Shrinking Earth's Age - an Interesting Perspective

Years ago I was doing a TAFE course and part of it required a certain level of typing speed. We used a program, I think it was called Type Quick or something, and this was one of the texts we typed. I took a copy of the text.

IF WE UNDERSTAND THIS CAN WE CHANGE?

Planet earth is 4,600 million years old.
If we condense this inconceivable time span
into an understandable concept, we can liken
Earth to a person of 46 years of age.
Nothing is known about the first 7 years of
the life of this person, and whilst only
scattered information exists about the middle
span, we know that only at the age 42 did the
Earth begin to flower.
Dinosaurs and the great reptiles did not
appear until one year ago, when the planet
was 45.  Mammals arrived only 8 months
ago; in the middle of last week man like apes
evolved into ape like men, and at the
weekend the last ice age enveloped the Earth.
Modern man has been around for 4 hours.
During the last hour, Man discovered
agriculture.  The industrial revolution began
a minute ago.
During those sixty seconds of biological
time, Modern Man has made a rubbish tip of
Paradise.
He has multiplied his numbers to plague
proportions, caused the extinction of 538
species of animals, ransacked the planet for
fuels and now stands like a brutish infant,
gloating over this meteoric rise to
ascendancy, on the brink of a war to end all
wars and of effectively destroying this oasis
of life in the solar system.
Zaijian and cheers.

I always found this text fascinating and kind of sad. It's taken me months to crawl through my files to find this. I've never seen it anywhere else and honestly it's sadder now than it was, because I was learning to type using this program in 2004. Little has changed since.

Planner Trackers for Bible Reading

 So with 2025 just around the corner I wanted to do my planner trackers. I plan this every year and never use them so this year I got started a few weeks ago and began making my own, customised to what I want, in the hopes that I'll actually use it.

One of the trackers I can never find and have decided to make is a proper Bible reading tracker. I want to do more reading this year and so have created some pages to help me.

One tracker is just to make journal notes about what scripture I've read and what my thoughts were. I wanted it to suit any plan I was doing so I kept it generic.

However I come across bible verses quite a bit and never get to track what I've covered already. My verse of the day email, the bible plan I'm doing, what verses are covered in mass, and the ones I just come across day-to-day. To track those I've created a way to cross off just the verses I've read, coloured in like a habit tracker.

Below is a sample. I'm in the middle of creating them all as PDF files. With one book as a PDF file. As I create them I'll add them up here. So far I've only done the first three books.

 

There are many lovely trackers to cross off or track whole books but none for chapters or verses, at least not that I've found. So many plans jump around a lot so I wanted something that would cover everything. If you want them in Chapter format, I've done that in full first because it was easier. The verse trackers are time consuming to create so I'll add them as I create them. As of December 2024 there are only 3 for now.

They're plain so that you can add your own style to them. They're A4 formatted but PDFs can convert to A5 pretty easily if needed. Each link is a separate PDF which should open in a new window so you don't lose this page.

I'm also aware there are different books in some versions of the Bible. If you want an added book just leave a comment with info and I'll try and add it. I may not be able to add things right away but I'll definitely try.

For the chapter tracker I've included the Apocrypha at the end as a separate page. If you don't want it just skip the last page.

Bible Chapter Tracker

Verse Tracker - 1 Genesis 

Verse Tracker - 2 Exodus 

Verse Tracker - 3 Leviticus 

Update: July 2025

Here are the next few.

Verse Tracker - 4 Numbers

Verse Tracker - 5 Deuteronomy

Verse Tracker - 6 Joshua

Home Made Cosmetics - Toothpaste, Shampoo & Conditioner

It's been a while since I posted but I've finally got something new to talk about and that is home made cosmetics (and is quite long to make up for my silence lately). Recently I was on Facebook and came across a link a friend had shared from a blog called "Trash is for Tossers". This particular link included a video of a woman making her own toothpaste.

Making your own toothpaste is something I've tried in the past. As a general rule Baking Soda (or Bi-Carb Soda to those of us in Australia) is a basic ingredient for quite a number of home made cosmetics and this is also true for homemade toothpaste. The downside however is that bi-carb soda is quite salty and I abandoned the notion some time ago, not liking the flavour at all.

However all is not lost... this new recipe included two extra ingredients. Coconut oil, of which the incredible number of uses are still being discovered, and peppermint oil. These two extra ingredients make using homemade toothpaste far more pleasant and whilst the bi-carb soda is still quite salty but the coconut oil makes it much easier to put on your toothbrush and it also gives it more structure, allowing you to add the peppermint oil (or another oil if you are so inclined). I tried this new combination just last night and found the results to be far more enjoyable and it made my teeth feel just as clean as regular toothpaste.

To make:  1 tablespoon of bi-carb (baking) soda, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (consumable grade), and 10-20 drops of peppermint oil or another oil you like the taste of. Mix well.

There are two important things to note when using this recipe:

1. Use 100% ESSENTIAL oils! Whilst you can buy cheap oils for candle burners this is going in your mouth so ensure you get oils labelled as '100% essential' from a reputable source. A rose oil in this form will not be pure and is a good way to test. Rose oil is incredibly expensive and essential oil companies put it in a base such as jojoba. If the brand doesn't do this check with the seller that it's safe to use in this way. Cheap oils can be incredibly toxic.
2. Coconut oil can be a pain to work with. Too cold and it goes as hard as a rock and it's difficult to mix the ingredients. I got around this by putting one bowl on top of another with some hot water in between. Within 10 minutes the oil was soft enough to work with and mix properly. If you live in a hot climate put the mixture in the fridge a few minutes before using it to retain some structure.

This is it for homemade toothpaste however not for bi-carb soda. Bi-carb soda, as I mentioned, is used quite regularly for homemade cosmetics and coconut oil is becoming more and more popular. These two ingredients bring me to homemade shampoo and conditioner.

Original Link to recipe: http://www.trashisfortossers.com/2015/04/why-i-make-my-own-toothpaste.html?spref=fb

  _______________________________

Now on to Shampoo and Conditioner. Both can be just as expensive as toothpaste (and I'll give a little about cost at the end of this post) but once more trust bi-carb soda comes to the rescue. I used to use this regularly and found that the combination of the two (shampoo and the homemade conditioner) was very good at treating the dandruff I was plagued with at the time. I went through around 8 different expensive treatments before I tried this and within a week it was gone. My theory is that because I had moved to an area where the water's PH level was different that the balance on my scalp was all messed up. These recipes fixed it very quickly and even when I stopped using it the issue did not return nearly as badly.

Shampoo: 1 tablespoon of bi-carb soda to a cup of water. Pour over the head and rub around. This does feel odd and does take some practice. It feels very weird to not have any lather and getting all the water in the right places at first is quite difficult so I made a bottle of it (using the same ratio) and poured it over. This way if I missed it didn't matter. Use cool to luke warm water so the bi-carb soda doesn't get clumpy.

Conditioner: 1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to 1 cup of water. This is used the same way as the shampoo and whilst it smells strong in the shower there is almost no scent left over (and I have quite a strong sense of smell). Again this is pure liquid and takes practice. I also chose to leave this for a minute before washing it out.

And there you have it. Three recipes involving simple ingredients which are far cheaper than what we buy, contain less chemicals, and are very easy to make. There are variations on all of these (I've read versions for conditioner which also include coconut oil) but these are the basics. Have a look around. It's far simpler to make your own cosmetics than you'd think and the amount of money saved is extraordinary.

         As a final breakdown here is a cost approximate (using Australian dollars from the Coles Online website):
                    Bicarb Soda - 2.64/500g
                    Coconut Oil -  7.14/300g (unrefined)
                    Peppermint Oil - 15.99/25mL
         If you buy all these ingredients you could probably make a minimum of about 40 lots of the recipe (with variations). This breaks down to about 64c/lot and I would guess you could probably get about 20 lots of teeth brushing out of a lot (depending of course on how much you want to use). Twenty would make it 3c each time you brush your teeth.
         Regular toothpaste on the other hand costs a minimum of $1.43/100g and you may get 20 brushes out of a tube that small making it about 7c per time.

Now these costs are a pure estimation. However look at the bi-carb soda. Even if you only get 20 tablespoons in a box (and I'd guess there are probably about double that in a box) then each wash of your hair is going to cost you 13c. Shampoo is FAR more expensive than this with the average bottle costing more like $5-10 depending on the brand. Not to mention the chemicals included. Personally I like being able to pronounce the ingredients I put in my mouth or on my skin on a regular basis. Colgate was recently advertising bleach in their toothpaste! It's just my opinion but the 10 minutes it took me to make that toothpaste is priceless in comparison to putting bleach in my mouth. I think I'll stick with this.

Typewriter

I have been given a new typewriter recently as a birthday/Christmas present from my father. Very cool except...I broke it. In my excitement and haste to unpack it I forced the carriage which no longer advances on its own. Grrr. Now I feel quite stupid and instead of just buying a new ribbon I have to get it fixed.

Sadly I live in Australia (a couple of hours from Sydney) and thanks to Australia being classified as Mars to most people, particularly the US postal service, I now have the fun challenge of finding someone who can either teach me how to fix it or fix it for me. Any helpers?

My idiocy aside I love owning a typewriter and can't wait to get it working. Don't get me wrong I love my laptop and I really love going online to browse for new tips and information but I'm always afraid my computer is going to crash and I'm going to lose everything. I like to write stories and though I am a pure coward in that I have only ever let people read one short one-shot of Harry Potter fanfiction I would be utterly devestated if anything I wrote were to be lost. Hence my wish for a typewriter. With a typewriter I can type everything straight onto paper and put it in a folder to be found even if we get one of our many blackouts or grab during Australia's super-fun bushfires (seriously I hate bushfires). Typewriters may have their downsides (no backspace for example) but stuff doesn't get corrupted or crash like with a laptop. It's there, safe and sound, until I throw it out. Now I just have to fix mine so I can actually use it.

Oh...it's a Brother Deluxe 760TR if anyone can help.

New Journey

Wow post number 1. I have no idea how far this will go but I figured this was good to document. Long ramble short I'm on a new road to try and become more self sufficient. There are many reasons why I want to do this but the key ones are:

1. I think we're too reliant on supermarkets and stores.
2. I think we produce too much waste
3. I think we're all too removed from what it actually takes to produce the things we use.

Simply put I don't like being ignorant. I prefer to be more aware of what it is I use, the impact it as on my life and the environment and I finally I really like being creative. In this case I don't mean imaginative but literally creative. I am someone who likes to make things and I actually do know how to make candles and journals but want to learn more.

I also have to admit that I have a bit of a prepping streak but that's not all of why I want to do this. It is partially a prepping thing and partially an environmental thing but it's also a logic thing. I doubt I will ever be one of those people who has zero waste or one bag of garbage a year but I hate unnecessary waste. It seems ridiculous to me, for example, to buy a razor every single time when you can just replace or sharpen the blade on a razor. Why replace the entire thing each time? I doubt I'll stop buying toothpaste (though I'm willing to try out new things) but there is no reason for me to buy popcorn when I can get it in a jar without the waste and make my own in 2 minutes.

Finally I like the option to do things differently if I ever need to. For many this is a SHTF scenario (prepping) but it can also be useful during ordinary blackouts, which we get a lot of in my town, or even just during a camping trip. For example why would I take plain and self-raising flour on a camping trip when I can take a little baking powder to make self-raising flour if I want it. Saves me some space and still gives me what I want.

So that's what this is going to be. A place to document all the things I come across that I consider interesting and useful. I doubt I will post everyday but hopefully I will post things others like too. Sometimes I may not post for a few weeks and sometimes I may post 5 things I've found which I think are cool and other times I may just post a challenge I'm experiencing. Either way it will be interesting to document what I find here and if it helps others then it's bonus.

Let the journey of 2015 begin. :)

I do not undestand this planet...too many contradictions!

Another article, another instance of my mind going too fast for me to handle without writing some of it's thoughts down. The article is in the December 10-11 Weekend Australian Magazine and is speaking of the debate regarding Raw (unpasteurised) milk.

Humans have drunk milk for centuries and yet now, in only the past 100 years or so, we've somehow come to the conclusion that we must, at all costs, only drink milk that has been pasteurised. Why? Well honestly I have no idea.

This recent article is only the latest instance in a long list of things that I find completely baffle me these days. Everyday I find another contradiction, another regulation, another seemingly obvious solution to something that the public and government find impossible. I look back at decades like the 50's and realise that in the 50-60 years since we have changed so many things and yet benefited little.

Here are just some of the things I find very puzzling:

• We obsessively regulate some things (such as milk) and not others (like the number of hours doctors work).
• We force pilots to take breaks but put doctors and nurses (who are there to keep us from dying at our most critical moments) on 24 hour shifts and longer.
• We bombard ourselves and our children with images of sweets, fatty and salt food items (many of them snacks).......and then wonder why obesity, heart disease and diabetes are on the rise.
• We tell our children we are fine the way we are but tell ourselves and teens that a)everyone who is different is bad whether it be different ethnicity, religion, social class etc
• and b) that everyone must conform to a figure from a photograph in a magazine which has been significantly altered. Then we wonder why children fight and why depression and eating disorders are on the rise
• We make children sit down from the age of 5 to at least 16 (or beyond) during their most impressionable and habit-forming years and then wonder why obesity is on the rise and why they are not healthy.
• We force children to learn in a single way (sitting down, taking notes and reading) and then wonder why not all people learn as well.
• We tell children to tolerate others and then attack other countries for being a different faith or background.
• We tell ourselves that money can't buy happiness but spend out entire lives trying to get it, win it or apply for it.
• We say that it's not about material goods but about the things like family, health and happiness and then give ourselves messages that all involve the newest craze to give to a family member, improve our health or bring us happiness.
• We say there are no jobs and yet health is in crisis, housing is in crisis, some roads are appalling, education is appalling and we do not have enough people trying to improve technology to be more environmentally efficient.
• And finally....we go on and on about the environment but we make agreements to begin in 10 years or more and continue to do things just as we did before.

Ok...so there are more than a couple but this list is just the tip of the iceberg and it shows how completely illogical we can be as a species. Personally I find it very sad and incredibly frustrating. I feel despair when I read of yet another person becoming so desperate to be heard that they use violence. We have over 50% (not a specific statistic) of the population in serious jeopardy because of lack of food, healthcare or safety.

WE ARE SMARTER than this! We are MORE COMPASSIONATE than this. ONLY WE CAN CHANGE THIS! We have the ability to change this world. I'm not say we should go back to the 1950's. Going back isn't possible and we have made some positive changes since then however we need to do something for whilst I understand we can't fix every problem that occurs I believe we can fix about 95% of them a lot more easily than we think but we HAVE to stop telling our children one thing and then doing another. And we can ONLY do it by working together.

I am a little sorry for turning this post into a classic "we must pull together" message but not entirely because I fully believe what I am writing. And part of me can't help feeling that this world has the uncanny ability to even things out. I think that if we don't it will do it for us and I doubt we will like the method. Plus I watch the news with such frustration...I feel like I know how to help this world but no way of expressing it or getting people to do it.

Ok...I'll stop rambling now. It's late and I've gone on long enough. The rest is up to you, me, our friends and family...it's up to the world to try and give ourselves, and everyone else, the real chance at happiness....who knows...it just might be crazy enough to work. :-)

Musings

I keep thinking all these things recently and I need a place to write them done or I'll go crazy. All these things I see in the world, things that upset or confuse me, baffle or lift me. I have to put them down, share them, find out if others still feel the same because I can't believe I'm the only one who feels like this.

So welcome to my very much needed post and if you want to comment then please do. Share your own blog with me, tell me your thoughts. I'd love to find a network of people...at least then if I'm crazy I'm not alone. :)

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I start with the recent repeat of a series on ABC TV (from the BBC). "Turn Back Time: High Street". I've seen part of this series before but missed the first few episodes however tonight it was repeated and the episode was the Victorian Era. To recap it's about a town in the UK who's high street has gown downhill. Several families live through different eras to try and bring people away from the shopping mall and to the local town again.

Oddly the era tonight fits in nicely with a book I just read "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

The Victorian era was by no means perfect and the families in the show work very hard just as people from that time did. However it's not that which began a deluge of information in my head.

It was watching the shops stand empty, hear the stories of people whose businesses have gone under and seeing the people interact with each other because of the project that made me tear up. I still feel as though we have lost something VITAL in modern times. We no longer interact with each other and sometimes I feel I go through life a random collection of 1's and 0's, code in a computer which won't exist in a few years. The blacksmith on the show is a blacksmith in real life and he himself felt the difference when people appreciated his work.

I LONG for that so much! I tear up when I watch the show because I sense something missing and don't know how to get it back.

Recently I began gardening...this might seem a jump in topic but it's actually strongly connected. I've found that gardening helps me feel more solid, less like computer code and more like a person. I've also found that whilst I usually go insane with impatience I have nothing but patience for this gardening and that feels like a precious gift.

I believe we need to get back to our roots, we need to interact personally and not try to cram our day full of things. I am trying to learn to savour my moments, even the boring moments like washing dishes, rather than let it fly past. Otherwise it will be gone before I know what's happening.

I can be a little long winded so I'll stop there and leave it with a pic of my new gardening efforts. Such a lovely feeling, watching things grow, it truly is like magic!

Oh...and for those who are curious there is Basil, English Dwarf Lavender, Carnations, Strawberries (very small), Sunflowers, Cotton, Rocket and an experiment with an onion.