Flat out working after Lindy returns from holiday
After an easy week to recover from our holidays, I got on with my work in guiding Lindy around all her activities. I began by walking for PAWGUST. We also went to Eyes for Life Canberra regular activities.
To keep up with my cultural experiences, we saw the play Love Stories at the Canberra Theatre. We enjoyed Rediscovering music by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and also Art by Description with the National Gallery of Australia.
Aunty Polly competed in the World Triathlon Championships and proudly represented Australia along with many FIT friends. Lindy was thrilled to hear that Maureen, her friend since school days, was the joint flag bearer for the Australian team.
Accessibility in Technology
We checked out the Tech in Gov Expo and was amazed to find out that most of the technology suppliers claimed that their software complies to the World Web Content Accessibility Standards. I heard them tell Lindy that their systems are fully tested using automatic checking software by their programmers, but not by vision impaired people.
Authors certainly don’t proofread their own books, yet how come programmers can be sure that they can fully check their systems for accessibility!
It would be wonderful if all systems were checked by vision impaired people. This would save me hearing those choice words from Lindy when she struggles through inaccessible websites.
Holiday in Brisbane and Bunyan Mountain
I flew up to Brisbane with Lindy to attend the Blind Citizen of the Year dinner early in October. We spent the next day checking out Brisbane markets, riding on the ferry and drinking by the Brisbane River.
We then spent a few relaxing days in Bunyan Mountain. I made friends with Trixie, and we had some wonderful play time chasing each other and playing a tug of war game.
Photos: below left, Flash and Trixie with Kenilworth Bakery dog biscuits and Sunshine Coast Monopoly game that features the bakery; and below right, Lindy and Flash in front of a sculpture spelling out Brisbane and the city behind them.
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Tactile Galaxy experience at Mt Stromlo
I went with Lindy to the Tactile Galaxy Night a couple of weeks ago. I found out that Lindy as a child was very interested in the galaxy and the universe. Like many kids, she dreamed of work in space projects, but life took a different direction.
PhD and masters students of Australian National University (ANU) designed and ran this tactile tour. We did a walk around Mt Stromlo Observatory. We were shown and had described to us the destruction of the 2003 Firestorm when all the buildings and telescopes were destroyed. Only some shell of the buildings remain.
We went into the conference room that was rebuilt after the fire and experienced tactile images of the galaxy. These Astro scientists went to great lengths using 3D printing to enable us to feel and ‘see’ the different galaxy structure. Some have lots of stars while others have brighter and fewer stars.
The most exciting part of the evening was to ‘see’ and have described the Nobel Prize medal and citation for Professor Brian Schmidt, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 for his groundbreaking work in measuring the expansion of the universe.
We were told that all prize winners get 1 original and 2 replica medals, and one of the replicas is displayed in the cabinet at Mt Stromlo.
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Special thanks to everyone who supported PAWGUST to help raise the next generation of Guide Dogs.
Let’s all make our contribution to this universe while we are here.
Woof Woof
Flash Hou
(until I get my own email address, you can contact me via Lindy’s email)
lindy@lindyhou.com
Tel: 0402 113 836 / +61 402 113 836
