Sunday, February 24, 2013

I made this

It was something I'd been aiming for since I started working at the Prison, and the process has been in train for a year. It took me eight months of solid work; developing guidelines, battling delays, recruiting volunteer staff, and overcoming unceasing 'technical difficulties', but finally, FINALLY I have managed to get the Freo Prison Collection into the digital age, aka the 21st century.

While I can't be blamed for the design or the interface, I still feel an incredible sense of achievement in getting the first 750-odd items from the Collection, as well as related Subject records, online.

You can search the Collection here.

This is the first major thing I have achieved since my Dad died, and the fact that he's not here for me to share it with him has made me feel his loss more keenly in recent days. I suppose it's not that odd when you think about it.

It has been nine months since he died. I'm sure he would have been proud, and I know he would have enjoyed browsing through the objects and reading the background info. I really, really wish he could have lived to see it.

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Things I like about Perth

In the spirit of the new year, and keeping shit POSITIVE, I'd like to tell you about some of the stuff that I actually like about where I live now:

1. The firetrucks are red. Which is as things should be, only in Canberra they were yellow. Which is an abomination.

2. The dog beaches. They have awesome dog beaches here - not just the piece-of-crap seaweed-infested, goes-under-water-at-high-tide beaches that no-one else wants to swim at, but actual decent beaches where you can enjoy a paddle with your pooch. Win!

3. Street signage. At pretty much all intersections of any consequence there are signs before you reach them, telling you what street is coming up next. Genius for those who are new in town and trying to navigate their way around without a GPS. Yep, that's me - keeping it old skool and using a map!

4. Winter. It's great here in winter - it gets cold enough overnight to feel like you've had a change in season, but it's not so cold that you can't bring yourself to leave the house. And the days are glorious, because sometimes they are rainy and cosy, and other times they are sunny and warm. Also, the scraping of the ice off the windscreens in the mornings only happens occasionally.

Mmmm, winter. It's still a long way off, but I'm dreaming of it now. Especially since it's forecast to be 41 degrees for the next 3 days in a row, argh! But you know, staying positive, so better sign off there!

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

2 years ago...

This time two years ago I made a short trip to WA because one of my best friends was here. She'd just had a baby, and it was her birthday, so I thought it would be great to visit her.

I stayed at a friend of my Mum's place in South Fremantle and enjoyed walking to the beach and the cafes every day. Basically, it was an awesome little holiday, and made me go "I want to move to Fremantle!" There was Clancy's Fish Pub, there was Little Creatures Brewery, there was the beach. I loved it!

The next month I saw a job being advertised at Fremantle Prison, which I'd visited while I was over. I applied. I got it. It felt like fate.

Geez that seems like such a long time ago, but also like hardly any time at all.

Life is weird like that!