breathing later in life she always sounded like a twenty year old on the phone full of happiness and joy.. she died aged 93.

When I last saw her she said "Penny, life is short, enjoy it as much as possible as when you get to my age it is what you look back on".  I always said to her that she was the youngest oldest person I knew.  It made me realise life and age is about your outlook and being young is not a number, Joan proved that to me.

She never talked about her problems and did her best not to let people know that she couldn't see and didn't like inconveniencing anyone.  She was one of the first policewomen in the UK and was an early light in burning a path for other women to work in the police force. She married  my great uncle (she was 20 years younger) and then lived an exciting colonial lifestyle in Africa.  She never had children but my connection with her I felt like she was my second Mother.

When my actual Mother died I thought a lot about the meaning of life.  As I found journals and journals when I was clearing out my parent's house.  Pages and pages of her life, all neatly written in her beautiful handwriting.  Journals about looking after my Grandma, Journals about shopping lists, her campaigns and her life... too many books to put in a suitcase and take back to Australia or to my sister's.  So we read them to each other and then they were consigned to the recycling skip.  How that haunted me... her words.. her thoughts.. just .... gone.

I think there is writing DNA in my blood.  The need to write, account, to express, wonder, explain, just to feel that words somehow fill a life.   I have no children, no real relatives that will one day sit and look at my journals.. and so this blog kind of fills a void.

I live here with no confidantes, I never was bought up to confide in anybody, everything I experienced was kept within my skin and memory.  This blog is for me a testimony that I did actually live, that through life's rollercoaster my writing is a cathartic expression of what is happening to me.

I hope I write to explore, to shine, to query, to wonder, perhaps some of what I write is too near the bone and putting oneself 'on the line' is too near the line.

But somehow being alive to me is about expression, experiencing and emotions.  This blog is a testimony to a small life... mine.  It's not so interesting, important or entertaining, but at least a few words can make me feel that I am living it... 

Concert Going..

We don't get much in the terms of quality entertainers coming to Cairns.. the nearest they get to where I am is Brisbane - About 2,000 kms away!

But we have been privileged recently to have

Jimmy Cliff........

If you don't know who it is you will definitely know the songs.

Many Rivers to Cross
I Can See Clearly Now
You can Get it if you Really Want
The Harder They Come

He is 65 and still bounding over the stage.. almost at one point tripping over the Feedback speakers in front of me and me only cursing that I didn't have my video on my iphone filming it.

I was positioned right at the front, but have to say I was very disappointed with the quality of photo taken in poor light condiions with my iPhone.  The best effort I could come up with was the picture below.

The concert itself was wonderful he exuded music through every pore and in the venue that was a lot of sweaty pores.  With not a fan in the place in the tropical heat and 500 people dancing to the Jamaican reggae beats, we got to feel totally in the tropical groove.. including wiping away the waterfall of sweat drops cascading down my face and trying not to stick to the sweaty person gyrating next to me.

And then followed two weeks later.. Chris Isaaks graced Cairns Convention Centre.

3,000 people with not a spare seat  His classics, Wicked Game, Blue Hotel and a cover of Ring of Fire, it's one thing hearing his amazing voice on radio, but seeing him live really is a total 3D experience.  He is such an endearing man - even encouraging people to come up and take photos of him "better to take photos now, as I won't be looking any better towards the end of the night".

I had taken my Canon 300D SLR camera with me (not trusting that iPhone quality any more).  I had also attached my telephoto lens... which had been fostering some tropical mould on the inside of the glass lens.  Despite keeping it in the freezer it was still prevalent, but luckily on a long zoom, the mould on the inside doesn't notice.. whew.. so this was the first time that I had used it.

Ironically, I managed to get right down to the front and was literally standing at his feet - so close that if I had used my camera it would have only shown a pimple on his nose.  At one point he looked down directly at me and all I could limply say as I felt a bit embarrassed was 'hello'... well what else can one do?

If you are wondering who I am going with.. well Jimmy Cliff was indeed with my imaginary friend.  My friend Clarissa (a girl that I last saw when we were 17 and I found out she lived locally and we have now become firm friends!) found out that it was standing room only and since she had had a recent back operation was unable to make it, so I was able to sell her ticket.

For Chris Isaaks I went with Clarissa and her husband.  Whilst Clarissa and her husband stayed in the seats I was boogying out at Chris's feet.... so it was lovely to go with company..  It's funny that my time in Port Douglas most of my friends have been couples... just call me 'Spare Wheel Pen'.

I was so close that all I could offer up when he looked at me was a weak 'hello'

He went off for a wander among the crowd.  He sat on one lady's lap who whispered in his ear 'your getting heavy'  and she wasn't talking about his type of music!

Even his guitar is named after him!

A mirrored suit.. let's hope he doesn't break it.. 7 years bad luck

His cover of 'Ring of Fire'

The echo of Stevie Lingers on...

Despite getting on with life and trying not to think too much about what's happening with Stevie in Finland.. keep seeing reminders of him everywhere haha!

Stevie set the trend...

So what am I doing now?

Well, now that the Stevie Saga is over.... back to reality.. what am I doing now.. well this is just the cursory list:


Product range
Natural Repellent and product range

Mud Spa Products
Development for local spas

Driftwood Sculptures

Concierge Service
Getting off the Ground with two friends (though I seem to be doing all the work)

Fairy Rose Bud
Yep.. me as a fairy and doing face painting at children's parties and on the market

Dive Hair Accessory
My new invention for diving.. about to be launched

Marriage Celebrant
Chasing up for my registration documents from the Attorney General's office so I can practice and start marketing myself  - especially since I am the marriage celebrant at a friend's wedding in September!

Artworks
Artworks and paintings by me.. some giclee and some painted by me

Model
Still trying to get acceptable photos to the agency.. though have attended one catwalk training session. No don't think I have gone all vain... my friend was contacted as they needed some more 'mature' models on their books... not sure if they meant mature in mind.. but hey... give anything a go once!

Yes, I 'm busy.. but not much money coming in!


And yes.... I am still searching for  a 'proper' job...

Bon Voyage Stevie!

As I type this now.. Stevie is on the plane on his way to Finland.. to the girl that he loves and that is having his baby.

I hadn't seen him since our return from Tolga and since he was ill Saturday night, Sunday night.. and he was leaving Tuesday, Monday night time was moving on.

I did kind of force the issue on Monday... me and my tenaciousness tch tch!

I rang him on the afternoon of Monday and he said he was feeling better but running around sorting out last minute things and we would meet up later that night (yeehah! methinks)

I text him at 5.00 saying that he could come round to dinner and watch a movie.

His reply '2 sick gunna stay home still got a bit 2 do might c ya when I get back ok take care :-P stevo


My reply in my mind.. fuck that!    My reply in text:

That's a shame.. Hope u feel better tomorrow.  Would have liked to have seen u before u left but I understand.  I will try and call you.  Find texts a bit impersonal to say goodbye :)B

Then he calls me.... at around 7.30pm to say that he has finished and is at home.

So I say I will come over to say goodbye.

I get in the car and whizz over the 10km to Cooya Beach to see him.

On the way through the driving rain on the road before his house (which is usually a 120km speed road) I luckily see in time a white object in the middle of the road.  I swerve in time to avoid it and then think..."that was a strange shape"... I reverse up and get out of the car and see.....

The very tame Barn Owl.. with a death wish

As I move toward it, it just stands there.. even when I pick it up it doesn't move.  I am worried that it has a bad wing so I place it in the car and drive round the corner to Stevie's house.

When I arrive Stevie comes to have a look so we are both standing there once I managed to locate the owl who was well tucked up in the footwell.  He was happily perched on my fingers and arm and even poised for a photo!

Then when Stevie took him on the flat of his hand and lifted up his arm ... it just casually stretched its wings and off it flew!  So no need to ring the animal rescue place.


I spent a pleasant hour with Stevie and then he walked me to the car (didn't want to outstay my welcome).  He kissed me on the cheek and said goodbye.. I kept my face up which he knows means that I want a kiss on the lips.. which he duly gave me - well, I do consider something a little more personal and intimate for a goodbye than a cursory kiss on the cheek!  I uttered a 'well we had some fun' and with dignity got in my car and drove away.  

Steve joked to text him if I saw the owl again.

I turned the corner from his house (50m) away and there at the side of the road (I suppose better than the middle!) was the owl.  I was concerned about this owl's complete lack of road sense, especially since Stevie said that he had seen the owl before hanging around the roads.  I didn't want this owl to end up as road kill, so I approached it again with an idea to perhaps get it repatriated away from roads.  But I think he took one look at my face thought 'not that bleedin mad woman again' and he retreated by walking in awkward owl waddle into the long grass of the verge, where I left him.

No sooner had I got home my phone went - it was Stevie.... can I give him a lift to the airport tomorrow!

So much for fond farewells!

So the next morning I go round to pick him up and take him the hour drive to Cairns airport.

We had a coffee and a pleasant time and then... yep.. that time to say goodbye AGAIN!

I girded my loins and said 'right I'm off now' we stood up.. I proffered my cheek... to kiss... whereupon he turned my face to kiss me on my lips... I felt tears whelling said..a goodbye and good luck (in not too much of a high pitched voice) and walked off head held high, whilst frantically looking for the exit which I couldn't find.. and was so worried that I walked off the wrong way .. and then would have to walk back with my head held by as I have to walk back passed him again and then say another wavy goodbye.   Luckily the exit was in the direction that I turned so I could make a clean directional movement with just my back view disappearing off.....(I had purposely worn a silky dress with an open plunging back as I know how much he liked my back.. so knew my rear view retreating would be good... though thinking about it now.. he was sitting with his back to my retreat.. oh well!).


I don't know what the real story is with him.. he opened his wallet up at the coffee bar and there is a picture of him next to a picture of his Finnish girlfriend.  Also in his bedroom there is a picture of him and his girlfriend in a frame on the sideboard.  I know that he loves her, but can't be with her.. but with a baby on the way.. who knows.  I said for him not to bother to contact me and then U turned and said 'you know how to contact me'.  He hasn't got a return ticket, so what will happen in 6 months is anyone's guess when he said he will return.  So whether he comes back sooner or later than that.. well... time will tell.

I know what you are thinking... so what does his girlfriend look like?... Well.. to be honest and objective I have to say I wasn't too impressed.  She is definitely blond, a bit heavy set, but certainly not a girl that you would immediately from her image say was stunning or beautiful... 

So Stevie and me, yes, he was a bit of a loose cannon for obvious reasons, but despite the shortness of our relationship I have to say that finally I found a man who I so enjoyed being with.. his nickname for me was Sooki lala' and he called my bottom 'Fred'. We laughed together and he was open in communicating his feelings and we somehow did click mentally and physically.  He was never shy in extolling my good points.. even enthusing to his brother how smooth my skin was.. and I had them both 'wowing!!' as they felt my skin. I was a little more coy when he extolled with equal enthusiasm 'and guess how old she is..you'll never guess!' not only to his brother.. but all the frequenters of the local hostelry!   He came out with how beautiful he thought I was and loved my bum, my back, my tum (eeek!), my legs, my skin.. and loved it when I tied my hair back as it showed off my face.  He would ensure that when we arrived in a bar that I had a stool or a seat (and no... not because if I got drunk it meant I didn't fall over).  He liked my nails painted pink and loved when I wore ladylike dresses (didn't experiment with wearing my hair in a bun and donning spectacles!). There was a comfort between us, and I felt like he could accept me for who I was.. He was also inciteful and many a time he would say something and he would hit the nail on the head on how I was feeling without me expressing it. Despite his rough diamond upbringing he had a sensitive, open, intelligent side and a good moral code. Yep.. going to miss him...



I wondered about the symbolism of the owl on our last night of meeting up....

The Owl is at home in the night. It has great awareness of all that is around it at all times. It has predator vision, which means it sees clearly what it looks at. It has great intuition: it is the totem of psychics and clairvoyants. It has the courage to follow its instincts. Owl's medicine includes seeing behind masks, silent and swift movement, keen sight, messenger of secrets and omens, shape-shifting, link between the dark, unseen world and the world of light, comfort with shadow self, moon power, freedom.

Owls symbolize wisdom, the ability to see things that are hidden, stealth, swiftness, darkness, freedom, dreams, shape-shifting, secrets, omens, clairvoyance, astral projection, magick, deception, observation, total truth, night, death and misfortune. They are connected to the Underworld and the Moon. They are connected to The Goddess in general, as well as Athena, Mari, Lilith, Anath, Gwynn ap Nudd, Blodeuwedd, Yama and Cailleach. Barn Owl: Barn owls are the ones who see without seeing and hear without hearing; the ones who can hear what is not spoken and ones that see things without physical sight

Not quite sure what that means... but hopefully the death bit can be ignored or maybe it signifies an ending.


This was a song that both Stevie and I love.... it's a really happy sounding song but with rather sad undertones of losing someone in your life..  Somewhat apt as Stevie soars to the snows of Finland...