Friday, April 28, 2006

A Complete Balls-up

I saw a heading in the paper this morning - "Losing Private Kovco". It made me laugh but I'm sure that others are crying about it.

If you missed the story - An Aussie soldier in Iraq was shot in the head with his own pistol and died. The Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, initially claimed that Pte Kovco had been cleaning his gun and it discharged accidentally. His body would be flown home.

The body arrived in Melbourne on Thursday with the family waiting at the airport. It was about that time that the realisation dawned that the wrong body had been flown back from the morgue in Kuwait. WTF? How on earth can you bring the wrong body back? It's the one draped in the Australian flag, you idiots?

Now the story is that Pte Kovco read a letter from his wife shortly before the pistol, which was sitting on the table, accidentally discharged. The fact that there are three safety mechanisms on the gun and his wife is calling for the letters return means that something is up. Either he shot himself or was doing something stupid with his mates.

More will be revealed and it could take some time. But what a balls-up.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Freudian Slip or Slip of the Tongue

On the news on the radio whilst driving in to work this morning, Shaun Walker from News Radio mentioned that it was "Profit-taking, er, profit-reporting season for the banks" during the finance report. Was that an intentional swipe at the banks or not?

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Anzac Day 2006

It looked like Anzac Day – dark, wet and bleak. Well, that’s what you get for 4:50 in the morning. Perhaps I shouldn’t have watched the footy until 11 o’clock last night but it did turn out to be too good a match to turn off. And last night we had also visited the library, borrowed several books and I had one that I couldn’t put down – “Clangers Bloomers and Blunders – Australian Style”.

They say that we get up early to pay our respects to those that have served and the fallen. I reckon it is more so that we can get a parking space somewhere near Kings Park. Gosh it is busy at that time of the day. I had to park in Hay Street in West Perth. Still, the early morning walk was invigorating.

Just before the dawn service began they had the lights on the War Memorial.

The rain didn’t stay away although during the dawn service at Kings Park there happened but a few spots. Luckily I took my broad-brimmed hat and jacket from Korea. I had been concerned that Australia wasn’t cold enough for my jacket, which was a great buy and extremely warm, but Anzac Day is the perfect opportunity to utilise it.

Silhouette of the War Memorial on Anzac Day 2006.

I was disappointed that there was no cannon fire after the minutes silence following the Last Post as it scares the bejeezus out of everybody. And a flypast as soon as the ceremony has been conducted occurred in past years and this was also missing.

I found Doug Webb’s speech, he’s a general or somesuch, quite good and very well presented. Apparently there were 30000 people in the park this morning. During the ceremony there was very little disruption except maybe a baby crying and some bloke near me sneezing quite a bit. Everyone was told to turn off their mobile phones though prior to the ceremony beginning. We were also given some background on how the build-up to World War II happened.

The names of all of the servicemen and women from Western Australia killed in action or who died from the effects of war service in the World War 1939-1945 are etched on bronze tablets beneath the War Memorial in Perth in Kings Park.

The Flame of Remembrance.

Quite busy at the War Memorial.

Definitely worth getting up for.

Peth sunrise on Anzac Day 2006.

We did get a flypast afterall.

After getting home and having breakfast we went for a walk together. I took us past the War Memorial on Albany Highway as I knew there would have been a service there as well and I wanted Yu-Jin to see the wreaths that had been left there so that we could talk about it. He is too little to take to a dawn service yet and it wouldn’t have done his cold a bit of good.

After the walk we went to the Museum in the city for a monster’s workshop. I had my doubt as to whether the museum would be open on a public holiday and it wasn’t. So we headed to Dome Coffee instead. By this stage it was raining quite steadily (yes, definitely Anzac Day) and the last thing we wanted was a long walk in the rain, therefore, we paid for parking. Yes, you heard correctly. Hot chocolate, ginger tea, blueberry muffin and blueberry Danish. Yum. And the rain continued on.

Home in time to watch Essendon vs. Collingwood – an Anzac Day tradition. Along with the rain, that is. No rain at the footy in Melbourne. Made for a nice change. Essendon bloody well lost though. Dammit.

After the disappointing end to the footy Yu-Jin and I went to the laundromat to dry the washing. It had been on the line all day, getting rinsed. We took a book called “Atticus the Storyteller’s 100 Greek Myths”. Quite a magical book and it passed the time very well. We’ve only covered the first 11 myths so far.

I feel like hitting the sack quite early tonight. Quite understandable really.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Make A Date With Your TV

May 13th 2006 - FA Cup Final - Liverpool vs West Ham United.

Hmmm, I'll be in Adelaide then. Damn, it's going to be on the telly very late. I have a wedding to attend the following night. We'll have to see.
I Don't Even Know What To Call This Post

On Friday night we didn't know what to do with ourselves. A friend of mine had a family ticket to attend a function for the Starlight Foundation at Scitech and asked Yu-Jin to come along. He even came to our house to pick him up. It involved a magic show, use of the planetarium (or was that a movie?) and some eats. The kids even picked up bags with lollies, balloons and stickers, among other things. He had a great time and even got dropped off.

Gosh the house was quiet. Cooking tea was almost enjoyable. And not at all rushed. We were able to talk to each other without having to tell the kid off or worry about him not finishing. It felt like such a long time before he arrived around 8:30. Thanks Ben!

Saturday was a very overcast day. Miky went to the gym and Yu-Jin and I went for a walk to the park to collect some sticks. He loves swordfighting so I picked up something decent for some strong hitting. Felt like a good idea to do some paving out the back from the clothesline to the shed. Yu-Jin could even muck around in the sand. Starting to look alright.

After lunch Yu-Jin went to taekwondo whilst we went grocery shopping. I thought that we should make our own pizzas for tea so we bought the ingredients necessary. Took ages to track down the pizza bases. When I got back to taekwondo Yu-Jin got to spar with the 7th dan instructor and copped a foot in the ear. And he was put on his arse. Poor fella was in the wars this weekend. On Sunday we went to the park to kick the footy. He got upset with me and threw the ball at me. I lifted my knee and the ball bounced off it and straight into his eye. Back at home Miky was digging in the backyard and the top of the shovel handle hit him in the bottom lip. Bit of blood and a cut lip ensued. He won't be doing that again. Not too much damage done.

Pizza for tea was a great idea. Yu-Jin was excited about helping to cook and got to eat something that he made. Made some more for lunch on Sunday.

Sunday morning and I headed off to golf at Collier Park. Not until Saturday night did I make up my mind to play this weekend. Joined Trevor and Peter for an entertaining round. Pete knocked in a 55 foot putt on the first for par and I knocked a 15 footer in. They were a couple of nice blokes to have a game with and teeing off at 6:50 was a bonus as we were done by 11. I actually enjoyed my round which was ok, apart from an eight and a nine, and shot a 98 off the stick. One shot I had to use my left-handed club and the guys were gobsmacked as I struck the ball so well. They thought that someone must have sold me the wrong clubs and my left-handed swing was so much better. On the 16th I sprained my hand after getting my 8-iron stuck in the fairway with my fingers getting bent backwards. That was the hole that I scored my nine on. It wasn't too easy playing the last three holes.

The garden needed a decent watering yesterday. The weather forecast is for rain for most of the week however. Promises, promises.

Pretty busy, pretty enjoyable weekend.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Super Nanny The Queen Of Reality TV

Super Nanny could just about tie-in all of the reality TV shows on at the moment. Think about it.

- She is large enough to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser.
- She is in need of an Extreme Makeover.
- Her challenges have her suited to Survivor.
- She acts like a Big Brother as she enters the people's houses (I'm drawing a long bow here).
- Now that she's not only doing America but also England it's a bit like being a contestant on The Amazing Race and having to decipher clues.

Anything else come to mind?

Friday, April 21, 2006

You Have To Be Careful What You Say About Anyone

Volleyball last night. Matt, one of my teammates, introduced me to Greg, a friend of his who was to play for us. Matt and Greg have played beach volleyball together. I recognised his straight away, although the dyed hair made it a little more difficult to do so, and he said, "Don't I know you from Curtin (Uni)? You did IS (Information Systems), didn't you?"
Yep, I had seen Greg around and even spoken to him a couple of times on campus.

We discussed uni a bit and Greg mentioned that although he doesn't see a lot of people from uni most of the people who did IT (Information Technology) are not working in that field. I know about four fellow students who are working in IT and asked him, "Do you know Ben So-and-so?"
"Know him? I live with him," was the reply.

You can't have a bad word about anyone.

We got rolled in the first set of our match but the second set was much better and we lost narrowly. In the third set we played very well for a 17-11 lead and somehow blew it to lose 25-21 right on the stroke of time. Bugger - a 3-0 loss. And next week we have a bye. They've introduced another team into our division. It's difficult enough for me to find the time to play once a week and keep up a bit of momentum and now we've been hit with the ocassional bye. Better luck next time.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Is There Anything Cuter Than...

Listening to your kid laughing in his sleep?

Shelley Idol

Yu-Jin's school is having a talent contest to be held at lunchtimes. The kids can sing, dance, tell jokes, read poetry, do magic tricks or whatever they feel is going to be entertaining. It is held at lunchtime and there are prizes. Entry into the competition is by gold coin donation.

Yu-Jin was strongly considering entering and singing "American Idiot" by Green Day. When the competition was announced one of his classmates asked the teacher if he could sing "American Idiot" (popular song) and the teacher refused pointblank. I'm assuming that his teacher, an older lady, wouldn't know the song and just thought that it was inappropriate due to the title. How disappointing. Probably not a bad thing as Yu-Jin doesn't know all of the words.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Easter Happenings

What a busy Easter period. I need a holiday to get over it.

Thursday - Miky's car had been playing up (again), and so we dropped it off at the mechanic's place early in the morning. That meant that I was late for work. At lunch time I went to the markets, assuming that they would be open, and found that that wasn't the case. Fruit and veggies in Woolworths were too expensive so I bought some Easter eggs.

Miky rang later in the day to say that she was still at work and would be there for some time yet. That meant that I had to leave work early to get the car key, otherwise the car would need to stay at the garage for the whole weekend, Yu-Jin had to be collected, something had to be bought for tea and my friend Ben was arriving at the airport as well. As I was leaving my boss made the comment, "Arrived late, leaving early." Oh well. I couldn't help it.

Man, I didn't recognise Ben at the airport. It has been about nine years since I've seen him and we grew up together as next door neighbours. He thought that I would have lost my hair and was genuinely surprised that that wasn't the case. Ben's a bit thin on top and has put on a bit of weight. Anyway, the traffic was quite bad so I decided not to take the Tonkin Highway and we bought something for tea on the way home. Once arriving I realised that there may be enough time to get to volleyball. Ben had been warned volleyball was on the agenda.

Thankfully the traffic was leaving the city and I had a good run thereby arriving about seven minutes before game time. We only had four players but got Paul to fill-in. Finally we played well and won 3-0 with the scores locked at 14-14 in the fourth set when time ran out. I was on fire with my serving. If ever we were in trouble the ball only had to be sent to Phil on the other team. Phil appears to have Tourette Syndrome. Well, he carried on like a pork chop everytime he stuffed up. I don't think that he even got one serve over the net.



Frugal Bastard with the lethal volleyball serve.

Came home and Miky wanted to collect her car. It wasn't a good place to leave it, outside the garage, but it was late-night shopping so it wasn't as though it was the only vehicle in the car park, and all was ok. Interestingly the mechanic discovered that a coil for an electronic ignition was installed instead of one for points. That would have caused some of the problems that were evident.

Ben and I had a fair bit to talk about and went to be quite late.

Friday - went for a wander around the wetlands across the road, to the weir and around the miniature railway nearby. Easter eggs and hot cross buns on the menu. Maybe a couple of days early but I'm not religious anyway. Yu-Jin wanted to play games with Ben and we started to do a 500 piece puzzle. The afternoon was spent at Cottesloe Beach where Yu-Jin had a good time. I was a little surprised at the number of people at the beach but not too much as it was a holiday and the weather was very nice.

Cottesloe Beach was busy for Good Friday.

Some decent waves at Cottesloe Beach.

Yu-Jin spent a bit of time collecting shells.

Nice sunset at Cottesloe Beach.

Getting a bit adventurous with my photography - sunset at Cottesloe Beach.

Miky cooked bulgogi for tea. I told Ben that it was bull's testicles (bull go-gi) and I think that he believed me for a couple of seconds. It was difficult to keep a straight face. After we all watched a feature on Gengis Khan Ben and I watched The Passion of the Christ. Wow, what a powerful movie.

Saturday - On the way to Subiaco to do the fruit and veggie shopping I showed Ben around Curtin Uni. Following the shopping Ben, Yu-Jin and I went to the cinema to watch Zathura as there weren't too many movies suitable for Yu-Jin to watch. Not a bad movie, reasonably entertaining.

Miky joined us in the city following the movie and we went shirt shopping at Myer. I bought a very nice shirt for my birthday and Ben bought a couple of shirts. He did need to borrow Miky for a while, just so that he could get the opinion of a woman of course, as like most men he has little idea of fashion. I've changed a bit but still can't be left to my own devices completely.

For tea we went to Han's Cafe in Northbridge, the scene of our wedding reception. Bit of a walk around Northbridge followed by a visit to Dome Coffee, where none of us actually had coffee. Drove through the Northbridge Tunnel on the way home. Yu-Jin went to bed so Ben and I did some star-gazing, much like we did when we were kids. The moon was very detailed but the stars and one planet we looked at didn't reveal any details. Another late night talking.

Sunday - Four hours were spent finishing the jigsaw puzzle.

The finished jigsaw puzzle. Don't start one of these unless you have plenty of time on your hands.

Yu-Jin was sick so he didn't come to Kings Park with Ben and myself. Showed him around the War Memorial, the Treetop Walk and the DNA Tower.

Perth City as seen from the War Memorial in Kings Park.

Some major earthworks going on for the railway line to Mandurah.

View from the Treetop Walk in Kings Park.

South Perth from the DNA Tower.

Had a bit of time left over so walked around the city for a while before going home. BBQ for tea. Not so late night as Ben had to catch a flight in the morning.

Site of the new Perth railway station.

Monday - Brekkie followed by a bit of gardening before heading out to the airport. Bugger all traffic unlike the previous Thursday. Miky and I did a bit of gardening and I bought some concrete slabs from Bunnings.

Caught another mouse. This little guy had been hanging around in the computer room. In the arvo we went to Gloria Jeans Coffee, where nobody had coffee, before returning home early as Yu-Jin was still sick. Watched Mythbusters later on and it is the sort of show that really captures Yu-Jin's attention.

I need a holiday to get over the holiday.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

A Wild Goose Chase Thanks To Perth's Planners

I needed to get a couple of new tyres for my car today, what with Easter coming up and the ensuing police blitz. I'd gotten enough usage out of them. Luckily in WA we are allowed a minimum of 1.5 mm of tread whereas your tyres are considered to be bald with 3 mm of tread in the rest of the country.

Had to do this on my lunch break and it took a lot longer to find the KMart Tyre and & Auto than it should have, thanks to Perth's planners. I knew it was 380-something on Scarborough Beach Rd in Innaloo. In Osborne Park I decided to look at the street numbers just to make sure that I didn't overshoot. The first number I saw was 424 so, "I must be getting close," I thought to myself. Next was 460-odd. Whoops, better turn around.

At 386 was a Beaurepaires store. It was about the right number and on the right street but not the right company. I asked if there had been a KMart Tyre and Auto store here and the guy explained that Scarborough Beach Road had the numbers starting in three different suburbs. So there could be a 386 in Osborne Park, one in Scarborough and another in Innaloo. How bloody dumb!

When I finally came across the correct shop it was a pig to get to on top of the car park above the shopping centre. And just as you think you have made it there is a no entry sign and you have to drive around the top to reach the entrance.

What a rigmarole. Street numbers of 1-1000 would be appreciated. Get your act together people who call yourselves planners.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Happy Birthday To Me

I've turned 34. Time to get on with life.

Went a bit cheap on the candles for the cake.

Golf was interesting yesterday. Played with Shayne, Mark and Kirin - a Canadian. I mentioned that John Wilson posted he was going to play golf on the weekend in Canada and it was going to set him back C$49, which was about half price, and he considered that to be cheap. Kirin, whose name had nothing to do with being conceived in a Japanese brewery, said that he had been a member of his club back home, about two hours drive north of Toronto, since he was five. And it wasn't unusual to pay C$200 for a game and $25 was unheard of, even on the worst courses. Mark had just become a member of Royal Perth. Only the most exclusive club in Perth. And probably the most expensive too.

I didn't even reach the ladies' tee off the first. Knocked the second shot onto the fairway, third into the trees and my fourth from about 110m was sitting in pine needles and I had a very small gap between some big trees to get through. Managed to get it out quite well.

Mark hit his drive 280m straight down the middle. Ominous start. Kirin got out of tree trouble very well. Shayne hit a lovely drive and a nice second shot. I had a dig at Mark and Kirin asking them if they, "Had not made the cut at The Masters and so had come to join us" as there was one ball only one foot from the hole and another about eight feet away. I received a bit of a shock to find my ball was the one only a foot from the hole. Mark missed his putt for birdie.

I started bogey, bogey and Mark started missed birdie, missed birdie. It was quite special watching Mark drive off the tee. By hell he can hit a ball. On the par-4 9th, which was playing about 25m shorter than its 342m, Mark drove the green. Unbelievable. His 15m putt ended only a couple of feet away and he birdied the hole. Bit hard to believe that his handicap was 12.

Kirin seemed to know his game well but was struggling. I did ask him what he normally played off (handicap) back home and his reply was, "I'm not playing well today." He managed to hit or go into the trees on every hole and really wasn't having a good day. That was evidenced by the fact his handicap is four and he shot a 51 - with only 14 putts. No wonder he called it quits after nine to go and play poker at the Casino. Mark quit after nine holes as well.

I was thinking during my round that if the French had invented golf it would be two sets of 10 holes. Just to extend the misery or to keep the decimal system going.

Shayne and I probably relaxed a bit more on the back nine but both started off with a nine. Shayne followed that up with a 10 after taking three shots to get out of a bunker in front of the green. Kirin had given me two Callaway balls that he didn't want. I played a couple of provisional shots with my ball, I gave one to Shayne, and they were wayward to nowhere-near-on-target. Shayne didn't have much more luck either. Perhaps it was poor golf from the two of us but there's no way I'll be buying a Callaway golf ball. Even if Phil Mickelson did win at Augusta with one.

On the 13th Shayne realised that I hadn't had a par up until that stage. I rectified that situation on that very hole. When we walked to the 17th tee he realised that he hadn't had a par yet. And he scored his par on that hole. I said, "And you'll score a 12 on the last but won't give a bugger as you have your par."

Guess what he scored on the 18th - yep, a 12. I shot a 10 though after four-putting on the last. Apart from the 10, two nines and an eight I thought that I played quite well. I would have been happy with that score and playing reasonably on the really bad holes.

Collier Park Scorecard April 9th 2006.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

The AFL Knows About Football...

But the Website needs a bit of a revamp. The game between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne had my interest and not only because I have $110 at work counting on a Bulldogs victory. They were 13 points down at half time but up by 26 points during the third quarter by the stage we had to go to taekwondo. It looked like they had the game in the bag.

After returning from taekwondo I logged onto the Website to see the scoreline. The Bulldogs won but take a look at the scoreline on the AFL's Website and then have a gander at the match report from a sport Website - Sportal.com.au

Unbelievable Western Bulldogs Scoreline.

More Believable Western Bulldogs Scoreline.

The AFL obviously stuffed up with their Content Management program as the scoreline was repeated on the main page.

The Main Page Scoreline Is Incorrect Too.

The editor hasn't really earnt his money before publishing the Web page. If my memory serves me correctly that would be the highest individual team score, highest losing team score, highest aggregate score and the most goals and behinds registered in a VFL/AFL match. Just wonder how long it will be before the mistake is noticed and corrected.

The AFL's Website is very popular and this can be attested to by the fact there are some 107000 tippers already this year (after round one) and there was a total of about 75000 at the end of last season. I'm in the top 3.25% after round one. It's all downhill from here.

Get this. I'm also in the Essendon Football Club footy tipping competition and used the same tips as for the AFL. Currently I'm about 1600 out of just over 6000 tippers. Does this mean that Bombers' tippers are so much better than the majority of other tippers?

P.S. I've just checked the AFL's site again and they have the score as 0.0 (0) vs 0.0 (0). Ah, don't you just love technology?
Bit More Sting From The Cobras

But still not quite enough. Effectively we lost by one point. The competition, The Beavers, won the first set and we won the second set. Yeah, I'm talking volleyball again. The third set was close and when the time ran out the scoreline was 22-20. You must get to 15 points with a margin of two to win the set. Bummer.

It would have been a bit of a hollow victory if we had managed it because we used two quite handy fill-ins. We played a bit better than last week though.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Just A Quick One

Daylight savings must be torturous for vampires.

Go back to your lives people.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Want a tummy tuck?
And a hot meal?

Today Tonight ran a story last night about people undergoing microwave treatment to burn fat. It still costs about $3-6000 but didn't involve invasive surgery, excessive time off work or the risk of infection. Apparently the fat in your body is heated to 65 degrees celsuis and then burns away. The machine has been approved by the FDA in the US and is awaiting approval on our shores.

On several ocassions Today Tonight has warned us about microwaves that leak radiation and how we should be worried about them. You should get the seals checked on your microwave to make sure that you were safe.

Why not combine the two and kill two birds with one stone? If you have a bit of a pot guts then duly stand in front of your leaky microwave whilst heating your tv dinner. Diminish the guts just before you build on it again.

Now, which microwaves are the best models for a bit of a tummy tuck on the side?
You Know An Arab Is In The News When...

The majority of the report is taken up by the pronunciation of his name. Especially if he is a sheik. Makes you laugh sometimes how long their names can be.
For Those Of You Wondering Where Hell Is

It's a small town just outside of Trondheim in Norway. It's not even mentioned in my The Times Concise Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition.

Hell Bridge (Bru).

Hell Station (Stasjon).

Postcard from Hell.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

What European City Do I Belong In?

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris.
You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.


I saw this on Lavinia's site.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Not A Bad Game Of Golf To Report

Finally, I didn't play a bad game of golf on the weekend. Well, I didn't play any golf on the weekend. My Sunday morning was spent painting the dining and living rooms along with the passageway. It's come up ok. Still might need another coat though and that can wait until next weekend. There was some footy and the Formula 1 Grand Prix on the telly to keep me entertained.

Miky spent the morning with Yu-Jin helping with his reading and doing things together. Yu-Jin and I had a game of Yahtzee and I scored two Yahtzees in the same game!

Yahtzee

Later in the arvo Yu-Jin had a sixth birthday party to go to and following that we had to meet at the ferry terminal as Keiko and Kiyoko were arriving back from Rottnest Island. Went to Siena's in Leederville for tea. And we ordered too much food. Nice stuff though.

On the way home I took them through Kings Park to see the lights and to do the treetop walk. Pity that the walk had closed three hours before. Still interesting to walk through the park during the dark. Not something the ladies would have done on their own.

Yu-Jin was asleep by the time we got home. Typical.

Keiko and Kiyoko are taking a tour to the Pinnacles today and I'll go to work a bit earlier than normal to drop them off in the city. No point in making them take a train and walk from the station to the meeting place.

Golf is on the agenda for next weekend.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

We've Got Visitors

Gee, I'm glad that visitors don't come that often. The cleaning that has to take place beforehand is murder. Who needs to live in a house that's that clean? Went out to the airport just after midnight, would you believe it was raining, to pick up our friends Keiko and Kiyoko from Fukuoka. I sat there for 10 mins, about 40 mins after their plane landed. Immigration, luggage and Customs take ages when entering this country.

I was reading my mail and checking for their appearance every so often. As I scanned the crowd, quite large for that time of the morning, I saw Kiyoko. They had entered the arrival lounge about 10 mins before and were looking for me. People look so different at the airport and it was difficult to recognise her. Keiko had gone to phone us but, here's the funny part, even though she visited us about a year ago she only had our phone number from about three and a half years ago. And she didn't have our address. She told the person at Immigration our postal address and that was enough to get them into the country. Not a lot of room in the post box as I only have a small one.

I commented to Keiko on the way home that she had brought the rain with her and she said that every excursion for school, and even her graduation, it rained. Even the headmaster commented during the graduation ceremony that this was an unfortunate bunch of students when it came to the weather. How funny.

Home just after 1am and up at 6:30 for breakfast as they wanted to catch the early ferry to Rottnest. I had booked the only room available at the Rottnest Lodge for them the day before. Change of plans as it had been raining and they would rather see Perth and go to Rotto later in the day. No probs. Dropped them off at the train station after brekkie.

Yu-Jin and I went to Bunnings to get some of those long green hoses with holes in them, I believe they are called sprinklers, to set up in particular parts of the garden that take a long time to water. I then proceeded to paint the dining room walls and Yu-Jin gave me a hand. We went to taekwondo after lunch.

Miky came home from the gym and shopping and then headed out the front to plant a large row of lavender. I had to cart a few barrow loads of wood chips to act as mulch and it looks alright.

Miky also came to the decision that our old 3-seater sofa that had been taking up room in the sewing room had to go. Anybody want to buy a blue sofa that is in pretty good nick? If it doesn't sell within a couple of weeks it'll probably go to the Salvos. It's sitting in the shed now.

Miky commented that the last time somebody from Japan came to stay with us I did some painting too. Large coincidence, methinks. I don't make a habit of such things.
For Sale - Loose Change Only Required

Car for sale.

For Sale. If you have any loose change put in an offer. "Slightly used". Only wrecked once. Limited edition banana shape. Goes like a 2-bob watch.

Phone Gary.
Have I Discovered Perth’s Most Inconsiderate Driver?

I reckon I might have. Going home from work on Friday night I had one guy in his new Mini Cooper, copper colour, cut in just before the traffic lights on Loftus Street. I hate this as he should wait in line like the rest of us. What made it worse was that he was the last car to get through the lights and I had to wait about another 2 ½ minutes.

He then shot straight across the road to the petrol station, went past the “Do Not Enter” sign without a second thought, got what he wanted from the servo, jumped on his mobile phone, didn’t put his seatbelt on, and took off just in front of me as I finally got my turn with the traffic light.

This guy didn’t bother to use his blinker too much, weaved in and out of the traffic and was traveling close to twice the speed limit – while still on his mobile. He changed lanes in the middle of an intersection with traffic lights and when he did indicate to change lanes it was over a solid white line. His number plate started with 1BXC and ended with, no, I shouldn’t say. Let’s just say that the last three parts of his seven digit alphanumeric plate is 752. That shouldn’t give it away. Idiot has no right to be on the road.