Frugal Bastard

Wetlands Wildlife

2012-01-26T08:11:00.000+08:00

It's Australia Day today and so I have the day off work. Got up early to walk with the missus and the dog. Good idea to go for a walk early - just take a look below at the Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for the next week. Anyway, I noticed a few birds out and about at the nearby wetlands and thought I'd return to take a few photos.

Hot weather on the way

Heron and Pacific black ducks

Wetlands Wildlife Photo Album

Dragon Shaped Cloud on Chinese New Years Day

2012-01-23T20:04:00.000+08:00

Look at what I saw today at lunchtime. Is it a coincidence or something else? Or do I have too vivid an imagination?

Dragon-shaped cloud on Chinese New Years Day 2012 (Year of the Dragon)

Dragon-shaped cloud on Chinese New Years Day 2012 with outline for those having difficulty in spotting it

What The Heck Is An Avish Life?

2012-01-22T08:38:00.000+08:00

Anybody know what an avish life is? Strange headline on News.com.au today - The avish life of file-sharing kingpin Kim Dotcom

And their slogan is "Technology - Switched On". I'd say that the spellchecker was switched off. It's not some East Ender speak, innit?

What is an avish life?

Book Review - Plotting Hitler's Death by Joachim Fest

2012-01-21T17:25:00.000+08:00

I purchased this book secondhand at the Save The Children Fund Giant Book Fair. It cost $12 which I thought was quite pricey but it was in mint condition. Retail price was $45. The German resistance to Hitler is not a subject that's been discussed too much in the West, I feel. So, I thought that it would make for some interesting reading.

You'd be forgiven to think that this book would be all about Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg and his assassination attempt that was depicted in the movie Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise. Stauffenberg isn't really spoken about until chapter seven. I have seen the movie but found it a little difficult to relate to or follow as I wasn't aware of the story behind it.

Apparently there were 16 assassination attempts on Hitler but not all of them are mentioned in this book. It focuses on the main proponents of the resistance, a term not coined until after the war, and their inability to agree on a plan to put an end to Hitler's rule over the years. For too long they waited for the right moment or for justification to launch their coup and also fought amongst themselves whether Hitler should become a victim of tyrannicide or not. Their Christian beliefs made it difficult for them to commit to assassination. The book is slow going to start with as not very much happened that was exciting between 1933 and 1944 in terms of assassination attempts. They were too busy planning, not obtaining enough support or too scared to carry through with a plan whilst their conscience pressured them. Can't say I blame them when living in a police state however.

The book makes it reasonably clear that the Allies did not assist the German resistance as their every move was considered to be treasonous. Hindsight tells us that one man's treason could be the whole world's saviour.

The most interesting point about the book is the incredible depth of research that has obviously taken place. It is written in such a manner as you can almost feel that you were in the meetings of the German resistance or in Hitler's Wolf's Lair at the time of Stauffenberg's assassination attempt. There is so much depth that it is almost like reading in real time. There's no jumping around to lose track of time. It is beautifully written and, I feel, an outstanding piece of work. Highly recommended for historically important events that haven't received the significance that is deserved. A fabulous book although quite slow in parts.

Two things slightly disappointed me. Firstly, the fact that my version was printed in the US and written with US English spelling. Minor gripe from a pedant though. And secondly, the captions on many of the photos revealed too much of the upcoming work that would have been better not to have been revealed a page or two too early.

Plotting Hitler's Death by Joachim Fest

Time for some quotes:

- Even more decisive, however, were Hitler's tactics, which quickly undermined the willingness of the republic's supporters to take action. They had always assumed that the Nazi leader would stage a coup and had prepared themselves exclusively for this eventuality. But Hitler's experiences during his long rise to power, especially the well-remembered failed putsch of November 1923, had persuaded him that it was best not to be seen seizing control through overtly violent means. Having risen to chancellor through constitutional channels, he was not about to stigmatise himself as a revolutionary.

- A coup achieved through legal channels was something thoroughly unknown. The classical literature on resistance to tyrants, stretching back to the days of the ancient Greeks, dealt exclusively with violent seizures of power; there was no talk of silent takeovers through outwardly democratic methods, of obeying the letter of the law while mocking its spirit. By leaving the facade of the constitution in place, Hitler hopelessly confounded the public's ability to judge the legality of the new regime, to choose whether as good citizens they should feel loyal to it or not.

- It always required an element of terror, he (Reichenau) said soon after assuming his new position, to purge a state of all its rot and decay.

- The presidency was the last bastion of army independence. This office and the powers attached to it were all that separated Hitler from outright dictatorship. (It was Hitler's merging of the offices of president and chancellor, which was an open violation of constitutional law, which provided him with absolute authority in Germany.)

- Venerable institutions are much more commonly laid low by their victories than by their defeats, especially when the true nature of those triumphs is disguised - as it so often is - or when it transpires that they are not in fact victories at all.

- During the Fritsch crisis the Führer had confided in a member of his cabinet that Beck was the only officer he feared: "That man could really do something." (Ludwig Beck was anointed to become the provisional head of state should Stauffenberg's assassination attempt have been successful.)

- Dictators do not allow themselves to be driven into things, because then they would no longer be dictators - Manstein's comment at the Nuremberg trials.

- "We should have gone to war in 1938. That was our last chance to keep it localised. But they gave in everywhere. Like cowards they yielded to all our demands. So it was very difficult to initiate hostilities." - Hitler

- "You can't wage ware with Salvation Army methods." - Hitler referencing the brutality used against the Poles in 1939.

- In the years that followed, it was these brilliant successes, much more than opportunism or personal weakness (although they also existed), that generated the mysterious confidence in Hitler's genius that always seemed to resurface despite setbacks.

- Only a complete collapse and widespread acceptance of the inevitability of defeat and the ensuing chaos could create the necessary preconditions for the great internal revival on which the future depended.

- Most of the politicians and military leaders whom they unsuccessfully courted in London, The Hague, and Washington still believed, however, that these Germans were committing "treason" and therefore regarded them with contempt. There was no appreciation of the fact that the opponents of the Nazi regime felt guided by new principles and laws whose legitimacy did not end at national borders.

- Canaris - exemplified the dilemma of many torn between emotion and reason. They felt proud of the restoration of German might yet were well aware of the repellent ways in which it had been achieved. They took great professional pleasure in their successes yet despaired over the "gangster methods of the regime." They recognised that a catastrophe was looming for which they bore some responsibility yet felt paralysed by such honourable principles as duty, loyalty, and a job well done.

- He (Hitler) had once said that avoiding such a predicament (the waging of a two-front war) was a fundamental principle of German foreign policy. "Time, always time!" he later grumbled.

- To Mussolini he (Hitler) said that he felt like someone who had only one shot left in his rifle as night began to fall.

- Their motives (Hans and Sophie Scholl) were amongst the simplest and, sadly, the rarest of all: a sense of right and wrong and a determination to take action. (Siblings arrested while throwing hundreds of leaflets from the gallery of the atrium at Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich speaking out vehemently against the regime and the moral indolence and numbness of the German people. In a special session of the People's Court, they were tried in less than three and a half hours and sentenced to death with their executions taking place later that day.)

- ... the attitude of most of the officers: their indecision, their narrow-mindedness, their ambivalence, and ultimately their servility.

- A dictatorship cannot be put on a democratic footing over night." - Julius Leber

- "He who has the courage to act must know that he will probably go down in German history as a traitor. But if he fails to act, he will be a traitor before his own conscience." - Stauffenberg

- "But even worse than failure is to yield to shame and coercion without a struggle." - Stauffenberg

- ... the German resistance remained what it had always been: an expression of feelings that may well have been widespread but that only a tiny minority was prepared to act on.

- Far from representing a tightly knit social elite hoping to regain its lost preeminence, the opposition to Hitler consisted of a motley collection of individuals who differed greatly in their social origins, habits of thought, political attitudes, and methods of action.

- German philosophy is often said to be rather removed from reality, and this characterisation certainly holds true for the German resistance.

- Public reports of the trials were quickly cut back and then stopped entirely in what was probably the most searing propaganda defeat the regime had ever suffered.

- No amount of success justified the government's crimes.

- On the night of July 20, 1944, Hitler addressed the German people by radio, claiming that "a very small clique of ambitious, wicked, and stupidly criminal officers forged a plot to eliminate me and, along with me, virtually the entire leadership of the Wehrmacht." (The officers were stripped of their military rank so as to be tried in the People's Court and they, and their families, numbered in the thousands in fact. Their numbers were so great that Hitler eventually forbade reporting on the trials or the subsequent executions.)

When did Tasmanian child abuse constitute business?

2012-01-20T05:38:00.000+08:00

OK, so I'm not aware of all types of business that people partake in but just when did Tasmanian child abuse constitute business? A rather strange headline aggregated by Google News into the Business section this morning.

When did Tasmanian child abuse constitute business?

Good Thing Greater Western Sydney Chose That Name

2012-01-15T10:21:00.000+08:00

The newest AFL team, Greater Western Sydney, or GWS, should be glad that they chose that name. If they had called themselves the Sydney Funnel Webs, after the spider of the same name, they may have been unfortunate enough to have drafted fallen-from-grace former AFL footballer Brendan Fevola. Fev, as he is more widely known, appears to have been bitten by a spider recently and ended up in hospital. That wouldn't have been good publicity, would it?

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 15

2012-01-08T22:33:00.000+08:00

Overnight it was pouring with rain which made me very glad that I looked at Cradle Mountain last night as it would be shrouded in cloud and an utter disappointment today. And so it proved to be. After breakfast I looked for some fuel but it was $1.965/L at the visitor centre and I asked if fuel would be available in the town of Moina, some 24 kms away. A woman who lived in Perth but worked at the park said that it would be.

In a bid to conserve fuel I drove at 60-70 km/h which was a good idea as the cafe/servo at Moina was closed for winter. Winter which finished six weeks ago mind you. The nearest fuel was, you guessed it, at the visitor centre 24 kms back up the road (and up the mountain). I decided to drive to Staverton and was a little disappointed to find only three or four houses and one antique fuel bowser. Knocked on a couple of doors to ask where the nearest petrol station was and one guy told me that it was 15 kms down the road (in Sheffield). Drove very slowly until we reached Sheffield then discovered a petrol station that was completely automated. I must have driven for close to 25-30 kms with the low fuel light coming on and off.

On the journey to put fuel in I'd noticed a sign for a town called Nowhere Else and decided to backtrack to investigate. Turned out to be nothing more than a couple of farms. Bit of traffic about though.

Nowhere Else sign

Back in Sheffield I found murals all about the town. No wonder they call it the Town of Murals. Very pretty and a great tourist attraction. Bought some souvenirs and asked for directions to Marakoopa for the caves to which the shop owner quickly provided a map.

As I approached the turnoff for Marakoopa Caves I noticed that we only had a few minutes until the next tour started - but we weren't the last to join. Brian, the guide, gave a great tour complete with stalactites, stalagmites, mightytites, flow, melted cheese, straws, pendutites, two rivers and glowworms! He has done more than 1755 tours. We went 400m inside the cave and weren't disappointed. The fine for breaking off some of the furniture for a souvenir is $15,000 and they've fined three people to date. Tour finished at 1pm and we headed to Perth, Tasmania. I drove quite slowly as fuel was getting low once again.

By the time we arrived in Perth it was raining quite heavily. No postcards available, except at the post office which was closed, so we hunted for food. I ate a wallaby sausage at Utsi - a cafe made from a converted church. The lady at the visitor centre at Cradle Mountain had said to try the food there. Finally found a place that sold food, the restaurant at the petrol station, and we had nachos and a King Island pie. Not bad.

Asked for directions to the airport, as there were two ways to go. They told me the quicker way which was about three kilometres further - not that I had the fuel for it.

Well, I'm sure that the car was out of fuel. My rental agreement was that I purchased a tank of fuel and any fuel that was in the vehicle was free for Avis. They weren't getting any freebies from me, not after the insurance incident at the start of the car hire. At Avis' desk the girl tried to inform me that the total price payable would have fuel added to the rental/insurance, etc, but I pointed out that I had paid for a tank of fuel. After telling her she was then able to inform me that I was correct. Their slogan, "We Try Harder", may be correct in that they try it on. Not a pleasant experience, really.

Quite a queue for the check-in for Qantas Link. And right behind us was a Japanese family that took the cave tour with us. Down in the waiting lounge there was a Jetstar flight that was delayed for 30 mins. We started boarding at our scheduled departure time and so were some 20-25 mins late in leaving. With a 150 km/h headwind we weren't going to make up any time into Melbourne. No probs as we had four hours to kill anyway.

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - See photos 105-162.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 14

2012-01-08T10:34:00.000+08:00

Early start to the day as the cruise on the Gordon River started at 8:30 am and we had to be ready before then. Brekky and check out to take care of before finding parking all day for $2.

Boarded the Lady Jane Franklin II amongst the 89 passengers and we had a seat in the middle of the lower deck. But we were free to wander around on all decks. The captain, Rob, took us through Hell's Gates, at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, and the entrance was only 65ft wide. Our ship was 9.5m wide, a smidgen over 31ft, so there wasn't much room for error. Met up with the Davies couple, from yesterdays train ride, and said hello.

The cruise through Macquarie Harbour, at a cracking pace, took us past some salmon/trout farms. With no natural predators the fish do quite well. As we approached the Gordon River the pace slowed considerably. This was to protect the river bank.

I wondered about the lack of birdlife on the river and it turns out that the river is too deep for normal waterbirds near the bank. All of the big Huon pines have been harvested from the area by convict labour in the 1820s and 30s, and by the piners in later years, so there wasn't a lot of big trees to see.

We stopped at Heritage Landing and The Boy was given the job of counting chimneys created by burrowing crayfish, of which we didn't spot one (probably because they are nocturnal). He reached 1,031 in the 30 minutes that we were there.

The ship turned around and lunch was served. Luckily I noticed that the pasta had pesto as The Boy had quite a bit on his plate and with his allergy that could have been very serious. New plate required. Lots of tasty salmon to eat.

Cruised back to Sarah Island which was settled by convicts in 1822. A total of 131 ships were built in 12 years (96 in the five years that Captain David Hoy was in charge). We were given a tour by Jane Flanagan, from The Round Earth Company, and that was very informative. After the play last night I wanted her to be our guide.

Once back on dry land I did some searching for decent souvenirs and went to the sawmill. There is a huge fine for cutting down the protected Huon pines so only driftwood, which doesn't rot, can be used. Therefore the wood is quite expensive. Bought a mixing bowl and spoon for the missus.

Back in the car and The Boy remembered where the road to Zeehan was. Some dumb woman stopped in front of us, in the middle of the road halfway down the highway, with no indication, just so that she could take a photo. And it was in a spot where overtaking was not allowed! Some people should just not be allowed to drive vehicles. Full stop.

Much to my disgust, and against of the guarantees I had been given, it wasn't raining when we reached Zeehan. Strahan has only 40 days a year when it doesn't rain and we enjoyed two of them consecutively. I planned to visit Montezuma Falls nearby but with a three hour return journey on foot I thought "bugger that".

Drove into Cradle Mt - Lake St Clair National Park and had another person stop in front of me in a no overtaking zone - on a bloody steep hill this time! Stupid tourists should be barred entry into Tasmania. It would seem that idiot drivers flock to Tassie.

Cradle Mountain itself was experiencing clear skies and great views. Called into the YHA to book a room and they upgraded us to a 4-bunk room at no extra charge. In fact, we had the 6-room bungalow to ourselves. Bought some very expensive groceries also.

Across the road to the Visitor Centre to buy a Parks Pass but as it was already ten past five they had shut for the day. Was fortunate enough to see an employee and asked about the pass and she showed me the after hours pass, of which there were only two left to buy, and told me how to fill it in. I put $24.75 in coins into the envelope only to discover that I couldn't put it into the box.

Drove into the park which has some 40 one lane sections until you reach Dove Lake near the mountain. Had to fill in a booklet detailing our planned walk - to Dove Lake boat shed and Glacier Rock at Dove Lake. Certainly came in a bit colder and the clouds finally came in. Beautiful walk and fantastic scenery. A terrific place to visit.

The drive back to our accommodation was about 18 minutes without traffic so we certainly picked a good time to visit. Tea time and then off to our room. The tiniest bit of rain fell at 8pm.

Family shot at Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - See photos 41-104.

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol

2012-01-05T22:52:00.000+08:00

Seeing as it was the holidays and new movies were in the cinemas, coupled with some free movie tickets, we decided to go out and watch something. After seeing Tintin the previous week we narrowed down the selection to the following:

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol
Tower Heist
War Horse

After watching the trailers we deemed that MI4 was the best choice. Thought that we'd better get there a little early in case it was busy. With it being the last day of the holidays you couldn't be sure.

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol

I parked the car where the missus said to even though it wasn't anywhere near where I wanted to. We tried to get in through the food hall area entrance but the doors were locked. Managed to talk our way through one shop that they were doing renovation work on. It was then that I remembered that I'd left my bag in the car and would have to retrieve it. Bought the tickets first and then headed out to go the long way around to return to the car.

As I entered the car park I saw a couple of guys pull up and start to walk inside. They looked a bit loose. After the long walk, reminiscent of when I first shopped at the Galleria and couldn't remember where I had parked my car (it is a big shopping centre with a BIG car park) I was in and driving towards the entrance where the cinema was situated.

Waited a few more minutes before entering before the start of the movie. The room was getting close to packed. And of course someone was sitting in our seats. There was a father and son who hadn't read the numbers properly so they only had to move over a few seats. But two guys, and guess who they should turn out to be, were in our seats. One of the guys, whom I'd seen in the car park, was upset that I wanted the seats that I had been allocated. He began to argue that they were his seats and that he was in row N. Well, my ticket was for row M and he was sitting in it. Then he tried to tell me that the alphabet went L, N then M. What a bloody dill. Even the father sitting nearby couldn't believe his ears. Well, it turns out that the people sitting behind these two were in the wrong seats as well. This guy even tried to argue that there were plenty of seats and it didn't matter. I made it quite clear that it did matter as we were a family of three and wished to sit together in OUR allocated seats. He and his friend finally moved. What a dick.

Talk about Mission Impossible. Tom Cruise had it easy compared with us just trying to obtain our seats.

Brilliant movie which everyone enjoyed. Full of action, stunts, fighting, great special effects, action, some humour, intrigue, and did I mention action? I would thoroughly recommend this movie and it is why you go to the cinema.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 13

2012-01-02T11:01:00.001+08:00

No hassle this morning as our West Coast Wilderness Railway ride wasn't until 10:15 am. Yu-Jin and I walked to IGA to buy food for breakfast - pancakes. Took forever to cook without butter didn't taste very good. Played a bit of totem tennis and then I realised that my booking was made but I still had to collect the tickets and get to the station. Upon collection of the tickets I was informed that we had to be there at 9:45 so we still had a bit of time.

The lady giving the tour had only been doing it for three weeks and it was her first day with the whistle and flag. Her commentary was a bit muddled and she wasn't really confident in her delivery. Give her time though.

The stories that were told made the journey better. Train ride was OK, lunch was nice but the photo opportunities were few and far between. Quite difficult to obtain a decent photo at times. It is the case that the pollutants from the Mt Lyell Mine contaminated the Queen River and then the King River. No fish or wildlife can live in either river. Perhaps in 100 years time, after rehabilitation, the wildlife may return.

We had 40 minutes to wander around Queenstown until the coach left so wander we did. Not a great town to see either. The coach took 50 minutes for the journey, which took me 33 by car, and we watched a DVD entitled the West Coasters.

After the drive back to the railway station I visited Peoples Park and took the short walk to Hogarth Falls. Quite nice and I learnt that ferns only unfurl one new frond each year. Not really productive then.

Back at the YHA we went for a walk with Vince (co-owner) and Finn (his dog) around the area and past the beach. Best way to learn about the place is to take a walk with a local. The Boy and I played a few more games of pool and I had a chat with a South Korean who had trained in Melbourne to become a pilot. He was travelling around Tasmania by bus.

The Boy and I had dinner at the tavern. Schnitzels, veal, not too flash. Veggies left a lot to be desired.

Mount Lyell engine from West Coast Wilderness Railway in Strahan

Melbourne-Tassie Trip 2011 Photo Album No.3 - Photos 1-40.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 12

2012-01-01T23:03:00.001+08:00

Good start to the day. A hearty breakfast to attempt to finish off all of the food that Loic had prepared for us. Left at about 9:30 am for our five hour drive to Strahan and the first turn I took, on the Southern Outer, was the wrong way. Soon corrected that. Drove into Hobart looking for directions to Bridgewater or Glenorchy. Managed to head the correct way and we were on our way.

As we didn't get caught behind log trucks we made good time. In the Gordon-Franklin National Park we stopped at the Nelson Falls and walked to the 35m high falls. Pretty impressive, as were the snow covered peaks in the area. Not a great deal of traffic in the area but plenty of narrow and windy roads. It brought out the rally driver in me - albeit in a Hyundai Getz 3-door.

The entrance to Queenstown was like a moonscape and certainly not what I'd come to expect in Tasmania. Got caught behind a truck for about 2km from within Queenstown but luckily he wasn't headed down my turn off to Strahan. Managed the drive, not including the waterfall stop, in four hours for just over 300 km.

Strahan is situated on the Gordon River. Considering that the population is only 637 there seems to be accommodation for thousands. It's just that our accommodation was pretty difficult to find and it is a case of what I was anticipating to be the easiest to locate was, in fact, the most trying. Irony, eh? Stopped in town for a bit to eat and found that all of the specials had sold out at the bakery/cafe. After locating our accommodation, pretty much by accident as it isn't well sign-posted, we had a snack and a couple of games of pool before I decided that we should see a play entitled "The Ship That Never Was" by The Round Earth Company. The Boy took some convincing to come along. I was annoyed to find that the entry fee had increased, in relation to the pamphlet that I'd read, but for children under 13 it was a gold coin donation and so was actually cheaper that I had planned for.

The pantomime was great and The Boy and I both got to play parts. Talk about a good laugh and an interesting story to boot. The Boy enjoyed it far more than he had expected to. If you are in town you can't afford to miss it.

Walked into town and up to View 42° restaurant and bar for a pizza and drinks. Nice. On the way back to the YHA we stopped by the supermarket to pick up some breakfast but it was already close. Only open till 7 pm and not 12 am like Hobart and Launceston. Shower and bed.

Strahan Village - the postcard-type view

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 201-238.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 - Day 11

2012-01-01T14:43:00.002+08:00

After brekky we jumped on the Southern Outlet and headed down to Huonville. I wanted to use my expensive tourist pass to obtain a free jet boat ride. The weather was quite variable and some of the hills were a bit too much for the car on the way. Weird roads in Tassie too. Gotta really pay attention to where you are going and which lane you need to be in.

Visited Huon Jet Boat Company. We were the only customers which justified my decision not to make a booking. They even waited a little longer in case anybody else turned up. Which they didn't. Still had to pay $10 ea instead of $72/$49. Needed to throw on a few extra layers of clothes and a life jacket as it was going to be cold. They waited for the rain to clear, and made reference to a snow front, before taking us out. Our driver was Andy and he gave us a great ride. We went some 12km upstream at speeds of 75-80 km/h. There were a number of high speed spins and bumpy rapids to go over. We really enjoyed ourselves and The Boy even asked for extra spins.

I planned to look through Huonville for arty things but there didn't appear to be any of those kinds of shops. So I ended up driving straight out of the place. Next stop - Mt Wellington.

Didn't take long to get back to Hobart, as the roads aren't bad, but the road up the Mountain isn't quite so good. The drive up the Mountain is over 10 kms long. I was worried about the car hire agreement which states that the car can't be taken above the snow line. We stopped the car at The Chalet, 1000m above sea level, and walked a fair way up the road. Enough snow for us to have a snowball fight. I copped a few hits to the back but The Boy got a nice one to the face. It snowed during our walk.

After finally seeing a car come down from the summit which wasn't covered in snow I had confidence to drive to the top. Actually, the road was still dry so there wasn't much to worry about.

The summit was very windy with snow falling. I collected some snow in a bottle and had a look at the observation area. Hobart started disappearing from view quite quickly as another blanket of cloud made its way over. Great view though.

The 10 kms descent took about 18 minutes. Drove around Hobart, through Battery Point and into Sandy Bay so that I could do some shopping for lunch. Back to the Signalman's Cottage for some hot chook. The afternoon was one of TV and napping. At night we looked at the city from the lookout on Mt Nelson.

Frozen sign atop Mt Wellington

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 153-200.

Short Holiday in Bunbury

2012-01-01T12:00:00.000+08:00

It's always nice to get away for a few days over summer. This year we visited Bunbury for a couple of days. The weather was kind, although hot and humid. New highway made the trip quite quick. Lady who looked after Hunter took good care of him and even removed most of the matted hair around his ears - I'm very grateful. Didn't do a heck of a lot, other than shopping, eating, and swimming at the beach and in the hotel's pool and spa. But what else should you do on holiday?

Photos.

Book Review - Pelé - The Autobiography

2011-12-31T21:55:00.000+08:00

Last book review for 2011. I promise.

Can't say that I saw Pelé in action but I know of him as the most famous soccer (football) player in history. And he's remained in the spotlight long after his career on the pitch came to a close. Just had to grab his autobiography for the $4 it was listed for at the Save The Children Fund Book Fair.

What a fabulous read. Pelé certainly led a charmed life. He could have fallen out of a train window when a youngster but his dad pulled him back in. He almost drowned and had to be saved from a river by a stranger. It's heartening to hear of all the struggles that he endured as a child playing soccer in the street with the local boys with newspaper wrapped in a sock for a ball, trouble to organise a team with kit enough for all players and the financial difficulties for the family.

I guess the story was always going to be heartwarming as we well know that he turned out to be a superstar and would always have a great story to tell. But the way his life story is told is compelling. I read this book in a period of two days whilst on holiday and even didn't turn the computer on when I returned so that I could finish it.

For a man that achieved so much he doesn't come across as conceited but I did get the impression that it was perhaps a little sugarcoated. He mentions almost nothing of his two legitimate daughters and finally makes mention of one daughter born to a woman who was not his girlfriend (later his first wife) and then another daughter that was born whilst he was married. His first son, from his first marriage, finally became a professional footballer, as goalkeeper, but got involved with the wrong crowd and spent time in jail. At the time of writing he was still incarcerated. You can feel a father's pain but it also seems to be written as though Pelé is trying to maintain his image.

But, what a life he has led. Even if you've never seen footage of him playing the beautiful game, joga bonito, a phrase which Pelé coined apparently [not, according to Wikipedia], but you are a fan of the game you should read this book. It is a marvellous story of one human being who is truly hard to define.

Pelé - The Autobiography

Quotes

- Fear of life is fear of the worst kind (a reference to not being able to provide food for the family).
- Happy is the child who can play out in the street.
- Some people have suggested that I was able to see more than other players because my eyes are further apart than normal. That's not true but I did end up doing tests and I do have very good peripheral vision.
- Determination brings success.
- There are few true friends in the world without any self-interest.
- People who are idolised mustn't disappoint their public - we wouldn't be half of what we are without them.

Book Review - It's not about the bike - my journey back to life by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

2011-12-27T22:52:00.000+08:00

Latest book that I've completed, It's not about the bike - my journey back to life by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins, was a fabulous read. Certainly one of the most interesting and entertaining non-fiction works at least. I picked it up for $4 at the Save The Children Fund Giant Book Fair.

For those of you who have spent much time living under a rock, Lance Armstrong, US cyclist, upcoming multiple Tour de France champion, suffered from cancer. Testicular cancer. What you may not know is that it also spread to his lungs in the form of about a dozen tumours and reached his brain forming a couple of lesions. Following his treatment he won the Tour de France. The book details his diagnosis, rapid treatment, his doubts, his determination and his struggle to overcome the disease. I have a far better understanding of what people who contract cancer go through with chemotherapy treatment. And the truth is confronting and a bit disturbing. Armstrong didn't hold back when explaining anything. But he had the best doctors, a wonderful support team which included his mum, and his wealth behind him to devote to treatment and recovery. Only at the end of the book do we really find out what the doctor thought his chances of survival were.

Other features of the book include how he grew up, without his father, with a cheating and beating step-father who supplied his surname, and how he got into cycling. Armstrong began as a poor swimmer who turned into triathlete that was too good for anyone in his age group. He was a hot-head who was force to struggle as his mum spent much of her time as a single parent. This provided Lance with more freedom than was usual at his age and he was used to getting his own way.

Due to his chemotherapy prior to getting married he and his wife used IVF treatment. And the book doesn't hold back in describing the fear, anguish and hurt that they went through. I have a lot more respect for couples undergoing this as it isn't nearly as straightforward or pain-free as many would imagine.

I like to obtain a few quotations from the book and now is the time to share them.

- "Make an obstacle an opportunity, make a negative a positive." - Lance's mum
- Give an inch, make a friend.
- "Who's going to work hard for someone who doesn't win?" - Jim Ochowicz
- You can teach someone how to control their strength, but you can't teach them to be strong.
- "You ever hear about how when you stab somebody, it's really personal? Well, a bike race is that kind of personal. Don't kid yourself. It's a knife fight." - Chris Carmichael.
- Cyclists are computer slaves; we hover over precise calculations of cadence, efficiency, force, and wattage.
- The problem was, I attacked too early, as usual. I went with 25 miles still to go, and on a downhill portion. Two things you never do: attack early, and on a downhill.
- I had learned what it means to ride the Tour de France. It's not about the bike. It's a metaphor for life, not only the longest race in the world but also the most exalting and heartbreaking and potentially tragic. It poses every conceivable element to the rider, and more: cold, heat mountains, plains, ruts, flat tires (Ed. - bloody American spelling), high winds, unspeakably bad luck, unthinkable beauty, yawning senselessness, and above all a great, deep self-questioning. During our lives we're faced with so many different elements as well, we experience so many setbacks, and fight such a hand-to-hand battle with failure, head down in the rain, just trying to stay upright and to have a little hope. The Tour is not just a bike race, not at all. It is a test. It tests you physically, it tests you mentally, and it even tests you morally.
- I thought I knew what fear was, until I heard the words You have cancer. Real fear came with an unmistakable sensation: it was as though all my blood started flowing in the wrong direction. My previous fears, fear of not being liked, fear of being laughed at, fear of losing my money, suddenly seemed like small cowardices. Everything now stacked up differently: the anxieties of life - a flat tire, losing my career, a traffic jam - were reprioritized into need versus want, real problem as opposed to minor scare. A bumpy plane ride was just a bumpy plane ride, it wasn't cancer.
- There is an unthinking simplicity in something so hard, which is why there's probably some truth to the idea that all world-class athletes are actually running away from something.
- The more I thought about it, the more cancer began to seem like a race to me. Only the destination had changed.
- I was very attentive - there is something about staring as your brain metastases that focuses a person.
- While I was sick, I told myself I'd never cuss again, never drink another beer again, never lose my temper again. I was going to be the greatest and most clean-living guy you could hope to meet. But life goes on. Things change, intentions get lost. You have another beer. You say another cussword.
- I found myself out in front among the top climbers in the world, working alone I intended to make them suffer until they couldn't breathe.
- "If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way." - interview following his first win in the Tour de France.
- Things take place, there is a confluence of events and circumstances, and we can't always know their purpose, or even if there is one. But we can take responsibility for ourselves and be brave.
- Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quite, however, it lasts forever.
- But if there is one thing I don't want to hear, it's that I can't do something. Telling me that is the best way to make sure that I'll do it.- We drove down to the hospital, where I spent some time with my old friend the MRI machine, which revealed a fracture of the C-7 vertebra. Basically, I had broken my neck. After years of trying, I had finally done it.
- We remind ourselves that it's a myth to say that I beat cancer. The drugs beat cancer. The doctors beat cancer. I just survived it.
- I still ride my bike into the hill country above Austin, and the trucks still blow by. But now a lot of the truck drivers recognize (Ed. damn Yankee spelling again) me in my U.S. Postal team jersey. Some wave. Some take a hard look. And some still try to run me off the road.

It's not about the bike - my journey back to life by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

The Adventures of Tintin

2011-12-26T18:01:00.000+08:00

Following the Boxing Day sales today we went to the cinema to see The Adventures of Tintin. Exquisite. Was worth every cent. Oh, that's right. I used some free movie tickets. Pity that the cinema was pretty well packed and our seats were chosen for us about 20 minutes prior to the commencement of the movie.

The Adventures of Tintin

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 10

2011-12-18T10:22:00.002+08:00

Took some fruit for breakfast. Drove to Port Arthur to visit Remarkable Cave in the Tasman National Park. It's a long cave that the waves have carved out. Didn't stick around for long. Drove across the isle to view the convict coal mine. Spent most of our time at the barracks and the cells of solitary confinement. Couple of other toursits out there but it feels a bit remote. Put $10 of fuel in as the fuel guage was getting low very quickly.

Also dropped in to Tasmans Arch, Devils Kitchen (both better viewed from the boat yesterday) and The Blowhole (not on song). The lookout provided a great view. Had fish and chips and squid and chips, and ice cream, at the Doo-Licious van. Being nearby Doo Town it, the name, makes sense. Nice meal.

Filled up the car in Sorrell and headed over to Richmond to search for Zoo Doo Wildlife Park but took the wrong road initially. Found it but it hadn't been signposted too well. For a major tourist attraction I was disappointed that that was the case. There weren't as many animals to view/feed as Tasmania Zoo but we got to hold a snake, feed emus, ostriches and a camel from the safari bus and there were white lions and tigers on display. The feeding of the Tasmanian devils was funny as one of the devils kept attacking the bucket where the food was being held. Lions weren't interested in feeding which was a bit disappointing.

Back to town for a walk around to photograph all of the old buildings and Richmond Bridge - the oldest bridge in Australia which dates back to 1823. Had a drink at the bakery.

Quick drive into Hobart but took a wrong road and missed the city centre. Drove around for 10 minutes or so and then decided to head towards Mt Wellington before turning off at Mt Nelson where our accommodation was situated. Accidentally had to turn off and follow the Southern Outlet. I did notice a sign regarding Mt Nelson later and it turned out, by a complete fluke, that I had struck the correct road. At the top of the mountain was our accommodation - The Signalman's Cottage B & B. Our hosts, Georgie and Loic, were very nice and Georgie gave me a mud map to Sandy Bay to find some dinner and do some shopping. Ended up buying souvlakis @ Mykonos.

Very interesting to see Hobart disappear from view because of cloud and reappear a few minutes later. Not a great deal of off street parking available in Hobart, due to the city being built in the time of the convict and horse and car, and it makes driving around more difficult also. Quite a few one way streets and not much level ground either.

Tasmanian Devil at Zoo Doo Wildlife Park in Richmond, Tasmania.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photo 98-152.

Book Review - South - The Endurance Expedition by Sir Ernest Shackleton

2011-12-17T20:19:00.000+08:00

I'm not up with my history on polar exploration but the name Shackleton is held in high regard. When I spotted this book for $5 at the Save The Children Fund Giant Book Fair I had no hesitation in grabbing it.

And what a riveting read it turned out to be. At times it was difficult to put the book down. Normally I just read on the bus but I found myself reading at home also. Took about three weeks to finish. The justified text made it a bit difficult to concentrate at time and the US spelling for a book written by someone from Britain added to the difficulty. I had words spelt "incorrectly".

Long story made short - Shackleton assembled a crew prior to the outbreak of World War I for a polar expedition to Antarctica, his third. They sailed south and attempted to land at the Weddell Sea and make a crossing via the pole to the Ross Sea where another ship, the Aurora, was waiting (supposedly) after its crew had created a series of depots with food to allow him to make a relatively easy crossing. Well, his ship became stuck fast in the ice and he didn't make land. Then the ship was crushed by ice and the 26 explorers had to wait it out in abominable conditions. After a few months camped on the floe they headed to the open sea by dragging three boats with them until they reached relatively open water. A dangerous sea crossing was made and they were the first humans to land on Elephant Island. Six of the members headed to South Georgia to organise a rescue from the whaling station there. Just when you thought that things couldn't get worse they did. Continuously.

Sir Ernest didn't have all of the fun though. The Aurora broke its moorings and drifted in a chunk of floe for some ten months before they could break free. They then made it to New Zealand.

Spare a thought for the depot crew on Antarctica who were planning on living on the Aurora - they were left to mother nature and withstood hunger, temperatures of -35C, blizzards that raged for days, lack of dogs for sledging and many other calamities. Three of the ten men survived this ordeal. Absolutely amazing.

South - The Endurance Expedition by Sir Ernest Shackleton

Throughout my reading I jotted down notes of interesting quotes and writing. Here is where I share them.

- Killer whales posed a danger to men on the ice as they wouldn't differentiate between man and seal when hunting and could smash through quite thick ice.
- Ice bubbles 40ft across by four or five ft high were noticed.
- Strieted.
- Mirages were seen regularly, sometimes in duplicate or triplicate.
- Strange phenomenon of the sun setting and rising twice, another mirage.
- Arthwartship.
- Parhelia, double suns noted.
- Frost-smoke.
- "A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground." - following the loss of his ship.
- sinecure.
- Farinaceous - Made from, or rich in, starch or flour.
- The fact that the men did not know what was coming gave them a sort of mental speculation, and the slightest variation was of great value.
- Imbricated.
- "No housewife ever had more to do than we in making a little go a long way" - Lees
- The men would forage for the smallest scraps of "food", not something modern people in the land of plenty would contemplate.
- Avidity.
- "It will do us all good to be hungry like this, for we will appreciate so much more the good things when we get home" - one of the men.
- Shackleton's men ate the dogs when food was very low. "Just like beef, but, of course, very tough." Strangely, it was written that the last two teams of dogs were shot on April 2nd but mentioned they were still feeding them on April 18th.
- "Loneliness is the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make decisions is assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out confidently and in expectation of success."
- "The trappings of civilisation are soon cast aside in the face of stern realities, and given the barest opportunity of winning food and shelter man can live and even find his laughter ringing true."
- The old adage about a short cut being the longest way round is ofter as true in the Antarctic as it is in the peaceful countryside.
- "The scene from our camp as the daylight brightened was magnificent beyond description, though I must admit that we viewed it with anxiety."
- Distances are much more difficult to judge because of the clear air in Antarctica and differences in elevation were almost impossible to determine which lead to sledging teams tipping over on many occasions.
- "The fairy princess who would not rest on her seven downy mattresses because a pea lay underneath the pile might not have understood the pleasure we all derived from the irregularities of the stones, which could not possibly break beneath us or drift away; the very searching lumps were sweet reminders of our safety."
- First person to set foot on Elephant Island, Blackborrow, the youngest expedition member, actually stayed lying in the surf after being dumped overboard for the honour. He was badly frostbitten on both feet and couldn't possibly walk and Shackleton forgot this in his endeavour to give him the honour. Whoops.
- "Man's sense of honour is always most easily stirred by the petty misfortunes of his neighbours."
- Morainic.
- Nunataks.
- A roaring glacier on South Georgia Island which, sounding much like gunfire as icebergs were being calved, kept them awake.
- Once Shackleton, Worsley and Crean had reached civilisation and bathed, changed clothes and had a hair cut both head and facial, other members of his crew failed to recognise Worsley upon their return.
- "It is evident, therefore, that a complete knowledge of the weather conditions in any part of the world, which it is understood carries with it the ability to make correct forecasts, can never be obtained unless the weather conditions in every other part are known."
- Sir Ernest was greatly concerned that the humpback whale was threatened with extinction and called for universal legislation to protect whales from early commercial extinction.

For those of you who love non-fiction - read it. It's a harrowing tale of human survival against all odds.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 9

2011-12-09T21:55:00.001+08:00

After going to bed at 11 last night we had to be up by 8 o'clock for breakfast. I'd ordered a continental breakfast for 8:20am but then I went to check on it, as we had to leave at 9am for a 9:15 tour, and it hadn't been made but was soon delivered. Had to cook the toast myself though (unlike yesterday's breakfast).

Arrived at Tasman Island Adventure Cruises on time and were issued with gore-tex suits to keep out the wet and cold. A coach picked us up and we were driven to the boats at Eaglehawk Bay. Our pilot, Mike, and deckhand, Damo (former pearl diver in the Kimberley), were hilarious and very knowledgable. Saw a great deal of the coastline and entered caves and passages. During the, at times, freezing and wet conditions, we spotted albatrosses, dusky dolphins (NZ), petrels and humpback whales. The tour was fantastic and turned around at Tasman Island which was adjacent to the 1,000 ft cliffs of the mainland. There were an enormous amount of shearwaters about and they looked like mosquitoes on the horizon.

Gosh, that whale was difficult to spot and once we decided to search for it on the way back and had taken off, and Damo commented that this would be the time that it would be spotted, we spotted it. In fact, it came up very close to the boat. Damo had smelt the whale beforehand, and told us so, and coupled with the oil on the surface, he knew where to look. On the way back we were swooped by three or four giant petrels which was very unusual.

The Boy sat in the forwardmost adventurer's seat for the whole trip. It was, apparently, the wettest tour day they'd had. And was he glad to get back to the hotel for a hot shower or what? We watched a bit of the Bathurst 1000 before heading to the cafe for hot chocolates and to give The Boy a chance to go on the (free) computer for a while. At 4pm we headed back to the Port Arthur Historic Site for another look including the audio tour. Had just missed the harbour cruise and so took the last walking tour of the day with tour guide Mark. It started raining fairly soon afterwards. Half an hour later we were left to our own devices and spent another 60 mins doing the audio tour. A fabulous and well recommende tour - you need to do all three - ghost tour, walking tour and audio tour.

Watched Shrek 2 that night.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 61-106.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 8

2011-12-09T06:36:00.003+08:00

Both of us had had a comfortable nights sleep. Our room was very nice and I'd certainly recommend the accommodation. Eula, one of the proprietors, served a hot breakfast at about five past eight which we enjoyed very much, along with one of The Boy's socks, which had become lost whilst doing the washing. Chris, her partner, mentioned that the Blowhole was worth a look and Eula said the high tide was at 6:30 that morning.

Down at the Blowhole it started to rain every time I had the umbrella but stopped when The Boy took hold of it. And the Blowhole was on song. We enjoyed our time there.

Headed down the road to Triabunna, as we'd seen a sign for fresh fish, and popped into the info centre for a chat - about the pronunciation of the town's name, ghosts, fish and chips, etc. Ordered fish and chips from the van across the road and walked, in the rain, past Dead Isle, the first cemetery, whilst we waited. Ate lunch and while The Boy was finishing his I drove around town looking at Cusick Cottage, Cuff's Cottage, St Anne's Church and the cemetery. In the town's cemetery I noticed Davey Jones who was a boat builder.

Bought some food from IGA and even got them to wash the carrots. Looked at the Old Barracks and Triabunna House. Back on the road and we visited St John the Baptist Church in Buckland with its 14th century stained glass window. On to Port Arthur. Stopped at Pirate Bay (Tasman Lookout) and the Tessellated Pavement before going to Eaglehawk Bay and the Dog Line.

Into Port Arthur and we stopped at Tasman Island Adventure Cruises to discuss a Tasman Island cruise and all the other tourist activities in the area. Practically next door was the Port Arthur Historic Site and we visited for 45 minutes. So much to see and do. Bought Ghost Tour tickets for 9pm. Had a good look around in that time.

Found our hotel in Nubeena, 10 kms away, and Susan Ellis, the proprietor, upgraded our room as she said they weren't busy. The Boy watched a movie, Garfield, before we headed to The Tavern which Susan had booked for us for a roast pork dinner. Had half an hour to kill after the meal so we played darts which was good fun. It started to rain at 8:30. The ghost tour started at nine. Talk about creepy stories and buildings. We got quite wet but really enjoyed ourselves although The Boy wanted to sleep with me. Took a few photos but didn't capture anything out of the ordinary. Pity. Some scary moments though.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album No.2 - Photos 1-60.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 7

2011-12-04T22:47:00.001+08:00

Checked out of the Batman Fawkner Inn and walked to City Park to check out the Japanese macaques. Wandered around some of Launceston to get a few photos of the lovely buildings before driving through Scottsdale on the way to St Helens. We came across a sign for Mt Paris Dam and decided to take a look. After 13 kms of white, corrugated metal road travelling through some deforested area with thick smoke we came across a four wheel drive track. That's where I stopped the car and we walked down to the dam. Well, some ruins anyway. The further we went the better it got until we found the Cascade River and followed it as far as we could walk. Lovely spot.

Back on the road and drove through the hills. Came across a few idiot drivers who kept cutting corners or just straddling the lane in each direction. These people shouldn't have been on the road. Once I got past I soon left them behind.

Reached St Helens just before 2pm and searched for lunch. A jacket potato looked nice, as did the salt and pepper squid, but we did some shopping first. Grabbed the squid and then was told that the jacket potatoes were sold out and the kitchen was closed. Bummer, missed it by 15 minutes. Filled the car up with fuel.

Visited the information centre for some info on the Bay of Fires. Drove out to have a look. Nice spot, bloody cold and reasonably coloured. A Korean couple, whom we'd seen at the takeaway shop, parked next to us. The guy got out and said, "Hi" to which I responded, "Annyeong haseyo". He quickly replied with "How do you know?" I found that reaction to be hilarious.

Some large waves nearby and we also searched for birds' eggs but failed to locate any. Apparently the birds nest in the areas near the beach so we were interested if we could find anything.

Took the hill road, as opposed to the coast road, to Bicheno but almost went the wrong way at St Marys. Arrived at our hotel at 6pm. Carried out the washing and had a shower. Into town for tea at the RSL for a roast but they'd had 60 people already and were sold out. Tried Pasinis and bought lasagna and spaghetti - did not taste great. And we had to leave the shop as they were closing (7:45pm).

Finished the drying and watched The Mummy Returns. Had a bit of a disagreement with a NSW couple who had parked in my spot, and half of the next, who didn't want to move. When I finally convinced them the bloody Bicheno Penguin Tour bus parked behind both of us.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 152-200.

Bad, Bad Browser

2011-12-04T15:57:00.000+08:00

I've been having quite a lot of difficulties with my laptop of late. Had to use the missus' netbook even. She doesn't have Adblock Plus installed so gets all of the advertising junk taking up her screen. Mind you, the browser doesn't always play the game. Notice the error message?

Bad, bad browser

Is this a message from the company scolding the browser for not rendering the advertisement correctly? Why would the browser be sending a bad request for an ad? Tsk, tsk.

Book Review - Cricket's Hall of Shame by Dave Warner

2011-12-04T15:50:00.000+08:00

I love statistics and cricket is a sport that oozes them. The author, Dave Warner, is not the Australian who made his test debut against New Zealand in Brisbane over the weekend.

I got the book at the Save the Children Giant Book Sale for $3. There is a huge amount of stories of ineptitude and failure amongst test cricketers referenced in this work. It covers the worst bowlers, wicketkeepers, fielders and batsmen. There are the lowest team scores, the slowest scorers and heaps more. I was slightly disappointed in some of the content but maybe my expectations for the material were a little bit much. Having said that, if you are interested in cricket it would be worth borrowing from the library to read.

Cricket's Hall of Shame by Dave Warner

Book Review - Rude and Politically Incorrect Jokes by Allan Pease

2011-12-04T15:40:00.000+08:00

Another book finished a bit over a week ago. Was quite funny and good value for $3. Contains so many jokes that I've heard, must be around 80% of them, but some crackers that I hadn't seen before. Not suitable for children, it must be said. Pretty crude in some places and tasteless in others. That's what made it so enjoyable.

Rude and Politically Incorrect Jokes by Allan Pease

These Guys Know How To Have A Sale

2011-12-04T09:24:00.002+08:00

These guys, Austin Computers, certainly know how to have a sale. Look at the bargain prices for shopping online.

Is this on sale or what?

On The Mend

2011-12-04T06:28:00.000+08:00

Six and a half days after grading I'm definitely on the mend. I took my instructor's advice and visited a sports physio. He said to keep the thought of a fracture in the back of my mind, as he had had no opportunity to view the x-rays, but that ligament damage was the most likely cause. He told me that I need RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation. As if I don't have enough of that in my diet already.

Had to see the doc on Thursday and his advice was to walk on it to aid the circulation. My wife was so concerned about my foot that she picked me up from work to take me to the clinic. I asked the doc if he would write my wife a note about walking on it. His reply? "I don't write notes to wives. It's too dangerous."

Interesting that he had quite an opposing view and I tend to trust the physio more as he actually treats sports injuries instead of just diagnosing them.

On the mend six and a half days later

As you can see from the photo the bruises have cleared up quite a bit. My missus was worried that I might get some form of blood poisoning and told me that in Korea the doctors will remove the blood in the bruise. I don't see the point in interfering with the natural healing of the body.

Book Review - Ablett Greatest Ever by Ken Piesse

2011-12-01T22:11:00.000+08:00

Finished another book off tonight. This one was called Ablett Greatest Ever and was written by Ken Piesse. The foreward was done by Rex Hunt but it was mainly used as a chance to blow his own trumpet. Not the most professional of works. Maybe it doesn't matter considering the target audience.

This book was more a collection of (very interesting) anecdotes and interviews than anything else and didn't feel like a biography. Great collection of photos and cartoons included though.

Still, after finishing I don't feel as if I know this enigma, Gary Ablett Snr, any better. This is despite the wonderful amoung to information about him and his footballing life.

Had to wait until chapter 29, which was devoted entirely to, before the only match I ever saw Ablett play in first hand was discussed in depth (chapter 28 mentioned the number of goals kicked and opponent). It took place on May the 1st 1993 at the MCG against Essendon and Ablett kicked 14.7. This was his greatest haul in a match at league level. The book referred to his banana kick for his 11th goal but the video shows that it was, in fact, for his 10th goal. And it is stated that 46,588 people in the crowd were enthralled. My recollection of the attendance that day was 44 thousand. But his figure is backed up by this Website. Maybe the scoreboard didn't record the figure correctly.

Having spent a few hours during this week in the medical centre waiting room I managed to finish the book in five days. I found it to be a good read, especially as I picked it up for $3 at the Save The Children Fund Book Fair, but you'd certainly need to be at least a football fan to have an interest in this book. It went a long way towards explaining why many consider Gary Ablett Snr to be the greatest ever Australian Rules footballer.

Ablett Greatest Ever by Ken Piesse

Black Belt Grading

2011-11-27T20:37:00.001+08:00

Two years and one month ago I took up taekwondo. It was one month prior to my son gaining his first dan black belt. I've found it to be a very enjoyable pastime and sport whereby lots of friends of all ages have been made. It's certainly never boring at training as there is always something happening.

Today The Boy and I took part in a black belt grading. Him for his second dan and me for my first. Thankfully it wasn't a really hot day like The Boy's last grading. The higher dans went first, then The Boy and finally the red threes (first geup). I was in the last group. Found it a little difficult to hear the head instructor calling out at times with the shouting going on so looked a little bit slow. Think I only made one wrong move in my five patterns so that was a huge relief. Sparring was a different story though - I did a turning kick to one of my friends and connected quite strongly with his elbow. And this was in the second of about eight spars. A couple of spars later I did the same thing to another opponent and that really hurt. Perhaps that was the loudest that I yelled all afternoon. Once the sparring was complete we had to break two boards. Well, even though it was my right foot that was sore that was the one that I used - successfully.

Man, you'll have to call me Bigfoot from now on. The foot really ballooned. Don't know if a blood vessel was burst but I suspect that it's going to be pretty black by tomorrow. And it's very difficult to walk on. Had to drive home using only the left foot. Good thing that I have an automatic.

Best news for the day was that The Boy passed well and I passed also. Two black belts in the family. I'm a happy boy myself.

That's me in the middle - final pose for taeguk five

Just call me Bigfoot

Note: I get quite nervous prior to grading and on the morning it is pretty bad. After lunch I had a bit of food stuck in the back of my mouth and used my finger to try to get it out. Whoops, involuntary reaction by the stomach. Managed to stop it just in time. But then I had to have a deep cough and up came lunch. Or about half of it. Oh, well. Didn't ruin things but I could've done with a bit more energy during the grading.

Black Belt Grading Photo Album on Facebook.

Book Review - Everest from sea to summit by Tim Macartney-Snape

2011-11-25T22:39:00.000+08:00

At the last Save The Children Book Fair at UWA I purchased Everest from sea to summit by Tim Macartney-Snape. Turns out that it is an autographed copy, although with my name not being Margaret its' probably not worth quite as much as it could be, and not a bad buy for $6.

As soon as I saw the title I knew what the book was about. It's the personal account by New Zealand-born Australian Tim Macartney-Snape's trek from sea level in India to the summit of the world's highest peak. Without oxygen. On foot. Wow!

I like his style of writing and found it to be quite engaging. Not that I'd say as though I felt that I was a part of the journey but he has a lovely way of describing his experience and you find yourself wanting to be there to share the experience. India was a bureaucratic nightmare, maintaining a team of personnel to help was eventful and the wait around base camp prior to his summitting the mountain was painstaking. Even the journey to the summit had me hanging on during his struggle. And I knew that he'd made it beforehand!

It's a great read and Tim Macartney-Snape is a bit of a philosopher who wanted to examine the human condition. What more reason do you need to scale Everest with the start point being 1000kms away?

Everest from sea to summit by Tim Macartney-Snape

I picked out a number of quotes from the book that I'd like to share:

p11 - Heroes provide role models and encourage lesser people to strive harder - Richard Cashman.
p45 - To a certain extent the probability of an accident is determined by the caution and judgment you exercise.
p52 - I believe the path to a greater spirituality is through self-knowledge and understanding, not resignation to mysticism; through mastering consciousness, not blocking it out.
p94 - The danger faced is mostly the result of one's own mistakes.
p105 - ...on any journey the only way forward can sometimes be backward..
p129 - We can only look forward to the time when the cause of human upset has been eradicated by an understanding of our condition.
p130 - By making the object of the journey the destination rather than the journey itself, we rob ourselves of an important element of living.
p155 - There is pleasure in hard physical work, a celebration of the remarkable and perfect teamwork of the body's individual parts.
p167 - ...even our greatest mountains are but the tiniest crinkles on the Earth's surface and it is only because we are so small that we perceive them as grand.
p169 - Comfort should not be gained from an airy promise of some mystical afterlife but from the certainty that we are inextricably part of the continuum of life.
pp169-170 - Caring for the environment is a question of education and common sense. The more we are alienated from nature, the more that sense is hidden.
p172 - "to rought it you've got to smooth it".
p212 - Impatience is an easy attitude to cultivate, and it tends to be blind to future possibilities.
p220 - Nothing has ever seemed as lonely and desolate as leaving that wreck of a camp at 3.30 in the morning to head up an icy slope that seemed never to end.
pp224-225 - Criticising others is a natural thing for us to do; it offers us relief from our constant, subconcious self-criticism.
p229 - Even the most insignificant act can help realign the mind in a positive direction.
p245 - One should not go to a famous place if one seeks solitude, even the top of Everest.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 6

2011-11-20T00:01:00.001+08:00

Even after an early night it was difficult to get out of bed. The night was cold and I had to put more clothes on. Coco Pops for breakfast - you know that you are on holiday when that is on the brekkie menu. Found our way up to Cataract Gorge Reserve without too many problems - thanks to the assistance of my human GPS.

Took the Zig-Zag-Track, designed for hikers, to the top. The view was pretty good. Bit of work to get there. Back down and we took the (expensive) chairlift across the gorge. Great view from the seat. Spotted a potoroo upon our exit. Wandered down the Cataract Walk before turning around to go over the Alexandra suspension bridge. Saw another potoroo when going to the lookout. The chairlift is the world's longest single chairlift span. A very pleasant spot to visit.

Next stop was Tasmania Zoo. So many different creatures to see and feed. We arrived at 12pm which was an hour before the Tasmanian Devils' feeding time. The wedge-tail eagles were magnificent and the Australian Dogs were beautiful. Great to feed the emus, calves, pony, parrots (except for a cockatoo that bit The Boy) and wallabies. Certainly the highlight of the visit was the feeding of the devils. There was a rooster that chased The Boy around the zoo a bit which was funny. He really enjoyed feeding the wallabies. We bought some souvenirs and left at 2pm to head to Beaconsfield. I had thought that the entry price was a bit steep but changed my mind after all of the animals that I had seen.

Our plan was to visit the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre but, unfortunately, it didn't include a tour of the mine as it is still a working mine. So we had a look around the ruins of the old mine and the exhibition to the trapped miners, Scott Russell and Brant Webb. That was interesting. Sorry to say that it wasn't what I'd hoped to see and I left a bit disappointed.

Wanted to grab a bite to eat in town but, as it was Launceston Show Day, most shops were closed. The Club Hotel was serving meals from 6pm which didn't help us as it was 4:30. Popped across the road for a hamburger and chicken schnitzel burger at Pot of Gold. I rang Shirley at Low Head Penguin Tours and she said that we needed to meet her at about 7:30pm.

It only took half an hour to reach Low Head Penguin Tour area - just keep following the road and you finally reach it although it isn't signposted really well. Had about half an hours sleep, or so, before venturing out. Shirley was there and said we should go to the pilot station whilst we were waiting and we did. There was a plaque to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the sighting of the Tamar River by Bass and Flinders in 1798. Nice little time filler.

There was supposed to be about another 10 people show up, but there were only two more, and they'd probably been put off by the rain that had been falling since 4:30. Taylor (girl) was our guide, must have been 19 or 20 years old, and Shirley popped down afterwards. Almost as soon as we arrived at the viewing platform we spotted four penguins who had come ashore. They were preening themselves first before heading to their burrow. We had a chance to walk up the track where they would be headed so that they walked straight past us. You had to wear dark clothes, watch out for the South African box thorns and the guide used an orange light so that the penguins didn't become frightened. The fine for touching one is $3,000. On this tour you are still allowed to use a camera but no flash. Other tours have banned the use of cameras altogether. Shirley, who runs the information centre in town has been doing the licensed penguin tours for 16 years and she told me that she expected that rule to come in here as well. We must have seen 12-15 penguins in all, in an hour, with the last couple under a bush quite some way from the beach. They did make a few calls. Two penguins were spotted heading out to sea.

On the way back to Launceston, the rain got heavier the closer we got, during the 57km drive. In bed by 10:30pm.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 91-151.

Weekly Golf Comp at Burswood Park Golf Course

2011-11-19T12:04:00.000+08:00

Some of the guys at work have decided to start a weekly golf tournament. Tee time is 6am and nine holes are completed before work. I've decided to join in as I love golf and don't have the time to play otherwise. It's not far from work so not too difficult to join in.

The first hole, the 10th, wasn't a great start with three 4-iron shots to start with. Hit a double bogey and considering that it's been twelve months since I've had a hit that wasn't too bad. Another bogey, double, bogey, bogey followed by three straight pars and I wasn't looking too bad. Hm, that put the mozz on myself. Couple of balls in the drink for a quadruple bogey on the last. At least I broke 50, with my score of 48, but I would have been much more satisfied with a 45 or so. Second best score off the stick for the eight of us so not too bad.

Drove to the car park near work and heard a thumping sound from outside the car. As I slowed so did the frequency of the thumps. As I checked my tyre, check the photos, another guy drove into the car park with the same sound. As I crossed the road to go to work a 4WD went past making the same noise. Somebody dropped a few on the road - bastard. As I left work that evening I noticed a woman with a flat rear passenger side tyre. She stopped for the traffic lights and I attracted her attention. She had no idea that she had a flat tyre. I'm a little amazed by that, in fact. How can you drive a car and fail to notice?

Strange scene in the car park when I noticed a bra on the rear dash of a car. I know that you need to be careful around people who leave a hat in that position but what's the concern with someone who does that with a bra? Bit of a worry.

Burswood Park Golf Course photo album on Facebook.

Lolcat - With Our Dog

2011-11-18T23:32:00.002+08:00

I made a Lolcat - with our dog.

Not Quite In The Same League As "Hot Enough To Boil A Monkey's Bum"

2011-11-18T05:57:00.000+08:00

As you know, I like to point out journalistic errors. They're even funnier because the journalist has made the error and it may have been an oversight on behalf of a sub-editor and/or editor to allow it to pass. I found a rather strange expression, although it has to be said that it's not in the same league as Monty Python's "Hot enough to boil a monkey's bum in here, your majesty" from the Bruce skit, in an article the other day.

"Dead Ears"

It begs the question, "'What are dead ears'"? Perhaps the journalist meant "deaf ears".

Chemfest 2011 At Curtin University

2011-11-13T08:39:00.000+08:00

Attended Chemfest yesterday. No, it wasn't about a group of druggies getting together and shooting up, snorting powdery substances or popping pills. It was about some companies, a few of the local universities and Scitech putting on an informative display to get school-aged children excited about studying chemistry.

We saw displays for memory metals, how different household cleaners contain chemicals that would destroy your eyes, fingerprint viewing and everybody's favourite - slimy goo made out of different polymers.

Scitech's own presentation whereby they used liquid nitrogen, fire and made elephant's toothpaste was great. It had the kids', and many of the adults', attention. Check out some of the photos.

Chemfest Photo Album on Facebook.

When Does Manslaughter Get Relegated To The Entertainment News?

2011-11-10T06:02:00.000+08:00

Looking at the news headlines on Google News yesterday and noticed an article about a manslaughter trial posted underneath the Entertainment News section. Thought that that was a bit weird. But there was a connection - it was Conrad Murray's trial for the death of Michael Jackson.

News of Conrad Murray's trial as he languishes in the Entertainment News

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 5

2011-11-06T22:15:00.001+08:00

Headache receded somewhat but still feeling a bit out of it. Difficult to get out of bed. Had brekkie and a shower before storing our larger bags at the hotel. Caught the train into Flinders Street Station and grabbed a no. 35 City Tram (free) on which we circled the city once. Not really impressed with Docklands which is still being built. Walked around Federation Square for a bit before catching a tram back to the Shrine of Remembrance so that The Boy could buy a souvenir.

Had an ice cream before grabbing our bags from the hotel and catching a train back to the city. Tram to Southern Cross Station for the SkyBus where I wasn't able to upgrade my single ticket to a return. Gotta try. Arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Had a yucky gnocchi - neither of us felt like eating junk food. Found out that our gate changed and the flight had been delayed by 30 minutes to Launceston.

Uneventful flight with Qantas AirLink, with better service than Jetstar, to Launceston in a pink plane. Got a bit of sleep on the way. After obtaining our luggage I went to pick up the Avis hire car. Just before signing I was hit with an insurance bill of $34.12/day to remove a $3,348.90 excess for any damage regardless of fault. To say I was not happy would be an understatement as the hire car cost had suddenly doubled. And I had to read the lengthy insurance paperwork - I'm sure this made the hire car representative uneasy too. Then when I finally got to the car there was some damage to the number plate and wing mirror that wasn't on the initial paperwork. Back to the office to inform them.

Driving from the airport to Launceston posed no difficulties and we parked the car near the street where the Batman Fawkner Inn was situated. Not knowing where we were headed it was a bit of a fluke. Actually getting inside was more problematic as no-one was on reception although they were supposed to be. And when they opened the door they wanted me to pay twice for the room which I think had more to do with the booking being made for two adults instead of a child and an adult - the booking process hadn't allowed me to book properly and I'd sorted this out, or so I thought, by email before arriving. The girl on reception promised to provide sheets on about three occasions before finally doing so. Towels cost $1 each. No problem with that.

Behind the inn was a pizza shop where we had a tropical pizza and minestrone soup with garlic bread. Not feeling so well we were unable to finish it.

One thing I've noticed in Tassie, if not a few, you don't really need to do a penguin tour as all of the women are obese and waddle like penguins, homes on the hillside are two levels and every television I saw was a widescreen plasma.

The girl from reception gave me directions to the shopping centre but the other side entrance to City Park was open although a gate on the inside was closed therefore I had to walk up the hill and go the long way around.

The Batman Fawkner Inn was where an historic meeting took place that led to the settlement of Melbourne. And it has a great, hot shower.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 86-90.

Canning River Regional Park Ride

2011-11-06T09:56:00.000+08:00

There's quite a bit of water in the Canning River Regional Park area. This morning I took a bike ride so that I could take some photos. Before you know it the weather will have warmed up significantly and all of the water will be gone. And much of the bird life with it.

The area is quite beautiful and peaceful. Surprising as it is so close to a major shopping centre and not far from the city. Lovely area for a walk or a bike ride. Lots of people walk their dogs there too.

Canning River Regional Park photo album on Facebook.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 4

2011-11-06T07:20:00.001+08:00

D, T and M picked us up just after 9am and drove us up into the Dandenongs visit Grants on Sherbrooke to feed wild birds (tres cool) and to the SkyHigh cafe atop Mt Dandenong itself for the lookout and The Giant's Chair. There was a nice view of Melbourne and the CBD looked rather small from a distance. Melbourne is an expansive city however.

Quite a long drive down the Mornington Peninsula and we stopped at Sorrento for lunch at Just Fine Foods - although I wouldn't say the same about the service. Fish and chips x4 off and a chicken and leek pie for myself, followed by the best vanilla slices around (self-boast on their behalf). Weren't bad. We walked down to the beach and out onto the jetty where the breeze was quite chilling. D drove us to Cape Schanck and we wandered down the boardwalk to Pebble Beach after looking at Bushranger Bay.

The Boy and I both had headaches from getting dehydrated the day before. By this stage it was after 5pm so the nearby maze that we'd planned to visit had closed. Back to D & T's house for a rest before going out to Ghin Thai Cafe for a nice dinner. The cafe was very quiet but that was because everyone else was ordering home delivery. D drove us back to our hotel by 9:30pm and we went pretty much straight to bed.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 65-85.

Damage By Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos

2011-11-04T23:08:00.000+08:00

There's a number of red-tailed black cockatoos, Calyptorhynchus banksii, about. Without looking I thought that it was obviously named after Sir Joseph Banks, the famous botanist, as a Latin name ending with a double "i" indicates naming after a person.

Enough language lecturing. These birds are noisy and destructive. They like eating gum nuts and throwing away the branches that were attached to them. If you look closely at the photos around the base of the trees you'll notice a huge amount of leaves and branches. And I think the birds have only been feeding on this particular tree for about a week. When I tried to get a photo up close the birds flew away before coming back to land higher up the tree. Little bit touchy and private.

Red-tailed black cockatoo feeding

Cocky high up trying to hide

Look at the mess of leaves and branches on the ground

Almost denuded gum tree

Early Evening Telemarketer Call - Another Scam

2011-11-03T19:52:00.002+08:00

The phone has been ringing hot this evening. Well, there's been three telemarketers call anyway.

One of them, quite rudely, asked me to confirm my name. No, it's my phone so she can tell me who she is. Cheryl Baxter, apparently, from the Melbourne head office of Virtual PC Doctor. Oh really? Then she crapped on about viruses and bugs having been uploaded to the Internet, etc, and how I'd have to check my family PC for this. I wasn't sure what a "family PC" was so she explained that it was the PC or computer that I had in the house. But I hadn't mentioned anything about a computer. So she prompted me to admit if I had a computer or not. Hmm, I wasn't sure. So she asked me to go check if I had a computer. I left her waiting whilst I checked. Even though it only took a minute to work out if I had a computer or not she wasn't there when I returned to the phone. Pity, I was having a bit of fun.

Strange, she didn't really sound like her name was Cheryl. A quick check on Google revealed that this, shock! horror!, is a scam.

Ed - a fourth call before finishing this post.

Did Somebody Get Dressed In The Dark?

2011-11-03T19:40:00.000+08:00

Bit of a surprise on the bus in the morning yesterday. No, it's not a new style in clothing. I just reckon that someone didn't have the light on when they got dressed. Funny to sit behind them though, camera at the ready.

Did somebody get dressed in the dark?

Errors and Error Messages

2011-10-30T18:26:00.001+08:00

Any programmer worth their salt is aware that an error message should be informative and not confusing to the user who is going to experience it. And everyone who uses the Interwebs knows that error messages aren't all that informative on occasion. I've come across a few of late so thought that I'd share them.

Scrabble error on Facebook

A gigantic error occurred - you don't say?! Isn't that informative?

Bejeweled Blitz error

That message wasn't composed very well in terms of HTML being translated into text.

Australian Market result

Just a little bit too exacting with the market depth methinks.

Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

When does an object refernce not refer to an object? Didn't help me get the game score in an AFL match earlier this season.

generic_tf

Generic_tf - WTF?

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 3

2011-10-30T08:11:00.001+08:00

Shower and brekkie followed by a train into the city which took only seven minutes. Walked a couple of blocks to catch a no. 96 tram to the Melbourne Museum for the Tutankhamun exhibition. The very informative Egypt 3D movie ran for 25 minutes. We spent almost two hours inside the exhibition which had many wonders of the ancient Egyptian world on display. We're talking 3,300 years old here. Especially impressive was the sarcophagus of Tjuya, aunt of Tutankhamun. Spent about 15 minutes in the souvenir shop deciding on what to buy. Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharoahs was great.

Melbourne seems to be the smokers' capital of the world. The air is difficult to breathe in sometimes.

Back to the city for lunch at McDonalds with an Irish/Chinese family from the Gold Coast. Don't know if I'm missing something, or if McDonalds is, but I didn't see a toilet seat on the toilet.

Change in plans as my friend, Din, will not be getting back from his trip until late so won't be able to meet us for tea. No probs. Caught the no. 96 down to Luna Park in St Kilda. Free entry but unlimited rides were $33.95 for kids and $43.95 for adults. Individual rides priced at $9.50. Pity I didn't find out about the 10% discount for showing your Met ticket beforehand. Went to put our bags in a locker but they were all being utilised.

First ride - Ghost Train. Wait was for 45 minutes. Absolutely crap ride. And they didn't even set up the camera properly to take your photo at the "scary" moment. Metropolis roller coaster was OK, Enterprise really good, Scenic Railway roller coaster (with 25 minutes wait) was very bumpy (99 years old!) but quite good, Coney Drop OK and the Spider was quite good. The Boy went on Pharoah's Curse and really enjoyed it. I knew that my lunch would have some trouble keeping down so I gave it a miss. G-Force ride was OK. I let him do lots of rides, including Twin Dragons, by himself as my stomach isn't as good as his. We spent five and a half hours there and it was well worth it. Caramel popcorn was delicious. Luna Park closed at 8pm so we headed down Acland Street for tea.

Found La Roche Cafe - all smoking seats outside were taken and there was, thankfully, a table for two available inside. Had a lamb pizza and calamari. Very reasonably priced, for those items on Monday, and a very enjoyable meal. Considering the number of people there and the conversations it was surprising that you were able to talk and be heard. Caught a no. 79 tram back to the hotel which was only 20 minutes away.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 50-64.

G'day Your Majesty

2011-10-29T21:05:00.000+08:00

HRH Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh were in town today for the Great Aussie BBQ before nicking back off to Old Blighty. I managed to catch a bus into the city, seeing as many of the streets were closed off for the royal motorcade and CHOGM, and just managed to cross the road before it was closed off to pedestrian traffic. Pity I was on the side of the ride where Prince Philip was as I'd come to see the Queen. Still ended up only a few metres away and got a half decent photo.

After the motorcade had passed I went onto Langley Park and took part in the charity BBQ with a couple of snaggers on bread and a soft drink. Couldn't get close enough to the Esplanade where the royal party was on stage prior to a walk amongst the people so ended up watching proceedings on a large screen. Reports are that there were over 100,000 people in attendance.

Got another look as they went past on the way out to the airport. Just read another report that they took off at 1:01pm. Not bad considering that they left the Esplanade at 11:55am. Not like many Qantas passengers who won't be going anywhere seeing as the airline has been grounded by management.

Whilst I didn't get to say "G'day" it was a bit of a thrill to see her. Did I mention that I am a republican? One who believes in maintaining membership of the Commonwealth though. Still, currently she is the Head of State so deserves a little respect.

Queen Elizabeth II's Visit to Perth Photo Album

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 2

2011-10-28T09:30:00.001+08:00

Subdued start to the morning. Discovered that instead of putting my watch forward for daylights savings I had advanced my alarm. Went down for breakfast, which we didn't have much time for, consisting of cereals, fruit, tea/coffee and toast. Grabbed an all day Met ticket for $3.20. Great value on a Sunday in Melbourne for public transport.

First stop was the Shrine of Remembrance. This is a building that truly commemorates the sacrifice of soldiers from Victoria. A total of 4000 medals were on display - one for every hundred that served and six that fell. We took part in a short service at the Unmarked Grave with the Ray of Light. Had a look around from the balcony. The crypt holds a special statue saluting father and son.

Victoria Barracks, across the road from the Shrine of Remembrance, looks beautiful. Tram to Flinders Street Station. Some Korean tourists were having their photo taken so I asked the photographer, in Korean, if he wanted a photo. He was surprised and said that he was a guide. Took another tram past the Fitzroy Gardens to go to the MCG.

Quite a few cars still parked at the MCG. We came to visit the National Sports Museum and were informed that it wasn't available as it was the open arena day. Oh well, we'd come this far. The open arena day, held once a year after the grand final, meant that you were allowed onto the MCG for a kick. What a bonus. The Boy took part in a handball competition for a chocolate prize after scoring a bullseye with his third attempt. We visited the MCG Superstore half an hour later to buy a football and hunted high and low for an Essendon one. Must have been the last in existence. Kicked the footy for about 40 minutes before grabbing two 4 'n 20 pies for lunch. Well, you can't go to the footy without eating a pie, can you? Just managed to grab an MCG tour with MCC member Barrie Johns. What an amazing stadium and so full of history. Ninety three steps to the top of one of the stands - nosebleed section obviously. Tour took an hour is I'd highly recommend it.

Next stopwas the National Sports Museum, which was open, for a look see. No cameras allowed, which was probably a good thing, and we kept our visit down to about an hour and a quarter. Olympic Games memorabilia, AFL Hall of Fame and Legends of the Game, James Hird and Shane Warne holograms, Melbourne Cup, Cricket, etc all wonderfully displayed.

Had another kick on the 'G until 4:30pm. Walked along the Yarra River back to the city and grabbed some tea. Caught a tram to head to the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum (closed) before walking back to the Eureka Skydeck 88 Building. Good view but too many reflections from the windows. Not until you step out onto the balcony, which was absolutely freezing, do you get a great view. Glad we didn't pay money for the Edge Experience as you couldn't even use a camera inside it. Personally, the Rialto Building provides a better view.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Shrine of Remembrance which looks fantastic at night (9pm by this stage). Had to wait quarter of an hour for the next tram but it was OK. Bed at 11pm. Wonderful day at the 'G.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 9-49.

A Case Of "Pimp My Ride" Gone Wrong?

2011-10-23T11:48:00.000+08:00

There's a TV show by the name of "Pimp My Ride" whereby they get an old clanger and do it up. I'm just wondering if one of the neighbours tried this and failed.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Day 1

2011-10-23T09:51:00.001+08:00

Holidays are finally here. Last night, when walking the dog with the missus, I made the discovery that her flight was on Sunday and not Monday as she had thought (she was heading off to Korea). Lucky, as she was making shopping plans, dog grooming plans and cleaning plans accordingly. Had to throw those plans out of the window.

Up early to do a final check of emails as I'll be disconnected from the virtual world for the next two weeks. Popped over to see the neighbours to ask if they could collect my mail while I was away. Had a nine o'clock appointment with the dentist - boy, do I know how to enjoy my holidays. Rang the boarding kennel to book Hunter in two days early.

Miky wanted to buy some gifts for friends in Korea and seeing as we still had some time, even though the appointment at the dentist following mine had come early and made my appointment late by half an hour, I drove her into the city. We were also able to buy Subway for lunch.

All the way out to the airport Miky kept asking how to drive home. Easy, stay left leaving the airport, turn left and then turn left on to Tonkin Highway, etc. Got dropped off, said our goodbyes and proceeded to check in our luggage.

In the waiting lounge we ate our lunch and then plonked ourselves in front of the TV to watch the first quarter of the AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and Geelong. Saw Stan Lazaridis in the departure lounge. Quarter time coincided with our boarding call. I rang Miky to find out if she had arrived home OK only to find out that she had become lost twice after heading right on Tonkin Highway instead of following the straightforward instructions. She'd only just arrived which probably left only enough time to wash the dog, have a walk with him and then drop him off at the boarding kennel.

No problem boarding our Jetstar flight. No screens to watch the footy though. And no live ABC radio to listen to the match either. One of the cabin crew was Korean so he was quite shocked when I asked for water in Korean. So shocked that he asked me if I was Korean. Gee, must have really caught him off guard. Bottle of water set me back $3.50. Score update - Pies 71, Cats 73.

Screaming babies - seem to be a staple component of Jetstar services. People should realise that the headrest of the seat in front of you doesn't constitute a handle to pull your fat arse out of your own seat. But, with a Collingwood-supporting husband, what else could I expect?

Geelong 119 - Collingwood 81. Yahoo! I'd picked the Cats by 14 points. Bit of a cheer on board the plane. Grizzling from behind me. Heh heh.

The baby behind us screamed for all of the descent and carried on after we landed. Ears must have been sore. Or she was a Collingwood supporter.

Waiting for the baggage took almost as long as the flight. Well, not quite. Quite cold in Melbourne. Wet too but not raining. Grabbed a Skybus to the city which arrived just as I bought the tickets. Quick ride to the city. It was 7:30pm by this stage and not much info on hand at Southern Cross Station. The VLine (train) info lady gave me some info but I couldn't find the tram info that she spoke about. We left the station and The Boy found a map on a street pillar. It pointed out a free tram, the Circle Tram, which would take us to the No. 8 tram that we required. Got off the tram one stop too early. Walked with baggage to the Flinders Street Station and waited. So many happy Cats supporters and many fewer sad, despondent Magpies supporters. Drunk and cheerful Cats supporters everywhere. Caught the No. 8 but got off about three stops too early. Finally found the hotel. Checked in. Room was spartan.

Went out to find something to eat on Chappell Street. One woman yelled out, "Go Bombers" and clapped as I walked past with my Essendon jacket. Back to Falafel House across the road from the hotel. Lovely chicken souvlaki and lamb kebab. Ate in the shop. Pakistanis, I think. Back to the hotel for a shower and watched Die Hard.

One thing that can be said about the ladies in Melbourne who are hitting the town for a good time - the more attractive they are the less clothing they wear. Even in the cold weather. It was supposedly 9C when we landed.

Melbourne-Tassie Holiday 2011 Photo Album - Photos 1-8

Ironman Nearly Drowns And Google News Considers This To Be Entertainment

2011-09-25T22:22:00.000+08:00

It amuses me to see a news story relating to Joe Hockey, shadow treasurer, to be put away in the sports section of Google News. OK, that's just the name confusing the issue. It worries me, slightly, to see a story with the headline "Ironman nearly drowns at Coolangatta Gold" and it is considered to be entertainment. At least it should have been in the sports section, methinks. Are we that interested in blood sports today?

Ironman nearly drowns - is this considered to be entertainment?

News Stories

2011-09-25T09:16:00.000+08:00

Here's a few news stories I saw during the week that I found to be interesting.

Sydney man stabs and kills intruder armed with stun gun

- It's time the government realised that anti-gun laws are having a detrimental affect on the lifespan of robbers. I thought that this country stood for a fair go for all.

Faster than light particles found, claim scientists

- Particles faster than light? Are they sure it's not a daylight savings error and that they didn't synchronise their watches?

'Decamillionaires' on the rise in Asia as wealth shifts away from Western nations

- Dammit, one list I wouldn't mind being on.

Julia Gillard TV sex scene causes outrage in Oz

- I hear that the diggers aren't happy at the image portrayed in the show, At Home With Julia, as thousands of men have died under that flag. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy playing her partner, Tim Mathieson, "died" also.

Amorous Squid Seeks Partner: Any Sex Will Do

- And to think they just spit in our eyes. It could be worse.

UK’s slowest broadband street revealed

- Sounds like snail mail is faster than broadband in West Sussex and Hampshire.

Farewell Russell Woolf - Former ABC Weatherman

2011-09-22T19:59:00.000+08:00

Russell Woolf has been axed as the Perth ABC weatherman. I'm deeply saddened to see him go as I've very much enjoyed his humour and down-to-earth demeanour over the last five years. He's never been full of his own self importance, take note other stations, nor has he been the best looking weatherman (weatherperson for you PC types), but it didn't make any difference. Hardly a weather report would go by without him fluffing his lines and reading the wrong value. But he would correct the mistake and not try to cover up and pretend to be perfect.

Farewell Russell Woolf. You have my respect.

Nicole Kidman Heading To Jail?

2011-09-22T17:51:00.000+08:00

When I first saw the picture associated with this news article I thought perhaps Nicole Kidman was heading to jail. Then I read the article headline, entitled "Actor Jailed" and I realised that there was no possibility that it was her. She's not an actor. She was previously married to a guy who wasn't an actor either.

Actor Jailed - Couldn't Be Nicole Kidman Then.

The US Department of Defence Needs to Join the 21st Century

2011-09-18T09:13:00.000+08:00

Our national radio broadcaster, ABC News Radio, has content agreements with other radio stations around the world including Deutsche Welle, the BBC, Radio Netherlands Worldwide and NPR (National Public Radio - US). From Radio Netherlands yesterday on their The Shape We're In program they interviewed retired Leiutenant Colonel Anthony Schaffer and he spoke about his book, Operation Dark Heart, and his work in Afghanistan as a spook - an undercover operative which is much like James Bond 007. Listen to the interview here.

The US Department of Defence censored the book and then bought all 9,500 copies from the first edition and destroyed them even though Shaffer had obtained clearance for the manuscript from the US Army. When are they going to join the 21st century? What if he publishes it in an online form - PDF, e-book, etc? Then what are they going to do? I don't think that they had very good intelligence on how to deal with this situation. So, of course the book becomes a New York Times non fiction & political books best seller. He must have felt a bit empty about that honour as no-one had read it still.

Shaffer has a story to tell that the US military doesn't want you to hear. I found the interview to be quite interesting and it makes you take a step back and look at what is really going on in the world. Who is good and who is bad when it comes to terrorism?

Challenge – Make $50 This Week

2011-09-17T11:08:00.003+08:00

I've joined a financial blogging community - Finance Community - that has just been created. I'd like to use some of my creativity and thoughts regarding finance and share them with a wider audience than I currently reach. One feature of this blog is a weekly challenge. And the challenge this week is:

Make $50 This Week

Well, the rules aren't that rigid. I shall explore a couple of ideas.

Charity - raising $50 for the MS Readathon is not too difficult, if you have a reasonable network of family, friends or know your neighbours quite well. It's great for young people to raise money for this worthy charity and the benefits of reading are wide reaching. Of course, this week would require the readathon to be active and in Western Australia it starts in December.

Personal - gardening for the neighbours.
- collecting cans and bottles for the refund money (might take more than one week though).
- doing odd jobs around the house, like cleaning the pantry or the container cupboards, cleaning the shed, washing and vacuuming the car, etc (more age dependent and aimed at the younger generation).
- delivery of brochures and local newspapers (I understand that the pay rate is closer to $1/hr and not a real earner).

Committing yourself to working overtime is too dependent upon the boss to make it a reliable money-making method. And it's not an option if you are a salaried employee. I think the older you get the more difficult it is to actually make more money outside of your usual employment. That $50 is more attainable by spending less than normal.

Frugal Bastard's Challenge to Make $50 This Week

Amazing Customer Service - From A Telco No Less!

2011-09-15T23:17:00.000+08:00

My missus lost her pre-paid mobile phone recently. As she doesn't use it much it took a few days to notice. The usual trick is to call the mobile and then find it pretty easily. Didn't work on this occasion. Maybe the battery was already dead. Searching the car, house, shopping centre, etc, failed to turn it up.

I did something unexpected. I called the customer service on my mobile account. Surprisingly there was an option not too deep within the menu to talk to a customer service person and I didn't have to wait very long. As I didn't have the password/code for the wife's account they needed to speak to her for verification. I asked if they were able to pinpoint the phone's whereabouts, from the triangulation with the towers that happens constantly but the customer service rep informed me that only iPhones have that tracking ability. She started up an online account for the mobile, after trying to call it herself, and that would enable us to check the last 60 calls and SMSs from the phone. Lastly she put a block on the phone so that no outgoing calls were possible but incoming calls could still be received.

Two separate emails provided the username and a temporary password to this online account. I did make an error using the password, as it contained a "," as a special character at the end of the code and I didn't notice it. Quite frustrating and I made another call to customer service who quickly put me back on track. Few minutes later and I have a complete list of the last 60 calls/messages and the phone numbers that they related to. Brilliant - as the SIM wasn't backed up that meant that all of the contacts had been lost.

Next weekend the wife remembered that she had an old phone, and it turns out that she liked that one better than the newer one, and so we took it down to the Optus store. Before we got there we had a bit of shopping to do and noticed at Woolies that they were selling Optus SIM cards for only $2. Still, I wanted to talk to the Optus people first. It turned out that they were selling SIM cards for $2 as well. The guy, a trainee, even deactivated the old SIM card and reactivated the new one. As my wife had credit left we didn't need to top it up. It certainly cost more than two dollars of his time.

Back home and the phone wasn't charging properly. That was until I rummaged through one of my drawers and found the original battery charger. That was bound to happen as I'm a hoarder and never throw anything away. Few hours later and one perfectly working mobile phone without any contacts. Only cost a phone that the owner wasn't happy with and two bucks for a new SIM card.

Can't believe the trouble that Optus went to to provide customer service. They were so helpful in the store and on the phone. Being pre-paid customers we certainly aren't high revenue by any means. But we are happy Optus pre-paid customers and not afraid to say so. Who would have thought that in this day and age a telco was capable of providing outstanding customer service? Thanks Optus.

Pretty Successful Weekend - Includes Taekwondo Grading

2011-09-12T21:58:00.000+08:00

The weekend just past was pretty good. Friday night kicked off with taekwondo and the first of the AFL finals for the year. Great game between Geelong and Hawthorn. Finals footy is the way it should be played and the way it should be umpired.

On the Saturday I did my normal taekwondo trainng and shopping. Watched a bit of footy as well.

Sunday morning I had taekwondo grading. I'd have to say that it was the most fulfilling grading I've done and I reached red belt three (1st geup). Pretty pleased with my performance but still have quite a bit of improvement to do to prepare for my black belt grading. Practice, practice, practice!

My friend Jay took this photo with me grading - hope he doesn't mind me using it.

Back home in time for meat pies and potato chips and the start of the blockbuster 1st elimination final between Essendon and Carlton. Almost all over by the end of the first quarter and certainly over by half time. Those damn Blues blew away my Bombers. Bastards!! They played much better and deserved the win.

Full time in the footy meant time to mow the back lawn and do some edging followed by cutting up of the palm trees that I chopped down two weekends ago. My blisters had healed enough for me to make another attempt at cleaning up the front yard before the greens collection in a few weeks time. I spent two hours cutting up the trees but it was worth the effort as the front yard looks much better.

After a wash up, well, a shower, we went out for tea to Phill Bean in Shelley. It's a newish Korean restaurant. Man, I tell you, the food is great. It's not expensive but it is very cosy so I can see why you generally need to book. Loved the food and will definitely return.

If it hadn't been for my footy team losing it would have been close to a perfect weekend.

New Zealand Have No Hope in the IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup

2011-09-09T21:27:00.000+08:00

Mark my words - the All Blacks have absolutely no chance of winning the IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup. Why, I hear you ask? Let me explain.

New Zealand are hosting the World Cup.

New Zealand are the No. 1 ranked team playing rugby union.

New Zealand, being the hosts, have the most favourable fixture.

I picked New Zealand in the sweepstake at work today.

There you have it. No hope for the Kiwis. I was asked to run a sweepstake only three and a half hours before the opening match of the World Cup. I even had to ask when it started as I'm not into rugby too much. The only games I take any interest in are World Cup matches. So, I emailed my colleagues and managed to sell the 20 places in three hours. We like a bet, we do. I had two ladies conduct the draw, and they hadn't joined in and were therefore impartial, but as soon as my name and that of New Zealand was drawn out I knew fingers would be pointed at me.

And that has certainly put the mozz on the Kiwis. Anybody remember the FIFA World Cup sweepstake where I picked Brazil and got nothing?

IRB 2011 Rubgy World Cup Odds

Article Proclaiming That Living Standards In Australia Have Risen

2011-09-08T23:06:00.000+08:00

If you, living in Australia, thought that living standards had dropped between 2003-4 and 2009-10, then, according to this article, you'd be wrong. In that timeframe household spend has increased by 38% but the CPI (Consumer Price Index) has only risen 19%. Therefore, we're spending more of our money enjoying ourselves. Or so they tell us.

I'm concerned by CommSec chief economist Craig James's quote - "Australians have continued to get richer over time and thus are spending a greater proportion of their incomes on non-essential goods and services like pay TV connections and the internet." Since when was the Internet non-essential? If that is the case why must we have a A$43b NBN (National Broadband Network) so that everyman and his dog in this country has access to expensive, fast broadband? I find it difficult to remember how I paid all the bills prior to the Internet coming along and being a part of my everyday life so I pretty much consider it to be essential.

Some of the figures in the article, results from a conducted survey, raise concern.

- We're paying 68% more on rent payments. I don't see how that means our standard of living has increased. We're very unlikely to be living in a penthouse and more likely to be living in the same box we were back then. It's just that the landlord is creaming more from his investment.

- We're paying 95% more on pay TV. Doesn't this mean that the pay TV operators have become much better at offering introductory packages that don't show you what you really want to see, such as the EPL or quality documentaries/movies, and more of us are forking out more dosh for the few programs that are really worth seeing? I'm certainly not rich enough to hand over $50/mth for some basic TV and, I dunno, $70~$100/mth for only a couple of programs actually worth watching.

- We're paying 50% more on fast food and meals out. Maybe that's because we're too busy working hard to pay all of these bills or just don't know how to cook anymore. Anyone with a bit of sense knows that it's cheaper to make a healthy meal than to buy takeaway. Are we just buying less at restaurants and have downgraded our eating out?

- We're paying 84% on childcare payments. How does that equate with a rise in the standard of living? Childcare workers now require better training and a lower ratio of carer:child therefore of course it's going to cost more for this facility. The article also states that the average household size increased from 2.53 to 2.57 people. Quite obviously we have more of the little tackers to send to childcare in the first place.

Sorry, I don't quite read the same obvious standard of living rises that this article wants us to believe.

How Does Yahoo! Search For A New CEO?

2011-09-07T23:17:00.000+08:00

Yahoo! fired their CEO over the phone. It got me thinking. Normally when a company loses their CEO they spout some claptrap about searching the globe for the most suitable person to replace them with. How does Yahoo! go about searching for a new CEO? Can I make a suggestion?

Search for a new CEO on Google

Teacher Laptops Should Be Deemed As Essential Tools And Supplied

2011-09-03T10:55:00.000+08:00

I wasn't too pleased to read the other day that teachers in Victoria were being forced to enter lease agreements for outdated Apple computers and that the lease would lock them in until 2016. Their students would have far better computers, probably paid for by taxpayer dollars, as opposed to the computers that the teachers would use (and pay for).

I don't fancy being locked into anything especially if I have no choice in the matter. If a laptop is deemed by the government to be an essential tool for all teachers then surely the relevant education department should be responsible for providing them. I don't get this. In this country if a uniform is required then the company has to issue it. If personal protective equipment is necessary then the company has a duty to supply it.

How can we be in a situation whereby the teachers have inferior products to the generation that they are supposed to be teaching? It's like having a university lecturer whose experience is dated and irrelevant. Oh, wait....

Aren't the youth of today supposed to be tomorrow's leaders? What happened to the Education Revolution from the Australian Labor Party? Ha, I like the reference to "in a Rudd Labor Government" throughout the linked document. That didn't last long. I guess now that KRudd is no longer in charge the Labor Party doesn't have to honour those particular promises.

Get your act together, the Australian Government, and provide for education outcomes that are necessary in this country.

What's Julia Gillard's New Slogan?

2011-09-02T22:50:00.000+08:00

Before the last federal election Julia Gillard had the slogan "Moving Forward". Whenever she was asked a question relating to policy and mistakes made by the Labor Party the answer was always the same - "We're moving forward".

Now that Labor is floundering in the polls and there is some talk from her party that has reached the media, with the possibility that she will be replaced, she doesn't seem to be moving forward anymore. Now she's stated "I'm not going anywhere".

I think this is the point where Gillard has gone as forward as she's going and has stopped just prior to moving backwards. It's as though she hasn't felt the knives in the back yet, perhaps they're still being cleaned after deposing Kevin Rudd, but they are certainly out. I said at the end of last year that she would lose her position before the next election and be replaced by Stephen Smith, the current minister for defence, and he has been very quiet of late. Strange, that.

Let's see how long Gillard runs with her new slogan.

Tree Fellers

2011-08-29T06:09:00.000+08:00

No, this isn't a posting about three fellas. We had a couple of palm trees out the front of the house. They'd become too big to prune the fronds off, which were very difficult to cut anyway, and there was the possibility that they were a danger to the house should they get blown over. There used to be three but I pushed one over by hand a while back. The two that were left weren't so easy to remove, which was a good thing.

On Saturday I bought an axe in Bunnings. Actually, I felt like "The Man" walking around the shop carrying an axe as no-one would want to take me on. Strange that you can walk around within the confines of a shop with what could be deemed a weapon and nobody takes the slightest bit of notice.

It was a nice day yesterday so out came the axe. I tied a rope around the tree so that I could guide its fall. There were quite a few small plants within the fall zone and there was also the dividing wall to be concerned about. Palm tree wood is very soft and moist. In fact, the bark is tougher than the inner part of the tree. I obviously own a pair of office worker's hands as they blistered very quickly. And badly. The Boy managed to capture a decent video of the first palm tree coming down. He assisted me with the second one and was surprised at how big the tree was and how fast it comes down at you.

Trees beforehand

One down, one to go

I'm paying for it this morning with painful hands missing a bit of skin. Might not even be able to do training tonight, dammit. It was good fun though. Have to chop up the trees a few more time into a manageable size so that they can go in the next green collection. Quite a bit of work to do and I need to wait until my hands recover. At least my back survived the exercise.

Timber!!!!

Blistered hand

The other blistered hand

Something Strange Is Happening

2011-08-23T22:21:00.000+08:00

As the summer transfer window nears its final stages, something strange is happening. Eurosport. Eurosport is happening. And it is strange. Very strange.

Methinks there's a little bit of content needed for this article. Or did they just decided to forgo the padding and print a full quality article?

As the summer transfer window nears its final stages, something strange is happening.

Great News - Kim Kardashian Is Married

2011-08-22T23:26:00.000+08:00

Isn't it wonderful news that Kim Kardashian is married? In fact, it's such a relief. Well, I think it is. Coz I won't have to listen to any more rubbish about "Kim Kardashian's upcoming wedding" and the angst and anxiety that went with it.

Who is this woman, whose show I've never seen, that has become huge worldwide and even more annoying in a publicity-seeking manner than Paris Hilton? Did anyone think that that was actually possible?

Is Kris Humphries going to be paid by some strange equal opportunity cult to change his name to Kris Kardashian? Let's face it, if you didn't know that he was a New Jersey Nets basketballer, you might as well know him as Mr Kim Kardashian.

I'm sickened to hear that this couple is banking $17.9 million for various rights to the coverage of their wedding.

Unfortunately, even though I won't have to hear much more about the upcoming wedding I'm sure there'll be more than enough drivel about the following:

Honeymoon news
First fight news
Kiss and make up news
Trying for baby news
Breakup news
Splitsville news
New lover news

Then there's always the 3rd, 4th and 5th husband news (I only found out on Wikipedia's page about Kim that she was previously married).

Is there no end to this crap? Gee, so much of world hunger could be stopped if the money being thrown at this "celebrity" was used in a better manner. What has the world come to?

Honey, Your Drug Dealer Called

2011-08-21T00:18:00.000+08:00

I was cooking tea last night when my wife's mobile rang. She didn't know who it was and spoke for a short time before hanging up. Then she asked if I had called her as someone had put on a strange voice and she thought that it must have been me. A quick look into the kitchen revealed that I was turning fish over in the fry pan at that time so it certainly wasn't me.

Very soon after the phone rang again and the missus wanted me to answer it. The caller ID flashed "Withheld" as the name/number. Hm, not looking promising as the person obviously has something to hide. The guy said his name was Vladimir, Vladimir Korso. Funny how he had an African accent. I asked him why he was calling and he replied, "Have you got my money ready?"
"You mean your drug money that I gave you an IOU for?" I asked, trying to add a bit of humour to the silly situation that was developing.
"Yes, for the cocaine I sold you last week."
I informed this guy that he had the wrong number and should check again before recalling.
"But I can sense it," he said.
At this stage I told him that his senses needed checking and goodbye.

What sort of a drug dealer takes an IOU for a sale?

Save The Children Giant Book Sale

2011-08-20T11:34:00.000+08:00

The annual Save The Children Giant Book Sale is on this weekend in Perth. It's being held at Winthrop Hall at UWA and finishes on Wednesday. Get in, grab lots of bargains, help out this worthy charity and get reading! I have.

Photo Album on Facebook.

Good To See That The AFL Draft Is Evening Up The Competition

2011-08-19T22:16:00.000+08:00

Isn't it good to see that all of the equalisation actions brought about by the AFL, such as the salary cap, draft concessions, the draft, priority picks, etc, is evening up the competition? We had three weekends in a row whereby the winner was victorious by 150 points or more. It is unusual for a team to actual score 150 points in an AFL match let alone win by that margin.

I remember one such match, way back in 1987 when I was still at school, when I was confident that Essendon would beat Sydney. So confident in fact that I bet five bucks to a schoolmate that they'd win. I couldn't understand why he took the bet. History shows that Sydney kicked the then highest score in the competition, 236 points, and won by a whopping 163 points. Yes, I don't so much as bet on the footy these days as I learnt a valuable lesson that day. And I did hand over the money.

Getting back to my point. I read an article entitled "You reap what you sow" and it places much of the blame for lopsided results at the hands of the administrators of the game. The article pointed out that before this season there had only been 14 matches with a winning margin of 150 points or greater. The AFL.ALLTHESTATS.COM Greatest Margins Website shows that there were 15, other than the three (so far) this season. What really surprised me, and what I was looking for in the first instance after reading the article above, was the earliest margin of 150 points. I can't quite believe that it dates back to 1899 when the game was still in its infancy. We had to wait another 32 years before seeing a win like that again.

And here was me thinking that these big wins had only come about in an age of big, strong men playing the game against a group of boys. It also happened a long time prior to professionalism taking over the game.

Signs On The Bus

2011-08-13T23:26:00.000+08:00

I quite like some of the advertising that's on the buses within our public transport network. Most of them are aimed at the travelling public telling them how to behave but at least they are entertainging and get the message across. Take note advertisers.

We've all had to put up with people whose music is too loud.

Jack and Jill - how many times have you been inconvenienced by other travellers?

Plenty of graffidiots about - probably not smart enough to finish reading this.

Interesting couple of bus trips last week starring the same driver. An older lady, late 40s perhaps, who wears gloves and doesn't take any crap from anyone. As soon as I got on the bus she tooted the driver in front who hadn't reacted to the light change. Fair enough. Some weirdo got on and couldn't find his concession card so he asked her to wait. He jumped off the bus and checked the papers on the ground at the bus stop before finding his replacement paper in his pocket and began to explain that he's always losing his card and that this replacement was until his card was replaced. The driver got sit of this and took off and told him to move back. She obviously didn't want to hear his story. Later on some people were standing too close to the door and blocking the exit of others. The driver came out of her cabin and yelled at them, "Where are you getting off? Sit down and stop blocking the door so that people can get off the bus." The offenders sat down and didn't move.

Two days later, with the same driver, a young guy with earplugs got on. Everyone on the bus could hear his music. At the next set of lights the driver yelled out, "Who's playing loud music?"
"What?" he replied.
The she came out of the cabin and lectured us all on why they put the signs up in the buses - see Little Jack Horner pic. He turned the volume down so that I was unable to hear it, quick smart.

I love this bus driver.

What Exactly Do They Have For Sale?

2011-08-13T22:46:00.000+08:00

A local car dealer had a sale recently. I dare say that it cost them quite a few dollars to set up as fencing isn't cheap and the advertising banners look like they cost a couple of hundred dollars each.

I did the Marketing 101 unit at university so I have some basic idea regarding advertising. OK, the banners state the a car sale is going on so that much is clear. I would have thought that you'd want to show the product being sold. Or was that the ploy to get people in the gate? Don't tell them what is for sale and human curiosity will do the rest? What exactly do they have for sale?

What's going on?

It's not all that clear what they have for sale.

How did the sale go? The banners were only erected for one weekend and the lot has been cleared by a third to half of stock. I'd say it was quite successful. What do I know about marketing? Or did they just remove the stock whilst the banners were in place and the public were unable to see just to give us the impression that they've had a great sale? I'm not convinced yet.

Flash Cars Are Just Penis Extensions

2011-08-13T22:12:00.000+08:00

You've seen them before. Those guys who are owners of micro-penises and just have to have the big car that acts as a penis extension. Without the flash car they don't feel like real men.

The other day whilst out for a walk at lunchtime I saw a very nice Ferrari drive past. OK, there aren't a lot of Ferraris that don't look very nice, granted. But the driver was going past at about 40~50kms/h and sped up to the 60 limit. Maybe, just maybe, he put it into second gear. This car must have been worth three or four hundred thousand dollars, and looked every bit of it, but the guy was driving within the speed limit and can't use it to full value.

My question is - what good is a penis extension if you can't get a hard-on?

Dollards? What Are Dollards?

2011-08-13T22:03:00.000+08:00

Thank you Google News for bringing another fabulous headline to our attention. Look out you energy inefficient homeowners as you may lose thousands of dollards.

What the heck are dollards?

It's Almost As Though Perthites Have Never Seen Rain

2011-08-06T17:38:00.000+08:00

It's rained on 14 out of the last 18 days in Perth. A few days back I tried to buy a replacement umbrella as my expensive golf brolly had bitten the dust. The local Bunnings warehouse had all sold out. That meant getting wet a couple of times before purchasing a travel brolly. I was unable to find a proper umbrella at another Bunnings warehouse, at Kmart, at Coles, at Officeworks or at Woolies. You'd think that people in Perth, Perthites, had never seen rain.

With another four days of rain forecast it looks like I might get wet a couple more times yet.

Somebody's Got A Fat Cat

2011-08-06T11:08:00.000+08:00

Either someboday has a fat cat or they haven't repaired their car from the hail damage in March 2010! I think it's the latter but it makes me laugh to think that it could be the former.

Fat cat paw prints?

And Where Exactly Is Sputh Australia?

2011-08-06T08:56:00.002+08:00

Classic headline from Google News this morning. I wonder just where exactly is Sputh Australia?

Where The Bloody Hell is Sputh Australia?

Has Ricky Nixon Had A Sex Change Operation?

2011-08-01T22:53:00.000+08:00

Ricky Nixon, no stranger to controversy following the incident with the "St Kilda schoolgirl", has hit the headlines again. Months ago it was alleged that he was having an affair, and using drugs, with a teenager who had had sex with numerous footballers including a couple from Saint Kilda. The allegations tarnished his career as a football player manager, which led to his loss of a player manager licence, and the downfall of his marriage.

The headline, coupled with a photo of a woman, had me wondering - "Has Ricky Nixon had a sex change operation?" Probably not as the woman is none other than Christine Nixon, former Victorian Police Chief. The Google News aggregator has struck again.

Has Ricky Nixon had a sex change operation?

Babysitting

2011-07-30T22:44:00.001+08:00

New term started last week and the first day was a pupil-free day. I took the day off work to be with The Boy. We had lots of shopping to do (my stuff) and then went fishing nearby on the river (The Boy's stuff). It rained the whole time, thankfully only lightly, and we tried a couple of spots. Fishing in the river isn't great fun as there are lots of branches and other submerged items to snag the line on. I swear that I caught enough snags to have a BBQ for all my neighbours. The Boy managed to hook a decent bream and landed it. At least one of us was successful.

After the missus finished work we headed to the movies to see Transformers 3 : Dark of the Moon. Let me tell you something - this is the reason that you watch movies at the cinema. It's loud, full of action, has a hot chick (who can act a bit and better than Megan Fox), includes drama and comedy, has more action, lots of twists and did I mention that it had action? Special effects were fantastic and I'd say this movie craps all over Avatar. We all enjoyed it and have seen all of the Transformers movies at the cinema. I can't imagine watching this at home. The cinema wanted to charge $18/adult but I picked up tickets for $11 each from the RAC (of which I am a member).

We prepared dinner at home and fish was on the menu. And let me tell you - it tasted very nice. Just like a bought one. And I'm not saying that just because I cleaned it and cooked it.

Fantastic day off. Don't mind babysitting occasionally. Only if it's my boy though.

Hunter And The Squeaky Frog

2011-07-30T21:30:00.000+08:00

There was a very strange noise coming from outside. Upon investigation I discovered that a frog was making the noise. We went outside and videoed this weird happening. The frog in the video makes a loud, squeaky noise when upset and our dog, Hunter, became quite sick after licking it. Lesson for all of us in that.

Hunter And The Squeaky Frog

Checked Your Headlights Lately?

2011-07-24T21:52:00.000+08:00

Starting work early and at various times during winter I've had the opportunity to take notice of how good the headlights are on cars passing by. Sometimes in between buses I can count 340 cars going past. As a rule I have noticed that between 2.5% and 4% of all cars passing have a crook headlight or the driver has even forgetten to turn the headlights on altogether.

Trailers are another story. I didn't keep the exact figures but I'd say a quarter to a third of all trailers don't have correctly working lights. That's a sad indictment on our tradies. They need their trailers for work but fail to look after them. And driving around in the dark without correct lighting isn't too safe or too clever.

I understand that in Britain that there is an annual MOT test and for a normal passenger vehicle over three years of age you're looking at nearly A$100/year. I'm disgusted at times by the number of unroadworthy vehicles on the road, and the drivers who don't appear to be worthy of having a licence, and maybe an annual check of vehicles in Australia wouldn't be a bad idea. Can't see it happening though as it would seem to be just another tax. And they are not too popular at the moment.

My Dinner Is In The Dog

2011-07-20T21:09:00.000+08:00

My dinner ended up inside the dog tonight through no fault of my own. The missus and I went shopping last night and she specifically bought barramundi for tonight's meal. I asked her to take The Boy to competition training and I'd go to the normal class afterwards as I had a great deal of work to do.

When I arrived home, five minutes before needing to leave for class, I noticed that the dinner had been cooked and was covered on the table. It looked like I'd woken the dog up as he had a decent stretch when I entered the house. Got changed and took off.

After returning home the missus asked me if I'd eaten any of the food. No, I hadn't. With only five minutes to prepare I certainly wasn't about to eat a meal and had just taken some nuts and biscuits as a snack. It's difficult to train on a full stomach. Hunter, the now in disgrace dog, was in the laundry. He had been told in no uncertain circumstances that he was a bad dog. Turns out he'd eaten the best bits of barramundi and some of the vegetables. So I got a few leftover pieces of fish and some soup as the remaining veggies were thrown in the bin.

The funny thing was that all of the covers on the food where in place. It was as though they hadn't been disturbed.

Almost Embarrassed Myself With Choice of Footwear

2011-07-16T21:58:00.000+08:00

Heading off to work early poses certain hazards. Particularly when it comes to the level of style with which one wishes to carry oneself when it comes to dressing oneself. Just the other morning, in the dark, I grabbed a couple of shoes. One happened to be a black dress shoe and the other was a sneaker. That would have been more than a little embarrassing. And more embarrassing than when I did go to work with one brown shoe and one black shoe.

Gotta keep an eye on that.

Beautiful Winter Sunrise

2011-07-16T10:28:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was an interesting day weather-wise. Dark clouds were looming in the west but the east was bright orange and pink. I didn't take an umbrella as I thought I'd miss any rain and it would be dry by the time I left work. Just after I took the photos below I noticed a rainbow to the west. It began to rain just before the bus arrived at my stop but it wasn't heavy enough to worry anybody. However later in the morning it poured although Perth only received 4.8mm officially. When we went for a lunchtime walk there were ducks in the parkland area wading in water that was lying around. It had been a heavy shower but I need to keep in mind that the land level is only about 1m above the nearby Swan River so drainage isn't great. And it did rain later on the way home. Very contrasting weather.

Beautiful winter sunrise

Very bright morning before the rain

This photo doesn't do the scene justice as there was high level cloud above another well formed cloud which looked very strange indeed.

That's Why We Call It A Pushbike

2011-07-16T10:19:00.000+08:00

In Australia we have a few names for bicycles. They are known as bikes, tredleys and cycles. Perhaps my favourite term is pushbike. And if you look at the photo below you'll see why.

That's why we call it a pushbike in this country

Marked Police Car

2011-07-16T10:14:00.000+08:00

I reckon the gang members in America are pretty good at identifying unmarked police cars as I've seen pictures of cars with graffiti saying so. Here in Oz they generally have Holden Commodores but you can see the flashing lights situated on the dashboard and the rear windscreen panel. The cops are getting to be a bit cleverer over here and maybe, just maybe, they're producing marked police cars. Yes, marked police cars. How do I know? I saw one a couple of days ago. There must be hundreds more of them because it was vehicle number 343.

Marked police car

False Advertising

2011-07-16T10:08:00.000+08:00

False advertising in Australia is a crime. If you are a telecommunications company in this country and advertise an "unlimited" plan well, by golly, it better be unlimited or the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, better known as the ACCC, which is the Australian government organisation responsible for ensuring compliance with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, formerly known as the Trade Practices Act 1974, will come down on you like a ton of bricks. Or should that be tonne of bricks, seeing as we use metric? Ton vs tonne - interesting article.

Anyway, back to the story. On my way to work the other day I saw some advertising from a local business. I'd say it was false advertising and I'm thinking about lodging a complaint with the ACCC. Do you think it is warranted?

Cannington KIA - NOW OPEN

Doesn't look open to me

Some lights are on but nobody's home

Charlie Weatherburn - Matt Magain's New (And First) Book

2011-07-10T11:39:00.000+08:00

There's a new author in town. Published he is. And his name is Matt Magain. The book is a children's story and delightfully drawn with lyrical prose. Great for the younger member of the family. The star is Charlie Weatherburn - and he even has his own Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/charlie.weatherburn

Don't be cheap and look for it on Amazon as the printed version isn't available in second hand print yet. I've looked. It is downloadable for Kindle. Help make Matt Magain a not-so-struggling artist and buy his book. You can keep up to date with the newsletter too if you wish.

I see that the day after the book was published it was ranked 11,805 on Lulu sales rank and it's soared to 8,623rd today - in only three days. Grab it before it becomes a best seller. I've got my copy on order.

Truckie Blockade Protesting The Carbon Tax

2011-07-08T19:01:00.001+08:00

Some sort of debate going on in Australia at the moment regarding the introduction of a carbon tax. Some sort of as the Australian people won't get a vote that seeks their opinion. We have a prime minister who, only days prior to the last election, informed the nation that there would be no carbon tax under her leadership. I guess that it's too early to start believing that there could be such a thing as a politician that can be trusted.

One large issue is the application of the tax with regards to fuel. Apparently the normal consumer won't be paying the carbon tax on petrol. But there is no such luck for the truckies of this nation. They will be expected to pay some six cents per litre extra which will push up prices for everyone and drive down, if you'll pardon the pun, the demand for the services of the trucking industry. Coupled with the suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia the truckies have or will be doing it tough. Hence, their drive through the city this morning and blockade of the WA parliament. We thought that 40 to 50 trucks rolled past and the news article below backs up that figure. Quite a sight in the city where you see very few trucks.

News article - Truckies blockade WA parliament

Truckie Blockade

Trucks out the window

Advice From A Psychiatrist

2011-07-03T10:02:00.000+08:00

Don't get mad - get even.

"Doctor, doctor. I think that I'm going mad," said the patient.
"Don't get mad - get even."
"How do I get even?" he questioned.
"Don't be odd," was the psychiatrist's response.
"How do I not be odd?"
"Act normally," was the advice given.
"What's normal?"
"Look in my waiting room and don't act like any of those people."

Growth Hormone Should Always Be Used Humanely

2011-07-03T09:58:00.000+08:00

Those people against animal testing should also be standing up for the rights of humans. No humans deserve to be a used as guinea pigs. All growth hormones should be tested humanely - see Google News heading below.

Martina Navratilova - How Soon We Forget

2011-07-03T09:55:00.000+08:00

They say in sport that nobody remembers who came second. It is only the winner's name which is remembered. Well, Martina Navratilova was a champion but it appears that she's already be forgotten. Or the memory of her has been slightly blurred with the passing of time.

Maria Navratilova?

Chinese - Redundant Words

2011-07-02T10:58:00.000+08:00

My son is learning Mandarin at school. Some of the first words that he's learnt relate to numbers and family members. It's interesting that the Chinese have words for sister, brother, older sister, younger sister, older brother, younger brother, etc. Aren't these words somewhat redundant, or about to become so, due to the one child policy? Did the Communist fathers consider this issue when implementing this policy? An unfortunate by-product methinks.

Main Roads Use of Surveillance for Efficient Road Usage

2011-06-25T19:53:00.000+08:00

The use of CCTV cameras for surveillance can't be cheap. If they are used effectively they can certainly assist in making road usage by vehicles much more efficient. I wasn't really impressed to see a particular unit nearby work that was;

1. Placed in an incorrect position or,
2. Not properly maintained and,
3. Quite obviously not monitored effectively.

Main Roads camera hard at work

Yes, it really is surrounded by trees

I don't understand how it can see through the greenery without x-ray vision

How the hell is this going to tell you what the traffic is like on the road? Another government departmart wasting money.

Bit Wet

2011-06-25T09:58:00.001+08:00

Strange weather we're having. They're playing tennis at Wimbledon yet it's wet in Perth. Surely all the rain is supposed to be concentrated in postcode SW19 5AE at this time of year.

It was still dry when we went to training last night but was pouring before we'd finished. One family wanted to borrow my umbrella so that they could get their car and bring it to the training facility to pick up the kids. Only problem was that the umbrella is slightly damaged and is very difficult to close. Another family member had to run out to the car to retrieve it and got rather wet in the process. Whoops. Tried to help out but was a little unsuccessful.

Driving home I remembered that the council depot always has the entrance flooded with the tiniest bit of rain so I took a different route. The water where I went was still up to the sideboard height on vehicles. I even saw one person pushing their car in the rain and through the water.

The missus and I went for a walk last night to inspect the nearby roads. She has gumboots and I don't so she enjoyed herself a bit more. We received 2" of rain, which was quite a decent drop, so it's understandable that there was a bit lying about.

Flooded road and footpath

Ankle deep

Council depot entrance

Close Call On The Bus

2011-06-21T22:37:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I've had an interesting bus ride. The missus wanted me to buy some pizzas for tea tonight on the way home. I ordered them online so that I could pick them up. Grabbed the first bus going the right way but took one that had a stop that was two blocks and a good five minutes walk away. Oh well. I had the opportunity to change buses but thought that I could wait another 15 minutes for a bus to come past and I'd be better off walking as I'd certainly reach my destination on time. The missus was picking me up, you see.

We started down Berwick street and I spotted a couple of kids on the footpath on the opposite side of the road. After a passenger got off and the bus proceeded on its journey one of the boys faced the bus and flung a rock at it. I quite clearly saw the rock heading towards me and heard it strike the bus. It was only at the next stop when the driver radioed base to inform them that the bus had been struck that I saw the window not far behind me that was shattered. It certainly didn't sound that bad.

I plainly saw the boy. An aboriginal lad of about 12 years of age wearing a pink/apricot coloured shirt and a left-hander. The driver said that he'd pressed the duress button and might have been lucky enough to have obtained a photo of him as he hadn't seen him himself. I hope they catch the little prick.

Bus window smashed by an aboriginal youth today

A Walk Down Wellington Street In Perth

2011-06-19T21:43:00.000+08:00

Had a bit of time to myself the other day and went for a walk eastwards along Wellington Street in the city. I was interested to have a gander at the old buildings and the new. Especially wanted to see the new stadium although I don't know exactly what it is going to be used for as it is a bit on the small side. Construction seems quite well advanced though.

I realised a few things. There are some ugly old buildings in Perth. There are some ugly new buildings in Perth. And Perth isn't such an inviting place in the middle of winter on an overcast day (the days leading up to it were bathed in pleasant sunshine). Actually, I found it a bit depressing and wondered why any tourist would bother to visit. I giess that it didn't help that I was without a plan to see anything in particular. Still, I enjoyed seeing some of the older buildings which were in good nick.

A Walk Eastwards Up Wellington Street Then Up Pier Street Photo Album on Facebook.

News Report : Consumers Renting Rather Than Buying

2011-06-18T13:22:00.000+08:00

Interesting article from the Herald Sun - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/money/money-matters/consumer-renting-rather-than-buying/story-fn312ws8-1226062406288

The first note is that frugality is fueling rentals of appliances. I have an issue with this. Anyone that knows anything about being frugal would realise that renting, in the long run (total cost of ownership) is more expensive than buying. I think that it has more to do with credit becoming more difficult to obtain and consumers not having the disposable income that they'd like to.

As the cost of living has increased there is evidence that companies hiring/renting equipment instead of selling it are increasing their profitability. Certainly the department stores are finding trading more difficult as consumers are more and more keeping their wallets in their pockets. People are far more discerning with regards to purchasing these days.

How can a newspaper article expect to be taken seriously when it bases it's argument on a misperception? Journalists need to get the facts straight.

Red Moon

2011-06-16T06:07:00.000+08:00

Set the alarm for 4:30am to view the red moon. Turned off the alarm at 4:30am and went back to sleep. Turned off the 5:00am alarm and woke up. Headed outside. Wet and cloudy so I obviously didn't miss anything earlier. And it only rains during winter in Perth. Why last night? Dammit.

Late Night Conversation

2011-06-16T06:04:00.000+08:00

She: What would it be like if we were still boyfriend and girlfriend?
He: You couldn't get pregnant.
She: Would we still be together?
He: Nah, you'd be bored.
She: So you'd leave me?
He: No, it's my house.
Swift kick follows.

My missus has known me long enough to understand that she'll never get a decent conversation when I'm ready to sleep.

Fast Eddys - Not So Fast (Or Accurate)

2011-06-05T22:30:00.000+08:00

Shopping the other day at Carousel we walked past Fast Eddys Cafe. The missus noticed that they did some breakfasts there and so this morning we decided to head there for brekkie. Our weekend eat out meal. Not normally something we do for breakfast as it's either lunch or tea.

The young girl who took our order didn't seem switched on. When I ordered the scrambled egg special she informed me that I could have scrambled or fried eggs. I repeated that I wished to have scrambled eggs and then she proceeded to write and say that she was taking an order for fried eggs. Not a great start. Then I told her that the missus wanted a coffee. "Will you be ordering any drinks?" she asked.
"No, just the coffee please," I said.

When our meal was nearly finished, my missus was fuming as her coffee hadn't been delivered. She found the waitress and asked her about the coffee to which the response was, "What coffee?" Apparently she had a choice of black or short white which had not been mentioned at the time of order. The girl hadn't even included the coffee in the order. When it was finally delivered she didn't even apologise.

A little bit later the duty manager wandered over to ask if everything was OK and so we told her that her waitress needed to switch on. She offered not to charge us for the coffee and to provide some complimentary drinks which I declined. When we left to pay the bill the duty manager took over the register and did not charge us for the coffee or the pancakes that I had (the eggs were for the missus). I said that the food was great but the service hadn't been and that the girl needed to be spoken to. I was assured that she had already been spoken to. She apologised and said that there was new waitstaff and you have to start them sometime, even when it's busy, for them to learn. Hey, I'm fine with that. She just needs to learn from it as she didn't seem too interested.

Sometimes it pays to complain. My missus is one who suscribes to the motto "Give me coffee and no-one gets hurt". Still, I'd go back for the food. We'd just avoid the waitress.

Been Wasting Money Lately

2011-06-05T22:12:00.000+08:00

Bit of a low point for me lately. Just been wasting money. I bought a new sprinkler for the backyard as the missus broke the connector on the old one. And what should happen the next week? There is a ban on using sprinklers during winter. At least my new sprinkler will still appear to be new come spring.

Second bit of wastage came when I purchased Unreal Anthology, a set of computer games, from EB Games. Picked it up for only $20 and it is the early versions of Unreal Gold, Unreal Tournament, Unreal II and Unreal Tournament 2004. Quite a good game still and one which we, The Boy and I, enjoy playing. In the city for some lunch and shopping last weekend and we wandered into EB Games. Imagine my shock when I discovered that nearly all of the games were half price! Dammit! So I bought Command & Conquer Saga - The First Decade and Tiberium Wars. It had been $50 and I'd had my eye on it for a while but couldn't go past it for only $25.

So, it's not all bad.

Nice To See Some Love For Our Politicians

2011-06-05T22:01:00.000+08:00

I received a flyer in the mailbox a couple of days ago. It was for Bill Johnston, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, and he was calling for three "Have Your Say" public meetings. One of them was held in the City of Canning car park. The missus and I went for a walk that morning and who should we see but our local member? Yes, he was sitting next to a table alongside his vehicle with an aide. And NOBODY was there to talk to him.

I almost felt sorry enough for him to go and have a chat but he is a Labor politician and so, by definition, I dislike him intensely. Still, if the missus wasn't with me I probably would have said something. And not nasty or anything. Perhaps it shows that the locals care more about policies that affect the nation than those that affect state politics. I was surprised that the local member had made himself available for the public and no-one showed the slightest bit of interest. Shows that the state of politics is pretty sad, methinks.

Personal Details for Sale, Anyone?

2011-05-29T19:35:00.000+08:00

Gotta wonder how much your personal details are worth and how readily available you are to sell them. We have some mega chemists (pharmacies, drug stores, apotekes, etc) called Chemist Warehouse. Most of them are run by Chinese people and I dare say they have studied in Perth and are making the most of their parents' money. Good on them. If it's not the Chinese it's the Indians. They still view Australia as the land of opportunity and I'd hate to see us lose that moniker.

The service changes and being the sceptic that I am I only see it as ultimately benefiting the proprietor. Take yesterday for instance. The missus needed a prescription filled. Instead of waiting by the counter the pharmacist gave her a buzzer and a shopping basket. "I'll buzz you when it's ready," he said. So, you go wandering around the shop looking to spend more money as you become bored. If you had parked your arse next to the counter you wouldn't spend any more money than you had intended to.

My missus thought that there wasn't any air fresheners. We were standing next to a display of them and she said, "No, the natural air freshener." I replied that they are called "windows" and that the pharmacy didn't sell them.

Then I had a thought about what would be the next service/money making idea to be installed from a business perspective. It struck me that instead of the buzzer they take your mobile number (who doesn't have a mobile these days?) and text you when your script was filled. That way they could have all of your contact details in their database. You could be contacted whenever they had a sale and it would cost bugger all for them to market to you. When we sat down to wait for the medication I noticed a sign proclaiming that a free SMS prescription reminder service was available. Damn, they've already stolen half of my idea. Clever Chinese.