More Cool Number Plates

I grabbed one of these number plates last weekend and was on the prowl today as I had my camera with me. A dangerous combination.

2HOT4WA - Too hot for Western Australia.

LIL AL - L'il Al (It's not Big Al).

SWEDE AS - Sweet As (Especially as a Swede).

V8NEVRL8 - V8 Never late.

Arrested driver in Perth tonight. Unfortunately I didn't get close enough to photograph his number plate. Judging by the way the police were searching his car in the middle of the street he must have done something pretty stupid.

Tax Return - A Taxing Time

I rang up yesterday to make an appointment with my accountant. There is only a month left before having to make the tax return and I should get it over and done with. I know it's going to hurt.

Normally the owner of the business does my tax. I was informed yesterday that a standard tax return cost $110. If it was a business related return it was $220. If I had shares included then it was an additional $20. And, if I wished for the owner to do my return personally it was another $50.

And I thought finding out how much tax I would be required to pay would hurt. Not half as much as how much the accountant costs. Would you like fries with that?

Post script - I forgot to mention that I have to take time off work, which will be unpaid, to complete my tax return so there is more money gone.

Everybody Is In Too Much Of A Hurry

P-plater clocked at 213kph - What was he racing?

Eight year old girl dragged by bus - I bet the bus driver felt like a big man. Fancy racing an eight year old girl. I hope she had a bicycle and not a trike.

Not Much Time For Anything On The Weekend

Busy as usual on the weekend. Work, taekwondo and soccer in the park. The boy and I went to Curtin Uni's Open Day on Sunday for a look after having a takeaway lunch from the Dumpling King. There are usually lots of things that interest the kids. I did want to catch up with a friend who has just had another kid but with the weather the way it was decided against that. I didn't wish to put them through that. We went to the physiotherapy department first and they showed Yu-Jin how to use a sling to train damaged leg muscles and then he had a go in a wheelchair. He thought it was great fun and commented, "I want to buy one of these." There was a balance test available and we competed against each other. Pretty well matched, we were. There was also a skeleton to dismantle and reassemble with the bonus of a lecturer to talk to. Managed to find out what happened to my back when playing football in England.

In the next room they had a spirograph for measuring your lung capacity. My lungs are four times the size of the boy's but that just goes to show that I'm a blowhard. Perhaps the most exciting experiment was attaching electrodes to our arm and watching our hands rise and fall without us doing anything. That was a bit freaky.

Just before the day finished we visited the psychology department and had a look at a Mueller-Lyer experiment. The link is a slightly different experiment to the one given to us but interesting all the same.

Back home and we had a game of Monopoly. Need to get a few more players as it's not as much fun with only two of us.

Weird Stuff Going On In Perth

Not quite sure what is happening in Perth town but there is some weird stuff happening around the place.

Weird Time

Has the Bermuda Triangle paid us a visit and fiddled with the clocks?

Weird Temperature

Blame it on global warming. Everyone else does.

Weird Lemon

This lemon, rather a bitter and twisted little person-looking, is rather too difficult to explain. And I not surprised that nobody from work has taken it home. Would you eat it?

Am I Being Stalked?

It's a worry when you know someone and this turns up in the mail.

Am I being stalked?

Things You Always Wanted To Know About Barrie But Were Too Afraid To Ask

FB - Which political party are you affiliated with?
Barrie - Whig.

FB – Who’s your favourite male singer?
Barrie - Elton John.

FB – Who’s your favourite female pop singer?
Barrie – Whigfield.

FB – When you played cowboys and Indians as a youngster which side did you choose?
Barrie – The Indians. Because they live in wigwams.

FB – Who is your favourite football team?
Barrie – Wigan Athletic.

FB – Who is the AFL footballer you admire the most?
Barrie – Simon Wiggins (Carlton).

FB - What is your hair colour?
Barrie - Sylv(i)a.

South Australian Drivers Are The Rudest In The Country

I heard on the radio this morning a report that said South Australian drivers are the rudest in the country. This figure was generated by a survey by major car insurer AAMI regarding road rage. Apparently 67% of South Australian drivers have gestured or yelled at other drivers with 81% of those people feeling that their actions were justified.

Based on those figures I wouldn't say that South Australian drivers are the rudest. I would conclude that they are the most honest. It may also mean that South Australian drivers are the most incompetent thereby justifying the road rage figures.

Related stories - but none that show the figures I heard.
Rude gestures and tailgating on the increase
Hobart drivers are angriest in Australia
Bad Manners fuelling road rage
Mid-north coast drivers are the angriest in New South Wales

I've stated many times that I'm in favour of road rage. There are plenty of idiots on the road who don't deserve to be there and my frustration at their stupidity is justifiably vented. Not in favour of tail-gating though. That's just silly. These guys can't drive properly and you're willing to risk damaging your car but driving at speed right up their rear end? Utter stupidity. Nothing wrong with giving them the finger or some choice words.

I Went To A Strip Club When I Was Younger

It seems to be all the rage at the moment. Telling the world that you went to a strip club when you were younger. On the weekend it was frontline news that the Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, attended a strip club in New York whilst on a tax-payer funded UN trip. Very interesting turn of events, that.

In today's news I see that our Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson, also admits to having visited a strip club, albeit some 30 years ago. Somebody sees some political point-scoring going on here and wishes to clear the air before a finger is pointed at them.

In between these headline acts my best man, Nick, attended a strip club.

It's all the rage. I attended one too when I was younger. Never when I was older however so don't hold that against me. Mind you, I took along a bag of Minties in case I became bored.

How many more of our Federal politicians have attended strip clubs? More likely, how many haven't? More importantly, can we get our pollies to rate them so that we can all vote on them? Let's have some serious debate in Federal parliament as to the best strip clubs in, and out of, the country.

Waste Of A Good Weekend

The young fella was crook this weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day and I didn't go to work but we weren't able to kick the football together. I took him to his music class and then we did the fruit and veg shopping before returning home for lunch. I thought that it was an ideal opportunity for him to see what happens in a taekwondo class when he wasn't participating and I'm sure he picked up some tips. His instructor gave him a very surprised look when he spotted him. Saturday night we watched Dr Who together so it wasn't completely wasted.

Sunday morning and the boy was really wheezy. So wheezy that I thought it best to take him to hospital. Luckily it was only about 15 minutes from arriving before he was able to be examined. They put him on 12 puffs of ventolin every 20 mins, another bronchial spray and gave him a dose of corticosteroid. Yep, a bad case of asthma. Something that he hasn't suffered from for about four years. We thought he was over it. Seeing as he didn't have a miraculous recovery he was booked into an observation ward. Once his need for ventolin was stabilised at four hours he was able to go home. In the interim he played video games and watched cartoons. Kids have never had it so good in hospital.

Eight hours after arriving we were able to go home. What a waste of my weekend. Aagh. At least the boy is ok and I'm glad that we weren't wasting the time of the hospital staff. It's always a concern that you are using the resources wisely. And it's a pity that the steroids weren't the body-building type. A bit of extra growth wouldn't go astray.

Heart Attack Ratings

I, for one, believe that there should be an overhaul of heart attack ratings. Are you sick of hearing about people suffering a mild heart attack and surviving and, seemingly, all those that die suffer from a massive heart attack. I guess you would ruin the family reputation if you succumbed to a mild heart attack. Let's put some real feeling in the level of attack, shall we?

1. What heart attack attack? - barely noticeable.
2. Ouch heart attack - slightly painful.
3. Yikes heart attack - strong stinging sensation.
4. Crikey Moses heart attack - strong pain.
5. Mother-of-God heart attack - this one packs a punch and your family reputation would remain intact.
6. Later dude heart attack - you're a goner.

I guess if you put your mind to it you could make some better suggestions.

My Wife The Intellectual Property Thief

I don't appreciate Intellectual Property (IP) thieves. And my wife is one of them. She tries to lay claim to so many things that are my doing and mine alone.

Take for instance the kimchi hamburger. My wife showed me how to make a burger patty which stuck together very well. But it was ME who put the kimchi in it. Voila - the kimchi hamburger. A Frugal Bastard invention some 10 years ago people. And who says that she invented it?

Then there is the case of who decided to have a flatmate in the flat that we lived in previously. My wife found the flat and I thought that it would be good to share with a Japanese student as we would otherwise have struggled to pay the bills. And who swears black and blue that it was her idea?

Now she's even trying to turn our son against me. When he was less than two years old he was quite sick. We took him to the doctor's surgery and next door was a chemist. The chemist sold toy monkeys for about $4.95. I thought it would be a great idea to cheer him up to buy a monkey as well as his medicine. And it worked. And he still loves that monkey which, surprisingly, has held up very well over the ensuing years. And who is trying to poison her son's mind by telling him that she bought it?

If I see my wife on Australia's Most Wanted any day now I won't be the least bit surprised.

Somebody Is Proud Of Their Car

Cool number plate.

1SICKMINI

Not Only Tough To Find Tradesmen In Australia

With the mining and construction boom going on in Australia at the moment it is a little bit difficult to find a tradesman. They are busy and if you don't offer lots of money they will find someone else able to offer it. There's no shortage of work for qualified tradies currently.

I hear that America, or NASA, requires good tradesmen also. It seems that another foam tile came loose during takeoff and damaged the shuttle. Can't NASA even find a tiler who can do a decent job? Are they still using the same tiler who did the bodge job on Columbia? Perhaps they should just buy Selleys Liquid Nails. That would surely make them stick on.

Whole Weekend To Ourselves

It was a bit of a strange weekend as I didn’t go to work and Miky had very little to do either. So I took the opportunity to spend a little time with the boy. I attended his music class on Saturday morning and then we went to the city to go to the Gallery of Western Australia and view the Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre: journey to the Afterlife. There were lots of amulets, limestone tablets, statues, a few sarcophagi, and papyrus from the Book of the Dead on display. Worth the look, and probably the expense, and it kept the boy interested. Unfortunately the only mummy on display was a cat. I can understand that the Louvre would have to keep its best exhibits in Paris but I think it cost me less to visit the Louvre in 1994 than to see a part of its Egyptian collection in Perth. Figure that one out.

After the Egyptian display we had a look at the paintings in the gallery. I was surprised that Yu-Jin was interested enough to see them and he told me how mum had taken to see the paintings. Then we had lunch at KFC before catching a bus to go to taekwondo training. Mum picked us up so that we could do the shopping. That night we watched the Bourne Identity together - very exciting stuff for the boy. It was nice to have a day off.

Sunday morning. Clean up the house, do the fruit and veg shopping, hang a mirror in the sun room, put up some hooks in the boy's room followed by watching the footy - Fremantle vs Essendon. Bummer, we went down by 63 points. I'm slightly glad that I was unable to get tickets for the match. After that we went to the Kim Chee House in Northbridge for tea. It was quite busy and although the food was nice it just wasn't up to the standard of Senoji in Vic Park. When we got home we sat in the car for a while and listened to the radio. There was some nice music on and it was a nice, relaxing way to finish the weekend.

Who Does Your Bus Driver Look Like?

I got on the bus last night and my bus driver looked like Ice-T

- source http://img.timeinc.net/time/digital/reports/mp3/images/ice_t.jpg.

No kidding. Pony tail and all. And he didn’t say hello. There’s another guy whose bus I used to catch who looks like Mark Woodford - the one on the right.

- source http://www.tennfit.com.au/images/IMG_0631.jpg.

He even dresses like him for Radio Lollipop day – they raise money for Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital. Surely they don’t make as much money these days as people don’t carry change due to almost everyone having a SmartRider. I've got a mate who looks like Mark Woodford, and he was a bus driver, but that's another story.

Two days ago I was the only person on the bus for about a third of my trip to work. So I got to have a bit of a chinwag with the driver. Most drivers, it turns out, work split shifts and this is something that he doesn’t enjoy. And he has to work most Friday and Saturday nights. The reason he doesn’t like those nights is because he has to deal with drunks and “shit people”, as he put it.

Proof That Anthony Mundine Has A Dirty Mouth

Anthony Mundine. Talented rugby player. Talented boxer. Big mouth. Told everyone that would listen how good he was. He said that Americans brought 9/11 upon themselves. If you had any doubt that he had a dirty mouth it has been well and truly removed. After a recent fight he had to wear a protective contact lens. Whilst at a restaurant he decided to clean it - with his mouth. Now he's fighting a battle to save the sight in his left eye due to an eye infection. And it looks like he may never box again.

I don't like the guy but it would be a shame for his boxing talent to be lost. It would be a shame that other guys wouldn't have the chance to beat the crap out of him. You're either in the love him or hate him camp. He's that sort of bloke. I see a political career beckoning.

I Shouldn't Do These Things Late At Night



I think your score is based on how easily you will sign up to crap at the end of the test. Personally. Thanks to Lori.

What Is The Incidence Of Twins In Chickens?

This is a question that we've all asked ourselves from time to time. No? Oh, it's just me then.

When we were much younger my sister and I would fight over who got the largest in the egg carton. We were always interested in getting the double-yolker. You felt privileged to have two yolks instead of one.

As I was walking to the bus stop this morning the thought above struck me. And be damned if it would leave my head. And that's a dangerous thing to happen. What is the incidence of twins in chickens? Has anyone done a study or given it more than a passing moments notice?

Twins are revered in humankind. They are treated with wonderment. The Steele brothers came to my primary school one year and they were identical twins. Everybody wants to study identical twins - do they have a private language, can they share pain, do they experience telepathy? We treat human twins as special. I believe that Korea has the highest incidence of twins in humans. We even have a special saying related to human twins - "I see you've met the twins".

Sheep are fairly blasé about having twins. It is almost expected of them. And it is noticeable when they do have twins. Nothing extraordinary there.

Chickens, on the other hand, appear to be overlooked in the world of twins. Perhaps this is due to the size of the brood that they are generally hatched into. The twins, if they occur, are indiscernible. We pay little, or no, attention to the wonderment of twin chickens. This is shameful behaviour and scientists should hang their heads.

I imagine that there are a lot of men who dream about twin chicks but that's another story.

Behind The Scenes At The Blog

Just checking the sitemeter to see where Annette is from and I thought I had narrowed it down when I noticed a few other items.

Technorati gives me a blog authority of 9 and a ranking of 680,524.

I made it to another list of 50 Unique Names For Blogs.

Apparently I'm ranked 202nd in Australia for Noisiest Bloggers in Oz. And Staypuff is at no. 140. Got some catching up to do.

There's a lot that happens behind the scenes. Actually.

Of All The Things To Complain About

What bothers you the most about your work? Is it the low quality coffee provided, or the dreary trudge to and from the office daily or the fact that you don't have a window to look out occasionally? Something that drove me mad in my last job was a lack of training. There were some very worthwhile training courses on offer but the company suffered from a small-business mentality and didn't invest enough in its employees. It wasn't the reason I left but it was a contributing factor. I'm sure I could have been a much better salesman with the appropriate training. Most people are crying out for decent training in the workplace.

Now get this young bloke I sat next to on the bus last night. He'd make a phone call, or receive one, and then he'd be on the blower again to somebody else. It was difficult to hear him over the Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft protagonists sitting at the back of the bus (I think even the bus driver would have received a learning experience on the powers of clerics and the like they were so loud) but he complained about being in a two week training course. I think he even had to do four weeks of training in a six week period and this bummed him so much that he would be looking for another job as soon as this fortnight's training was complete. Most people would give their eye teeth, whatever that is, for a comprehensive training course paid for by their employer. Hell, I went to uni for three years for training and paid for it myself!

But there is no point in showing a young man the error of his ways. He just needs to learn about life through hard lessons. Maybe I don't know enough about his profession and his training is quite onerous so the throwaway line shouldn't be read into too much.

What's Happening In The World?

Structurally deficient bridges collapsing, stock markets being quite volatile and work keeping me pretty honest. Life continues as normal. After working Saturday morning I took the young bloke to taekwondo. I had a proud parent moment when I saw him in class as he was right next to the black belts (there aren't any red belts in the class). Here was my little boy and he didn't look out of place at all. The kid next to him was a fifth geup,급 (gup), much taller, and Yu-Jin has better poomsae skills. He's right where he deserves to be.

I went to cook tea last night and then discovered that we didn't have any vegetables. So, pizzas it was. I was partial to some garlic bread and then they offered me some brownies for $1.95 instead of the normal value of $4.75. Jumped at that chance. Miky was surprised but enjoyed what we had to eat.

Yu-Jin and I awoke early on Sunday and I did the fruit and veg shopping. Then together we shot off to Bunnings so that he could take part in a kids' workshop only to find that the time had been changed. Bought some equipment for the garden and lawn seed. Then Yu-Jin and I spent nearly two hours weeding the backyard in preparation for the sowing more lawn seed. We had lunch at the Dumpling King - full of Koreans with a few Chinese for good measure. Very busy, very loud but very nice food. We had Korean style sweet and sour pork, black bean noodles and yaki mandoo.

After lunch the boy and I continued weeding and digging up the backyard and sowing the lawn seeds. I'm a bit stuffed. Still have to wash the dishes, put the shopping away and clean the house. Currently I'm listening to a bit of footy on the radio - it wouldn't work properly on the computer.

My Boy Won A Radio

A couple of weeks ago during the school holidays the boy and his mum went to the museum to meet up with a music school classmate and his mum. As it was the holidays the museum had an exercise for them to do - Queen's Quest. They had to find certain objects and write down certain letters on a form. When finished they would put their name to it in the hope of winning a prize, in this case a radio.

The boy came home and told me about the competition but added, "I won't win it. I never win anything." I said that, "You've got to be in it to win it." Lo and behold about a week later the museum rang and asked him to come and collect a radio that he had won. Talk about one excited child. I was rather hoping that it had an MP3 player as well.

So, on the weekend we made a special trip into the city to collect the radio. It's not all that expensive, the 2xAAA batteries that we inserted are probably worth more than the radio itself, but it works well and is quite a treasured item. And that's just the way it should be. As it was a cheap item, which will last for ages if looked after, the museum was able to provide a great many radios as prizes and that's a great way to get kids to appreciate their museum.

Now I'm sure that he'll be bugging me to go in any competition that he sees from now on.