
What a weekend! Stumbling Through History Links, my list of useful, free Australian history resources has burst into life thanks to readers suggesting links to add to the list and sharing the page on social media. This post will also come to the inbox of several new readers – welcome to my blog!
It was also a weekend where we bore the brunt of storms in Sydney. I had just made a breakthrough in my research when I looked out the window and said, “oh no”! It was ominous. I left my research breakthrough unrecorded and we rushed to the side door which has been the source of water flooding into the house several times in the last ten months. Just a couple of hours ago I had cleaned out the drain in front of the door, organised a pile of towels, a sponge, chamois, bucket and mop. We were armed and in position!
But I hadn’t counted on water flooding through the ceiling upstairs. I left a daughter furiously mopping up the water downstairs and ran upstairs with bowls, and a bucket. Already the carpet was squelchy. A five litre bucket filled in less than five minutes. I did a shuttle back and forth to the bathroom to empty the bucket and bowls.

As the storm subsided a bit I came downstairs and found more leaks in the ceiling so I grabbed every large bowl we had and tried to capture every drip.
Of course the safety switch tripped with water going through lights. We mopped and mopped.
That night I was by myself in the house with no lights except for two torches. I couldn’t get the car out of the garage because someone had removed the red, manual over-ride cord and there were no signs to let me know how to operate it.
It was with great relief that at around 9pm our neighbours came home and restored power to the kitchen and the side entrance way. We have to wait for all the rest of the electrics in the ceiling to dry out. Two days later we are still without lights to most of the house, but fortunately all the power outlets work so we can use lamps.
On Sunday I spent the day washing and drying towels so we would be ready for the next storm. I was leaving for Brisbane on a research trip first thing on Monday morning and I finally got the chance to do some more work on it, including recording that breakthrough.
But simple searches were taking me an incredibly long time to do. After lots of scratching heads we worked out that our internet service provider was having major issues. Every time I did a search on the internet I wandered off to do a bit more cleaning or packing so I wouldn’t waste time staring at a screen that was not giving me results. Over many hours I managed to get the important preparation done. I didn’t touch social media – I couldn’t waste our meagre internet processing capacity on catching up with Twitter or my blog.
When I finished at eleven that night I quickly checked Twitter and was surprised. Inside History Magazine had shared Stumbling Through History Links on social media, and many others followed suit. I could see from a quick glance at my email that new people had followed my blog, commented on it and suggested new links. But lack of time and a horribly slow internet connection meant that I could not respond properly.
Thank you everyone for all your support. I have managed to add your suggestions to Stumbling Through History Links and responded to some comments here and on social media.
After a very trying weekend your responses to my blog lifted my spirits.
Thank you!
Well done, mopping up from the rain, and keeping up your blog…I’ve always enjoyed your blog…keep up the good work.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Thank you! There are so many good things about the internet and one of those things is that it enables people to encourage others from afar. I really appreciate your comment 🙂
Talking of a list of useful, free history resources (Australian and other), you might like to create a link to the History Carnival. Each month bloggers can nominate a history post that seems useful and interesting, and post the url to the carnival host via http://historycarnival.org/
I know about the History Carnival because a] I read some of the nominated posts each month and b] I hosted the carnival that appeared 1/2/2016.
Hels
http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/history-carnival-jan-2016-architecture.html
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I’ll add that link this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion. I have thought of hosting it some time but I am too busy at the moment.