CollinsPlus
E-news
Edition 5. June 2005.
Editor: Barbara Collins
You can send news at any time to The
Editor. A reminder email will be sent out a little while before each edition is
due. So please keep the newsletter in mind whenever anything happens in your
family that you would like to tell everyone about!
Index
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All about
Renato |
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Website news
New feature
There is a new feature on the E-news page
of the CollinsPlus newsletter.
You will find a “Dairy” link for each
family on the newsletter page – just scroll down from the newsletter link. In
each family link, I have put all the news for that family that has appeared in
each newsletter since July 2004. You can pop in and read what your family news
has been in chronological order, with the most recent entry first. So if you
wanted to read through a family’s news from the beginning of the newsletter,
you would go to the end and read upwards! Make sense? If not, just pop into the
page via this link and have a
look.
Collins Family News
Go to Collins Family in CollinsPlus
Website
Social Events
Next
Family Lunch
Sunday 26th June. At this stage,
we will probably go to La Porchetta in Carlton. I’ll email everyone who usually
attends to confirm this closer to the lunch with address and time.
Con Collins
Con Collins is the Ground Zero man for this website.
Con recently saw his oncologist who said
everything is static and that he is a legend. When Con asked “Why do you
say that?” The oncologist replied that a year ago he did not think Con would be
here today. GOOD NEWS HEY! Talk about skating on thin ice.
His three monthly bladder examination shows
that another stint in hospital could be due next September - not nice
birthday present.
Are you an Organ Donor? Anyone that has
registered in the past has registered for the "intent" so now the
Organ Donor Registry is asking people to amend or re-register for their
"consent". You can ring 1800 777 205 for a form.
Tyson Collins
(Tyson is the second son of Graham Collins who is first son of Con
Collins)
Tyson is thinking of going on his first overseas trip later in the
year. If it all works out, London (and a catch up with Kate), Paris and Ireland
will be on his agenda.
He’s still enjoying my job. He says, “I spend 80% of the time on the
road. I have a list of stores to call on, approximately 50% are existing
clients and the other 50% either buy from us occasionally or not at all. I
build relationships with key people within each branch which will, in turn,
hopefully increase our sales figures. We've made budget quite easily in my
first 3 months, so the
boss is very happy with me. It's a good job.”
Tyson will be spending his 24th birthday celebrating with his mates
from the footy team on the long weekend.
one in the end.
The Bill Collins
Family
Bill Collins was the only brother of Con Collins. Kath is Bill’s wife. Go to Bill Collins page for more information on this family.
Kath turned 70 on 27th May! From her news
report, the celebrations went on for some time:
“Paul & Michaela arranged for Father
McCarthy of All Hallows Church in Balwyn to offer Holy Mass for me that
morning. I received flowers after Mass and the tears fell as a fellow
parishioner recalled Bill and his past presence in the church. My sister
Maureen travelled from Ballarat and my sister Bernadette and husband joined me
for lunch. Paul and Antoinette (4) came later as we cut the cake which
Paul and Michaela had kindly purchased. Received cards, balloons and
gorgeous flowers from Michael and Marg. Rebecca drove over in the evening
with her 3 siblings and Antoinette was happy to play with the balloons
again. The week prior, my sister, Rose, and her husband took me to the
Windsor Hotel which is such a great place. We had lunch there and really
enjoyed ourselves. On Sunday 29th, children, grandchildren and their Mums met
at Hotel ShoppingTown and Marg invited her Mum as did Diane. There was
another birthday cake. 70 is a big birthday and I enjoyed the
celebrations which were devoid of fuss.”
June is big for Paul and Michaela with
Rebecca flying to London on 8th June. She has been placed in a pub where
accommodation is provided plus the meals. She starts work there on 11th
so only has a few days to adjust to her surroundings. The pub is about six
miles from London. They have arranged various contacts so this will be
quite an experience for an 18yo girl. She is just gorgeous so I know she
will be made welcome and be a success.
That big move into the new house has
provided a few hiccups but that will settle itself down. As that
politician said, 'life was not meant to be easy'.
Joshua's arm is doing O.K. and it
will be soon time to take out the pin. He had been chosen to travel to England
with the school cricket team in '06 but has declined. That is his choice
and he will travel when he is ready. Damien was happy he was chosen, but
if he does not wish to go, that is that! How different school is
now.”
The Zoch Family
Catherine Zoch is the 4th girl in the Con and Bridget
Collins Family. She is married to John Zoch. Go to Zoch Family
page.
Jessica is busy rehearsing for ‘Peter Pan’
which is on later in June. Her Mum (Cathy), has booked our the entire second
row of the theatre for all Jessica’s fans. I popped in to see Jess in her job
at Video Ezy last week and she was very busy with customers (in fact she didn’t
recognize me when I got to the top of the queue!)
The Gough Family
Mary Gough is the 3rd girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is married to Chris Gough. Go to Gough Family page.
Alex is playing in the Open Age division of
the Paterson Lakes Netball Team. She is the youngest member of her team. They
are in the Grand Final on 14th June. Good luck Alex!
Max has finished his mid year exams.
The Cabrera Family
Judith
(nee Collins) is married to Renato Cabrera. Go to Cabrera
Family page.
Judi
Cabrera
I now have part-time employment with Bi-Lo
(who would have ever thought!!) but it suits my needs at this point in time. I
have permanent hours Tues, Wed, Thurs from 6am to 11am and should I work any
hours over that, it will be on casual rates. My body clock is having a hard
time adjusting to less sleep and early mornings, but I'm sure it will adjust.
I've also been busy trying to sort out a
few things in regard to mum's care and well being. She has been quite unsettled
at times lately and I'm trying to get the care staff to add to, and
change, some of the routines that may be causing this. I've spoken to the
Director of the Nurses and Carers and hopefully these procedures will be put
into place soon.
My next task in relation to care, not only
for mum but all others in Nursing Homes, is to get the Federal Government to
give more funding so that residents will not be left unsupervised - especially
in the area of dementia, where they are mobile and a danger to themselves and
others. I will probably be fighting an uphill battle but I'll do my best.
Renato Cabrera
My employer's have promoted me
to be their Front Man. They have recently gained some very important
cleaning contracts and want to impress their clients and they tell me that I'm
the only one they can trust and rely on for the job. So I have recently been
moving between three locations: Prahran, St. Kilda and Toorak. The Toorak
complex has six buildings. My job is to arrange the duties of the
cleaning staff, oversee the buildings and make sure everything is up to
scratch. I also do maintenance and keep and eye on systems such as
security, heating/cooling etc. I'm having to work an extra
hour a day and I'm travelling between the buildings on bike, so it's a busy day
- but that's the way I like it and I'm loving it.
Bear Cabrera-Collins
Bear has fully recovered from his dog
attack ordeal. His hair has nearly grown back to full length and his scars are
all covered. He is a little wary while on his walks but that doesn't stop
him. The only trouble is Judi is scared, so he does not go on any
adventurous walks.
Judi and Renato
We had a great time at the Chilean
Club's anniversary do. Lots of Latin American music and dancing, food and
drink - another late into the night celebration. Those Chilean's sure know how
to party.
We also went to a fundraising night for the
police Blue Ribbon Foundation. Apparently this was the 2nd one they have had
due to popular demand. It was called HOMICIDE "An Investigator's
Insight". Two real life cases were presented in person by
Homicide Squad inspectors talking and using real life inside footage - some
footage seen on TV and some footage never shown to the public. The two
cases where big news cases of their time. They explained and talked about
how they did or did not solve the crimes and all that is involved in
doing so, including interrogation footage and some gruesome footage and stuff
that you would not hear about on the news. Real life CSI. It was followed by an
extravagant supper and a really great night. We'll be going to the next
one!
The McManus Family
Ellen (Helen) McManus nee Lennon was Bridget’s eldest sister. Margaret
Martin is the eldest daughter of Ellen and Pat McManus. Go to McManus
Family Page.
Not much news here except that we are
waiting for rain in the country. We can't start our tree planting until it
rains and then we prepare the ground by spraying for weeds. We are hoping to
plant about 1000 trees on the farm this year. We are providing habitat for the
endangered Grey
Crown Babbler or Pomatostomus Temporalis.
The Grey
Crown Babbler is a tiny bird that lives in dormitories with its family. They like
to forage on the ground and in the bark of trees. They also prefer
trees that are not too tall to nest in but they need the big
trees nearby to get their food. It's a lovely little bird.
The Teres Family
Paul Teres is partner to Barbara Collins, daughter of Con Collins. Go
to Teres
Family page.
BIG NEWS in the
Teres Family. Newlyweds Sophie and Andrew are pregnant. The first, 12 week
ultrasound shows all is OK and it looks like Baby Teres will be with us close
to Christmas. Click here to see some great
pictures from the wedding and the first ultra sound of the baby.
Paul is back in
Brisbane again this month for a week. His Mum, Pauline, is not able to return
to Melbourne in the foreseeable future, so Paul is putting extra support into
place for her to make her life in Brisbane as safe as possible.
Barbara is busy
working on this newsletter, working part time at Quit, working the Avon
business (and is now the internet team leader for her district) and looking
after the garden and Paul - not necessarily in that order. With a couple of
visits to Mum a week and trying to catch up with various family members, life
is indeed full.
The Squires Family
Leo Squires is the second cousin of Ground Zero man, Con Collins.
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Leo recently sent
these photos and some more information for the family tree. So, how is the Leo
Squires family related to the Collins family – and how do the relatives you
see in these photos fit with the Con Collins family? Get your mind into
gear for some mental gymnastics! Timothy and Margaret (in the photos) were married in 1906. Timothy was
a policeman and he and Margaret had nine children. |
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Margaret
(Hogan) Coffey 1880
- 1918 |
One of the children was Beatrice and she married Leo John Squires
(Snr) in 1939. Beatrice and Leo had the Leo John Squires (Jnr) who we know through this newsletter. Meanwhile, one of Timothy’s brothers, Thomas Coffey (born 1868),
married Kitty O’Brien and they had Con’s mother. So Con and Leo, according to the Family Tree Maker, are second
cousins! |
Deacon Family
Peter Deacon is the son of Mary
(Molly) Deacon (nee Lennon) who is the youngest sister of Bridget
Collins (nee Lennon) who is married to Con
Collins.
Peter has been
really busy (even totally disorganised), since moving to the Sunshine Coast. He
still hasn’t finished unpacking some of the boxes in the garage! He’s also had some
interesting battles with his internet connection and email software. Any of you
who have had similar problems can identify with the frustration of software and
connections!!! Hope to have some more news about the Daeacon Family soon.
Renato Cabrera-Vargas 1962 -
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My name is
Renato Daniel Cabrera-Vargas. I am
the ninth son of Hector Cabrera and Maria Vargas. I have 11 brothers and sisters
- Tito (dec’d) Lucy, Cecila, Patricia, Lewis, Roberto, Felix, Carlos, Viviana
(dec’d). I was born 6 weeks premature in Santiago, Chile, South America. I went to
Primary school at Escuela No.2 and to High School at Consolidad No. 34. My
favourite subjects were History and Biology, but my passion and life dream
was to play Soccer. I played Soccer from age four in the streets on concrete
and on dirt grounds. In primary
school I represented the school from Grade 3 to Grade 7. |
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While in High
School, I played in the topside of Alfredo Di Estefano. I played in four
Premiership matches and won three premierships. During this time, at age
thirteen, I was selected to play for the junior side of Colo Colo Football
Club. Then at age 17, I was selected
and contracted to play for Colo Colo Football Club Seniors. I completed year 12 in 1979. At age 18, I
was called up for National Service, I spent 8 months in the Army. It was
organised by the Football Club for me to be discharged to resume playing
Soccer. |
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My Soccer
career has taken me all over South and Central America, parts of Europe and
North America. I was awarded as the best young player of the Year in
1981. I played in 2 Premiership
matches and won 2 Premierships with Colo Colo Football Club, Seniors. My
position was midfielder (which is called the Motor). My playing number was
8. In 1984 my Professional Soccer
Career was cut short and ended devastatingly due to severe injury requiring
surgery. I have a son
outside of marriage, born in 1982. His name is Ralph Cabrera-Khom. He now
lives in Cologne in Germany with his mother and her husband. I trust that one day we will be reunited. I came to
Australia in 1989 and worked as a tiler/stonemason for my brother-in-law. I
decided to branch out on my own in 1991 and took up cleaning work for the
Department of Finance in the Treasury buildings. I also had various part time
jobs. I would frequently send money back to Chile to help support my father’s
ongoing hospital treatments. |
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In 1996 I met
my soul mate, Judi Collins. I was
attracted to her loyalty, love and care. This is when I said to myself, “That
lady is the love of my life” and I proposed to her in 1997 after a bike ride
to the city. In that same year I became an Australian Citizen, which meant
giving up my citizenship to Chile. We
married in 2000. I have been a member of the St. Vincent
de Paul Society, where I was treasurer for a while. I did welfare visits,
served meals, did sales in the op shop and attended regular meetings.
Currently I am employed as a supervisor of cleaners and maintenance for a 6
building complex of apartments in South Melbourne. The cleaning company I
work for also had contracts with apartment buildings in the St.
Kilda Road area, branching out to St. Kilda, Prahran and Toorak. I am
supervisor of the cleaning staff in some of these buildings. I am also their
maintenance man and caretaker. |
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Having
fulfilled my life dream, my first priority now is to support Judi in
everything she does for herself foremost and her parents, and to live a long,
happy and healthy life with her. I hope
in the near future to take Judi to meet all my family and see my country. My life, with
my love, is very enjoyable. We go to the movies, the occasional concert, and
occasional dancing, we go out for dinner or sometimes just for a quiet drink,
and catch up with friends when we can. No matter what I do, I enjoy my time
with Judi. |
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Now my partner
in soccer in my dog Bear and he is a good player too. |
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Carly
Collins
Only
daughter of Graham Collins who is only son of Con Collins.
Carly
is doing a Personal Training course at Box Hill Institute of TAFE.
FOLLOWING ON FROM CARLY'S MAY HEALTH TIP……..
As a result of Carly’s tip last month on pedometers, and
visiting the 10,000 Steps website, I purchased one! What a shock I had after a
very active first day - I had only
managed 7,000 steps. I emailed Graham to find out how he was progressing with
the pedometer he received for his birthday. He said, “I'm averaging about 14000
steps (or 11.2 kms), with the highest being 19500 (15.6kms). That's at work
only, plus around the home doing the chores. No wonder I fall asleep in front
of the telly. I'm not going for walks or wearing it on weekends.”
So inspired by Graham, I got myself into gear and last
Saturday I managed 18,5000 after a session of Pump and Combat at the gym, a
walk around the river and the usual shopping/gardening/cleaning routine.
I’ve registered (free) at the website and you can put your
data in there and get all sorts of interesting feedback like average steps per
day, best month etc. in the Personalised Summary. It’s got great tips like
“There are 1440 minutes in every day... schedule 30 of them for physical
activity.” I’ve also registered for the Million Step Project and it shows my
progress via a bar graph each time I log on.
10,000 Steps is a non-profit health promotion project that aims to motivate and
encourage individuals, communities and workplaces across Australia to become more
physically active. For more information visit the website www.10000steps.org.au. “Queensland Health provided the funding to
Central Queensland University for the development of 10,000 Steps
See all Carly’s
Health Tips in the CollinsPlus newsletter. http://www.collinsplus.com/sharinglifestyle/health/health.htm
Happy birthday to:
Tyson
Click here for
your a birthday card
Toilet Humour
When I started
reading this I thought “This may offend some people” and wasn’t going to
include it – until I got to the end!
2. Could you, would
you …. use this toilet?
Other Humour
Just horsing
around!
Strategies for "with it" management guru
This isn’t funny –
it’s serious!
No need to check the
Urban Myths site for this one…….it’s serious. Please read!
Hokey Pokey
With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is
worth reflecting on the death of a very important person that almost went
unnoticed last week.
Larry La Prise, the man
who wrote "The Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at age 93.
The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.
They put his left leg in, and then the trouble started.
What a waste!
Most of us have heard a sad story about an accident
involving alcohol ……
All websites featured in this newsletter are archived on the Links Page of the CollinsPlus site for future reference.
Have you
heard of the #90 telephone scam?
It goes something like
this:
“If you receive a phone call on your mobile
from any person, saying that, he or she is a company engineer, or telling that
they're checking your mobile line, and you have to press # 90 or #09 or any
other number. End this call immediately without pressing any numbers. There is
a fraud company using a device that once you press #90 or #09 they can access
your "SIM" card and make calls at your expense. Forward this message
to as many friends as you can, to stop it.”
The warning
I received looked very official and gave a Victorian Policeman’s name and
contact details. However, having come across this one before several months
ago, I had checked and the policeman doesn’t exist. If you ever receive any
warning like this that you are not sure about, it’s worth checking this site to
see if it’s an Urban Legend.
Urban
Legends Reference page: http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp
This is an interesting site. I put 90# into the search engine on the homepage and was directed to this page. As you will see, this warning describes a practice which could be possible but would be highly unlikely to be used. Have a read for your self.
Are you
sick of cold calls, junk mail and unwanted spam?
You might cut down on some
of these by registering with the ‘Consumer Do Not Contact Opt
Out Services’.
This is a FREE consumer
service of the 500-members of the Australian Direct Marketing Association.
These include banks, insurance companies, publishers, catalogue and mail order
companies, charities and others who offer consumers the convenience of shopping
by such mediums as
mail,
telephone,
direct response television,
the internet &
mobile phones.
Companies who use direct marketing in their activities
realise that some people do not wish to receive direct marketing offers at home
and are happy to comply with your request. After all, no marketer wants to
waste time and money contacting people who do not want to be approached in this
way. Go to this site to put in your contact details to cut out some of the mail
and telephone calls you get wanting to sell you something!
http://www.adma.com.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=1999
(It’s unlikely to
effect spam significantly though – most spam
does not come from members of ADMM.)
Congratulations
this month to ….
ü Sophie and Andrew Teres on
their pregnancy
ü Margaret and Terry for their
environmental thoughtfulness
ü
Rececca Collins on making it to London
ü Con Collins on still being here!
ü Joshua Collins on being chosen
to travel to England with the school cricket team in '06 (even though he is
choosing not to go).
ü Alex Gough for helping her Netball
team reach the Grand Final
ü
Renato on being so indispensable that he has to look after three building
complexes for his employers
Something Sad
I don’t normally
like to put really sad things into the newsletter but I came across this
picture for the first time during the week and it touched me deeply. Pictures
like this can be quite confronting as we don’t like to see how a lot of people
in Third World Countries live. It brings many mixed emotions. So if you are not
ready to be confronted by maybe the saddest thing you have ever seen, don’t
look. If you do look, the picture will stay in your mind forever. The next time
you feel sorry for yourself, think of this picture;
the next time you are asked to donate to a reputable charity supporting Third World
Countries, think of this picture; the next time you say a prayer, say one for
this child.