It is very interesting when you start packing your things up… your pets will become very inquisitive about everything, especially cats and boxes! They certainly know that something is happening! So pay some extra attention to your pets while you are packing so they can be assured things are still “normal”.

The last thing you want is the household moggie deciding to disappear the night before you are actually moving!

So if they haven’t had the experience of a pet carrier before… make sure you get them used to it for a few days (or even longer) while you are packing. Put their favourite blanket and toys etc in the carrier. Encourage them to sleep in it if possible, as it is likely they could be spending some time in it while the actual “move” is happening… or even for a few days after!

On the actual moving day, put your pet and carrier in an empty room and SHUT the door! Put a sign up reminding everyone to NOT open the door, as the last thing you want is the dog or cat running for the hills through the open front door of the house as the removalists (or yourself) load up the van/trailer etc!

Depending on how far you have to travel… make sure you have plenty of food and water available for the actual journey.

If it is only a short local move… it might be best to leave the pet till the last load… so that when they arrive at the new house, they will “see” all your stuff there and know they are in the right place. This should help them settle into the new place a lot quicker.

As to when you decide to let your pets out of the new house to roam around… the first thing is to check that there are no holes in the fences your dog can escape through. Take them for a walk with a lead on as early as possible so they get to know the new neighbourhood.

With cats… keep them inside for a couple of days before letting them go outside so they too become familiar with their new surroundings.

After the move… don’t forget your old vet – any medical records etc, along with updating your pets microchip with your new details.

And if you’ve moved into a new Council area… you will also need to update any animal registrations with the new local Council.

Good luck with moving your pets! It’s not as hard as some might have you believe… even if you are moving them over long distances.

Proper preparation will make help everything go smoothly

Well, that’s not quite true…

I couldn’t find any links to any actual medical centre websites!

Sure – I found literally HUNDREDS of those “listings” you’d expect in the local phone books… but they really don’t help much when you are trying to choose which health provider/doctor you should go to do they?

Thankfully a recent local newspaper report led me to find the great people at Westside Medical Centre.

Just around the corner from the Port Macquarie Base Hospital in 11 Highfields Circuit, it’s been set up by an enterprising local GP, Dr Debbie Kors.

And unlike a lot of other local doctors, Westside Medical Centre doesn’t have “closed books” so is always accepting new patients

If you’re looking for a medical centre in Port Macquarie… give Westside a call on 02 6581 3007 to arrange an appointment!

And typically, I do such things on the “cheap”, and do my own packing (after many trips to the DUMP to rid myself of a lot of old useless stuff) and then loaded it all into a furniture trailer for the 8 hour haul (twice – each way – up and back) to my new digs.

Only problem with that?

No new digs yet

So all my “stuff” had to go into storage for a few weeks until I found somewhere to actually live.

Thankfully I found some handy storage units at Murwillumbah – close enough to the Tweed/Gold Coast where I wanted to live, and at a really good price for short term furniture storage!

Somehow I managed to cram all my furniture and other junk into the secure unit provided – literally packed to the rafters! LOL Even needed to repack some of it into some new boxes they had readily available.

Within a couple of weeks I had found my current “beach house” and had quickly moved my stuff in. I did however leave one thing behind that I don’t have room for here… and that was my trusty trailer.

Considering the guys at Pack And Stack Storage at Murwillumbah have got the space for car/boat/trailer etc storage (and I didn’t) then that’s a great result for me!

So if you live on the Tweed Coast or Gold Coast and need something stored locally…

Give Pack and Stack a call on 1800 454 131

And it’s a story about a guy who turned his love of beer (a great Aussie pasttime) into a fully fledged business!

Tanked Drinkwear is a clothing product range designed for the drinking enthusiast

The clothing incorporates a built-in twist top bottle opener into the mens and womens tops and shorts.

The hats also have a twist top/ pop top bottle opener built into them.

And the shorts even include a tear-off stubbie cooler cleverly disguised as a pocket!

Really… What more could a man want?

A couple of years ago the Australian Government announced it was offering Advertising agencies a “prize” of twenty million dollars to come up with a new “brand” to sell Australia overseas… and not just for tourism!

The new “Brand Australia” advertising campaign is designed to ensure continued interest in Australia not only as a tourist destination but as a place to live, a place to invest in, etc… pretty “big picture” stuff.

Some of the interesting campaigns we’ve had:

• football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. Remember THAT campaign? If you do, then you must be starting to show your age
• Paul Hogan and his “put another shrimp on the barbie”,
• Kylie Minogue – our Queen of music and still a great ambassador O/S,
• and more recently Lara Bingle… the “Where the bloody hell are ya?” campaign was apparently a huge flop and even banned in a few overseas countries

So waddyareckon is gonna help sell Australia overseas?

Coincidence or not??? One thing I’ve noticed a lot more in the last few days has been this new Qantas “I still call Australia home” commercial!

Remember… it’s NOT just about people and places… you’ve got to include education, investment and trade to keep the Government happy and secure your $20million.

It’s a 30s-50s Retro Jazz twin CD-book set, with a PDF book supplying sheet music with chords you can print out.

This is the full story of Mark Whitty’s 50 years in Jazz in OZ.

Where Do Ya Get It?

The Fine Tunes (twin) CD-Book set and the rest of Mark’s best work is available from CD Baby

The Doctor is IN!

Please enjoy this short sample of Doctor Jazz…
[Visit site to listen to audio]

These guys (and gals?) were captured at lunchtime today outside the Fish Co-op at Laurieton, on the mid-north coast of NSW (just 4.5 hrs north of Sydney, and 30mins south of Port Macquarie).

The weather was a little on the chilly side, so they were probably waiting for their order of hot fish to “go”.

Obviously, there’s some pretty good fish and chips available here… or at least, these pelicans seem to think so!

P.S. Hey Laurieton’s not a bad place to visit… I oughta know ‘cos I live there for quite a few years

Check out their local chamber web site for more info on the area!

Aussies apparently lead the way in turning water into energy which, considering most our our “lucky country” is desert, is just a little strange…

I was surprised to learn that University of Queensland researchers have been able to turn dirty dishwater into electricity [1] since 2005, and even more amazed to hear they’ve found a way to make power from beer [2] of all things.

Prince Charles also hit the news with reports of having his 38 year old Aston Martin converted to run on wine [3] It’s funny trying to imagine bottles of Bollinger being poured into his gas tank, but he actually uses the “leftover” wine from a nearby winery and converts it to bio-fuel.

We’ve been looking at alternate ways to power our motor vehicles since, well… forever… but when the price of gas hits all time highs as it has done recently… it should come at no surprise that you can now very easily convert your car to run on water (either completely, or partly).

Yes – seriously — WATER!

Apparently… water can burn (quite well actually – even better than gasoline)!

And with a few items that can be picked up from a local hardware or auto supply shop for under $200, anyone can convert their car to run on water!

These HHO water fuel kits can be used to vastly increase the fuel economy of petrol or diesel powered vehicles (yes – cars AND big trucks as well!)

And just a couple of litres of water lasts for ages and can result in increases of up to 75% in your fuel economy – so there’s some great savings to be made there if you do a fair bit of driving!

Heck, with interest rates going through the roof… and the cost of living skyrocketing because of increased petrol prices… this is one area where you CAN take control and bite back!

Convert your car to run on water… and make some pretty good savings as well! It’s a much cheaper option than buying a brand new hybrid vehicle to do your bit for the environment!

Oh… and there’s a great new home employment opportunity happening here… All around the world, savvy people are setting themselves up in business and doing the conversions for those of us who aren’t mechanically minded!

But you know… all of this water powered stuff is NOT new technology Kiwi Steve Ryan (not quite an Aussie, but our close neighbour) was on 60 Minutes in 2005 with his motorcycle that runs only on water!

And way back in the early 1990’s, in an American TV news report, Stan Meyer demonstrated a 4 cylinder dune buggy using only water as fuel.

It seems we’ll be chasing alternate fuel sources forever… and whether one of them ever becomes mainstream… well that’ll probably be up to the oil companies, once they’ve made as much money as they can from their main polluting fossil fuel based products!

Interesting Fact: Apparently HHO Gas (or Brown’s Gas) is a water fuel technology that’s been around for over 100 years! Hmmmm…. makes me wonder just who has been suppressing this technology???

Are you looking for work in Australia?

There are literally thousands on jobs online at Careers OnLine

Pulled directly from major newspapers and online services, start your search for a new job online with the Australian Job Vacancies at Careers OnLine.

From Accountants to Secretaries, Doctors and other Health Professionals, Mining Jobs and more… if there’s a Positions Vacant in Australia, it could be listed here!

Oh… and if you need a little career help from an ex-Careers Adviser???

Well… you’ll find LOTS of info on that there too

Ask anyone in Small Business, and most of them need all the help they can get! It’s plain hard work, and you have to be a master of all trades to do it properly.

And if you ever venture online… well an entirely new world awaits you… with a very steep learning curve to do it the right way.

Since 1997, the Small Business Support Network has been helping small businesses from around the world

• to get started the right way with their online business
  
• develop new business with some great networking opportunities
  
• promote their business web site
  

And it’s free to sign up!

So if you’re in small business, then go register with OzSmallBiz now.