Saturday, July 26, 2008

Online Games - The Battle

Cool game - The Battle

Play Games at freeworldgroup

Chance To Farewell Grandma

Tomorrow I fly to Adelaide for my Grandma's funeral which will be held on Monday. I'm not morbid or anything, well maybe a tad, but it is a chance to pay my respects to a lady I have great admiration and love for and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been to a funeral before. I was going to my great uncle Wally's funeral when I was about eight years old but they wouldn't let us kids into the church and we had to wait in the car with another relative. Gee, I'm getting a bit old for firsts.

There should be a great many people at the church on Monday that I know and a lot more that I don't know. My Grandma knew a lot of people. And she was loved by a lot too. The plan is for the three grandsons (only three?), one son and two son-in-laws to be pall bearers. I was surprised that even though I have a huge number of relatives that there were only three grandsons.

I'd better remember to pack a handkerchief to wipe away the tears. I'll try my best to hold mine back but with so many women in the family it is bound to be gushing. And I don't blame - my Grandma was a wonderful person. Hopefully the weather holds out and everything goes according to plan.

On Tuesday Grandma will be buried in the small farming community of Mundulla next to her husband. It will be another large gathering no doubt and a luncheon has been organised for afterwards.

Farewell Grandma. Rest in peace.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My Grandma - What A Great Lady

This morning I received an early phone call. It was one that I knew was coming. My grandma died early in the morning. It has come as a shock to some people and was expected by many others. After reading an email from my Auntie late in the evening I knew what to expect. Deep down I realised that the time had come.

I wrote earlier in the year about how my family visited her in January following a stroke in October. It was quite a shock to see how her health had deteriorated. Even writing a get well card had taken me a month or so to complete such was the feeling, and perhaps non-acceptance, brought about by her condition.

I'd been kept up to date with her situation by family members who have visited on a regular basis. For that I am very grateful.

It was my grandma's 84th birthday a couple of months ago. Miky bought a card, not a birthday card, for her but I couldn't find the courage to write in it. I stared at the card every few days or so but couldn't bring myself to write in it. Last night it hit me that I had to write it. In it I wrote about how much my grandma meant to me and how much we loved her. It took a long time to write. Part of my heart was written into it. It gave me the opportunity to say goodbye - something that I wouldn't have the chance to do in person. Writing that word, goodbye, was very difficult.

Then the phone call came this morning. I felt guilty for taking two months to write in the card and that my grandma wouldn't get to read it. But I've said what I wanted to say and feel much better for it. I still felt the need to post it even though she wouldn't receive it.

I'm sure that the funeral will be large and well attended. One thing not in grandma's favour is the age that she reached as many of her friends, if still alive, won't be able to attend due to probable ill-health or lack of mobility but she has a great many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was a bit of a trailblazer and went bush to be a deputy principal in 1982. She went to China and I get the feeling that she did that around 1980. I still have the dragon that she bought me as a souvenir. A very well educated women she spoke French and German and was even studying for her doctorate until late in her 70s. She was a very inspiring woman. Can't wait until someone writes a book about her.

I've been asked to be a pall bearer at her funeral and I consider this a great honour and a great way to pay respect to a great lady. I hope that she is farewelled in style. At least I'll have another chance to farewell her, if not in person. I need to pay my respects. Someone needs to video the funeral service as I feel that I'll be overcome with emotion and unable to take everything in. They'll be a lot about her that I don't know and I'd love the opportunity to review that at my leisure.

Funny Bus Journey – Destination Unknown

A couple of weeks ago I was a little surprised on the bus. Normally when you leave the city there are only a couple of places that people get on the bus outside of the city. They are the transfer station, where all buses stop, and near a suburban shopping centre. After that it is a most unusual occurrence. So you can imagine my surprise when somebody got on the bus in the middle of nowhere.

Soon afterwards this young Asian girl sat moved seats quite purposely and sat next to a more elderly lady. I thought to myself, “Oh, she’s met someone that she knows.” They talked briefly and then the lady mentioned something about, “You’d better ask the bus driver.” She duly did this and it was apparent that she wasn’t sure which stop was hers. The driver radioed base to see if anyone else knew as it wasn’t a well known street. He even stopped the bus so that we wouldn’t go too far.

It was at this stage that the resident wannabe-lesbian who only made boyfriends with the worst men on earth, three at last count in her life, stuck her nose in and mentioned that, “I know the area quite well.” Side note: it’s amazing what you can learn on a bus, especially because obnoxious people tend to be quite loud mouthed when talking about themselves. Of course she asked the same question as the bus driver. Why didn’t I think of that? Generally if you yell at a foreigner they magically understand. Perhaps she should have tried that tack. Mind you, she did ask if she had a mobile phone.

It turns out that the girl was trying to get to a friend’s house. She knew the name of the street but had no idea how to get there other than to catch a specific bus. You can imagine the talk on the bus – “Why would you get on a bus if you don’t know where you’re going?’ was a question much asked. The girl didn’t want the driver holding everybody up so asked him to drive on. I was quite curious as to where she intended to go and checked the map when I arrived home. It turns out that she only had to travel three streets from where she caught the bus and it would have taken all of five minutes to walk. She probably ended up at a railway station somewhere. In her hand was a bag of shopping so one bloke onboard commented, “At least she won’t starve!”

Why would you catch a bus if you were headed for destination unknown? (A great Pseudo Echo song, by the way)

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Warning - Kids Are Not Safe

I have a warning to all of you parents out there. To leave three kids unattended in the backyard with access to the garden shed is not safe. This is the scene that I returned home to this afternoon after work.


The Trench, as it has become known.


The Trench 2. Looks like a giant footprint.


The Trench 3.


Stew.

Kids are not safe - for your backyard at least. The kids aren't likely to get hurt but your backyard may never recover. And to think that they made this firstly as a trap for the rabbit and then for a trench to keep him in. What great imaginations.

Perhaps they want to go to the Olympics. If so, they're off to a good start because they already dug halfway to China.

Prince of War - Online Games

Another cool game that the Boy found. With him doing all the purchasing of soldiers and me doing the fighting I got all the way through 20 levels on my first go. Hmmm.

Prince-of-War


I've finished it!!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Abuse By SMS – Make Sure You Spell Properly

My missus was doing some pattern design for a “lady”. She was very slow at paying and not good at keeping to her word. The fact that she was running a fashion business and had not much of an idea about what she was doing didn’t help either. Miky had been waiting to be paid the grand total of $60 for a couple of weeks and repeated calls didn’t garner a response until the other day. She was met with a “Do you know who my husband is?” bit of screaming and other stupidity. After finally transferring the money, following an offer of paying in two to three weeks time, she sent the following SMS.

“Sent you the $60 to your bank account this morning. Don’t ever want to hear from you again. If you bad mouth me to anyone in the industry like you talked about me to Clare, I sware to God I will sue you for DEFORMATION OF CHARACTER! And the $121 you owe me for the cardboard!!!!!
Lucky fo me Two of my cousins are lawyers!!!!!!!!!!! Gina”

Funny that. “Deformation of character”? The fact that this peroxide blonde is quite obviously a gold-digger whose multi-millionaire husband has been having an affair whilst she’s been pregnant with their second child which has lead to divorce proceedings, her lack of knowledge about the industry, her ignorance of the English language and her dodgy business ethics show that her character is actually deformed and not defamed as she probably meant. Freudian slip, maybe? As for the $121 - when you offer to go halves in something and then take it all for yourself before receiving payment there isn’t much to complain about and no money owed. Hopefully her lawyer cousins are better at spelling. The bit about knowing who the husband is kills me. It’s plain to see that she doesn’t even know who her husband is or she’s just beginning to find out. This is the thanks that we get even after welcoming her into our home? Not much better than being spat in the face or being bitten as a hand that has fed someone. Oh, and you're wondering about the bad-mouthing to Clare? It turns out that Clare is a good friend of Gina and she mentioned to my missus that she doesn't know anything about design. Wouldn't hurt to get the facts straight, would it? Lawyers don't worry too much about the facts though if it doesn't help their cause.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Stupid bitch.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Boys' Day Out

Yesterday I did something that hadn't been done before and needed to be done. I took a day off work during the school holidays and spent it with the Boy. First job after breakfast was to go to the bank and dump the change into his bank account which then was upgraded to an account paying an additional 2.5% p.a. Then we went to the movies to see Hancock. The local movie reviewer gave the first half of the movie 2.5 stars and 0 stars for the second half. That rating had me a little concerned. But I needn't have been. The movie turned from an action/comedy to drama/love story, with action, and we both really enjoyed it. People even applauded at the conclusion of the movie.

Couple more items of work then we bought some pizzas. One each. Yum. Normally the three of us eat two pizzas with a few slices left over. Not yesterday. Did I mention that it rained nearly all day? We had just under an inch of rain. Good day for doing things indoors. Master stroke time - off to the arcades. The Boy has only been to the arcade once, when he was five, and so this was a treat. We did play a NASCAR race together and he beat me on the line by 0.32 seconds! He came out of nowhere and there wasn't anything wrong with my driving. Bugger.

Miky met us in the city after work and we bought some Korean food and ice creams. Yum. Again.

It was a good day and he even thanked me without prompting. I had been a little concerned that being an only child he took too much for granted. But his attitude seems to be changing. I think it has something to do with wanting a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. Christmas presents - the ultimate behaviour modification device.

I should do this more often.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Taekwond Grading - The Boy Is A Second Gup

This morning the Boy had a grading at taekwondo. It didn't start too well as he forgot to bring his gloves which are a compulsory item of attire. Warm-up was okay and he seemed to remember his patterns fairly well.

Into the grading and he was a little lost in taeguk five. Taeguk six and taeguk seven were pretty good though. His ho shin seul, or self defence, were ok too. Breaking boards was a bit pathetic as he's not that powerful.

Still, a pass is a pass. Two tips on the red belt now so look out black belts (in a few years).

Went to Dome in South Perth for lunch followed by a long walk along the foreshore, which the council is ripping up in many places to install beaches (of all things - don't these people know anything about geography?), and the Boy spent his time riding his new scooter. It's nice to have him out of earshot for a while. He comes back though. He he.

Back home and I did some repairs to the gutter out the front of the house followed by a kick of football in the park with the Boy. Then it was bulgogi for tea - it is Sunday after all.

The Great Escape - Almost

Had a chat over the fence with the neighbour today. She mentioned that her daughter and her boyfriend had spotted a rabbit in our front yard the other day. Thinking that it belonged to the Boy they tried to catch it. Even the neighbour joined in and nobody could actually catch Stew. They then decided to open the gate and shoo him in. It worked! A closer inspection revealed that he had dug under the only bit of fence that didn't have concrete slabs next to it and pushed the wire netting to one side to make his escape. Our neighbours then placed a couple of bricks in front of the hole so he couldn't make his way out again.

Obviously Stew isn't that stupid as there is some lovely grass out the front. No wonder he heads for the gate when I'm going out. Cunning little bugger. Luckily it wasn't really the great escape.

Online Games - Swords and Sandals

Ever wanted to be a gladiator? The Boy found a decent online game and he's better than me. He made it to level 12 and I think my best is level 9. I've lost to Son of Stylonius in the third tournament whereas he's defeated him and made it to level 12. Check it.


Play This Game

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Breast Cancer In Couples On The Rise

On Today Tonight a couple of nights ago they had a report about a husband and wife who both had breast cancer. The odds for that happening were given as one in a billion. Give me a break. If they said one in nine hundred and eighty five million three hundred and sixty five thousand and eighty seven I could have believed them. But not one in a billion. That figure is way too convenient. The guy's father was the first man in Australia to be diagnosed with breast cancer and he died from the disease. Both of the couple have recovered.

What the report didn't tell us was that the incidence of breast cancer affecting couples was increasing exponentially. This one in a billion chance could be down to one in a few tens of thousand the way things are going. Well, with gay marriage/unions being allowed in certain states in America it is obvious that lesbian couples are more likely to have both struck down with the disease than one in a billion.

I wish the reporters on Today Tonight would reveal the awful truth. Why is it that Michael Moore is left to tell the story?

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Grand Slam Tennis Is Warming The Planet

Over the years there has been much conjecture as to whether or not women should be paid the same to play grand slam tennis matches as men even though they only play best of three sets and the men compete in best of five sets matches. I think that the argument can be put to bed and that the pay scale should be the same only men should start playing best of three sets matches. Why? To save the planet. That's why.

Let me explain. Recently companies in Australia have been advertising how effective their turf lawns are at reducing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It is much better for the planet to plant turf than pavers. Well, did anyone notice the state of centre court at Wimbledon in the final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer? The grass was almost dead. Not a great deal of absorption of greenhouse gases taking place there, let me tell you. The organisers of the Wimbledon Championship should take a good, long look at themselves and their reckless attitude towards the health of the planet. Look after the grass by reducing the length of men's matches and we will all benefit.

And it will also stop the equalitarians from whinging. I think I just made up a new word here.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Super Dandruff

I think if I went to see a doctor I would be diagnosed with super dandruff. Currently I use one of the leading brands of anti-dandruff shampoo and I still have a significant dandruff problem. Perhaps we need to buy an anti-dandruff conditioner also, if there is such a product. Keep an eye out for this product for me, will ya?

It's sometimes embarrassing to wear a black shirt with the build-up of dandruff and subsequent change in colour. And if I give my hair a good rub it's almost snowing. I have seen worse though. There was a guy that I worked with who had some skin problem and flakes of skin covered his jacket by the end of the day. It was an horrendous sight.