Mandy Nolan

1 month ago | echo.net.au | Mandy Nolan

I sometimes wonder how to make life simpler. I look at the devices, meant to make our lives more convenient, but realise what a slave I’ve become to them. They’re great for efficiency but they are also time wasters. I spend a lot of time looking for my phone. It’s a good part of most people’s day. The moment of panic when you suddenly go, ‘I can’t find my phone.’ It’s like leaving your baby in a supermarket. There’s a sense of white-knuckle terror. And then you realise. It’s in your bag. The phone.

2 months ago | echo.net.au | Mandy Nolan

Your brain is a miracle. Put a helmet on. Lately I’ve been noticing a marked increase in the number of people not wearing helmets. Especially on e-bikes. If you’ve spent that much on your bike, couldn’t you fork out a few bucks for your head? Let’s face it. Your head is the most precious technology you own. It’s a complex organ that controls thoughts, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger and pretty well every process that regulates your body. It’s your operating system.

2 months ago | echo.net.au | Mandy Nolan

Last Saturday I almost missed my flight. I had booked an early Gold Coast to Melbourne to see my kids for the weekend, for my daughter’s birthday. I had booked a 6am from GC. So we know here in NSW that it’s 7am our time. So I had to leave at 5am NSW to be there at 5am Qld. Approximately. It gives me about 15 minutes to find a park and get a coffee. The numbers are always confusing, and sometimes in this weird twilight zone that exists between our states I started to misremember.

2 months ago | echo.net.au | Mandy Nolan

Last week my Mum told me she got broken into it. Mum is 77, my step-Dad is 69, yep, and yes, I guess she’s technically a cougar! But by accident and not design. She’s definitely no predator! They are Carol and Bill. My lovely parents. They are both still fiercely enjoying independence. They are kind, and warm, but they are getting older and they’re becoming creatures of habit. Their home is very much their haven – the thought that a stranger could have entered while they slept made me feel uneasy.

Jan 7, 2025 | echo.net.au | Mandy Nolan

Smoking is gross. It stinks. It’s full of poison. It’s anti-social. It gives you cancer. It’s stupid expensive. It makes you look ten years older. But I loved it. For years. It was like an abusive relationship I couldn’t leave. Or I would, then a year later I’d be back. Of course I’d had a few sneaky smoky hook ups along the way. I thought about it. A lot. Even when I wasn’t smoking. I thought about it. Every morning I woke up and had a ciggie. Then I thought about my next ciggie.