Who has earned your admiration in life?

Anika Ghandi

How many people in your life have you found worthy of admiration?

Apart from my father, said by others to be a "brilliant engineer" and a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Squadron Leader who was my boss, most other people I have admired have been women.

Most recently, I stumbled upon the site of Anika Ghandi who provides YouTube videos about woodwork and carpentry tools. As an amateur carpenter who attends the local Men's Shed and is learning to craft wooden products - at an advanced age I might add, I find her blog, email messages and YouTube videos very helpful.

Anika even provides top quality plans for some of her projects. How good is that?

When I first watched one of her videos I thought, "She must be a tradesperson, she's very good at this." Little did I know that she is actually a degreed electrical engineer (like my father who was an electrical and mechanical engineer) who decided to transition from electricity to timber. Obviously doing practical things with timber (or lumber in the US) appeals to her more than designing power installations and high-tension power lines.

Anika is obviously very smart - aren't all engineers - and also talented. She's adapted to woodwork and made it a career. One has to admire her achievements even if you aren't into engineering or woodwork.

I'm beginning one of her project shortly and I look forward to viewing Anika's videos and reading her blog frequently as I hone my skills.

As a one-time adult educator/trainer, I have a sound understanding of competency-based training (CBT) and assessment and I'm using CBT principles as I develop my skills base piece of timber by piece of timber. 

Only time will tell how successful I become and time isn't something I have a lot of since I'm closer to the end than the beginning. 

Who have or do you admire? Tell us in the comments.

#Robinoz

The Wonders of YouTube

Part of the craft retreat

I spend more time on YouTube than on any other form of streaming or free-to-air television.

TV has become boring. Apart from the news, which is sometimes depressing. How many fires, stolen cars, and idiots crashing into houses, trees and shops do we need to hear about? 

Then there are the "reality" shows or cooking shows. Half of the decent movies that are advertised I've seen once or twice before. All the repeats are uninteresting.

My beloved wife likes to watch NCIS, a bullshit show about the Navy Criminal Investigation Service that seems to get involved in resolving some of the major terrorist issues in the United States. I must admit to watching the show occasionally and finding several of the characters interesting.

If I'm truthful, NCIS is perhaps my current favourite when I tire of watching something on YouTube. Although, it's usually late at night and I manage to drift off to sleep.

Oh, and I do have to admit watching Home and Away from 7 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Wednesday and 7 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursdays. Much more interesting that football or The Block.

After Home and Away, I retire to my wife's chock-full craft retreat wherein we have a second television. I switch on YouTube. 

What do I watch?

Usually, I take in a few SkyNews items to keep abreast of the day's stupidity or reality and then branch off into a whole range of different topics. I've even been following a course on typography by a lovely lady called Hope Armstrong.

My teaching and instructional design career took me into the typography and design fields and this is like a revision. As Hope mentions terms, I realise I knew them a decade or two ago and suddenly it all comes back. Memory is a wonderful thing; facts lie dormant for years and pop out when you need them. Kerning? Leading? Yes, I recall what they are.

I watch Every Day Carry shows, UFO, Extraterrestrial, Medical, Health, Food, Ancient Technology, and DIY Carpentry shows, most recently by the amazing Anika who produces a range of excellent wooden products as well as being an electrical engineer. 

I'm a watch fan too, so I spend some time watching reviews of nice watches, most of which I either cannot afford or don't need. How many watches does someone with two wrists really need?

What I like is that one can flip from one show to another and there is such a huge variety.

For many years - decades - my evenings were filled with study and university assignments, marking student papers, lesson preparation, media creation. But since 2012 I've been retired and free to do what I like when I like. It's wonderful.

Anyway, I've go to go now and watch a little bit more of Hope Armstrong's Typography Course.

Let me know what you are watching on YouTube?

#Robinoz