WAFL Grand Final 2007

I'd been promising to take the boy to the footy for some time and had been disappointed at not being able to get tickets to an AFL match when my team, the Bombers, had been in town recently on two occasions. I've never been to a local match, the WAFL (Western Australian Football League), but the grand final seemed like the ideal opportunity to break that duck.

I bought tickets online, so that we would be assured of seats and because it was the last game of football in Perth this year, and we sat behind the goals at the city end. Not a bad spot. Only place better would be on the side of the ground. It meant that jobs around the house had to be done early so there was a bit of blue-arsed fly action happening. Had to go to Subiaco for the fruit and veg shopping before the match, and to pick up the tickets, when I saw Scott Watters, the Subiaco coach, at an ATM that was closed. I thought to myself, "Is that an omen?" Was going to say, "Good luck today Scotty," but I never thought much of him as a player for the Eagles or the Dockers. And he's a bit of a drip on the TV.

As the tickets included public transport the boy and I took the train. This allowed us to stop off in the city and buy something for lunch before getting on the train again to go to Subiaco. Managed to catch the last ten minutes of the reserves grand final and that was a draw! Quite exciting. They played extra time and Subiaco beat East Fremantle by 15 pts. I'd say there were only 2-3000 spectators to see the end of that match.

It was a beautiful day, in the sun. The boy didn't bring his jacket and so I had to give him mine. That left me with only a t-shirt and it was freezing.

By the start of the WAFL grand final there were more than 10000 spectators. I chose Subiaco Lions by 8 pts and the boy chose Claremont Tigers by 9 pts. It wasn't a good start for his as Subi kicked four goals and four behinds in the first quarter and Claremont didn't even score. He resorted to hiding his head inside my jacket after that.

Half decent crowd


Claremont kicked five goals in the second quarter but Subi kicked another four. It wasn't a bad game but Subiaco played much better as a team and ran out the game. They ended up winning by 41 points. And I tell you, it was lovely when the sun finally reached us in the grandstand somewhere towards the end of the third quarter.

Action in the middle of the ground

Go the punch

Good mark by David Mapleston from Subiaco

It wasn't a level playing field

Our view


After the match we went down to ground level to watch the presentation and get a photo of the premiership cup being carried around the ground. And guess when the battery of my camera decided to go flat? You guessed it, just as the cup was coming towards us. I managed to change batteries but not before the damage was done.

The premiership cup

Bird Vs Cat

This morning on the way to work I heard a snapping sound coming from the trees across the road. Having a look I spotted a bird buzzing a cat. Obviously the cat was close to the bird's nest. When I took my camera out the bird stopped buzzing the cat. Put the camera away and it started again. I did this another three times and on the fourth occasion I managed to get a short video.



The video should show up soon on Youtube - has to be processed first.

Your Shout - Coz The Drinks Are On You

On Tuesday night we had a work dinner so that our project team could meet some of the people we are working for. I hadn't met any of our counterparts before but knew their names. The meal was at Queen's in Mt Lawley. Nice pub and great food and it was fairly busy, at least for a Tuesday night.

Our project secretary (PS) sat at the end of the table. About 20 minutes into the night a waitress came with a tray of large beers. She leaned over behind the PS who then started to talk. Now, our PS talks with her hands a lot. One of her hands hit the tray that the waitress was holding and three beers went down the back of a man seated behind her. He was not impressed but it was lucky that he was wearing a jacket. I don't think I saw one person from his group crack a smile all night. And his wife, I'm assuming it was his wife, was barking at the waitstaff about drycleaning etc. She was like a dog that has been on a chain for too long. For the safety of our PS, and that of others, we moved down the table a little to let her move away from the other group.

Lethal weapons should always be registered.


In the morning I prepared a registration form for a dangerous weapon - our PS's hands. I believe that she should have them registered as a dangerous weapon. At least she saw the funny side of it.

Spot The Scam

Interesting email I received today;

Westpac Online limited access - Urgent Notice UN385
noreply@westpac.com.au

Dear Westpac Online customer,

Your access to Westpac Online account has been temporarily suspended due to multiple unsuccessful login attempts.
Protecting the security of your account and of the Westpac Bank network is our primary concern. Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive Westpac Online account features.

To restore your account please follow the link below:

Click here.

Thank you for your co-operation
Westpac Bank Security Department.

--
Please do not reply to this confirmation email as your response will not be received.
FH43J5KK345LFSKK6045LGBMC0O492

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interesting on a few accounts, if you'll pardon the pun. One, the email address - noreply@..... Yes, that really looks official. Two, I don't even have an account with Westpac. Did anyone else spot this as a scam? Don't get sucked in people and suffer from identity theft with Internet banking. And definitely do not click on the link contained in such emails. A bank will not contact you in this manner should your account, if you have one, becomes suspended.

Once Again The ALP Doesn't Tell The Whole Story

The Australian Labor Party are pretty good at not telling the whole truth, aren't they? Smarmy Kevin Rudd, leader of the ALP, is running a campaign to eventually lead to him becoming Australian prime minister in 2007. It even comes with the catchy, if a little tacky, slogan of "Kevin 07".

KEVIN07 T-shirt

At least he's not licensed to kill. But what worries me is the fact that the whole story isn't being told. Where is the rest of the slogan which relates to his deputy, Julia Gillard? I know what it is:

"Gillard. In a milliard!"

Perhaps I should tip off the current prime minister, John Howard. He's such a cool and happening dude he may use this information to flame the Labor Party.

Contrasting Bus Drivers

Yesterday arvo I had a meeting sprung on me that went way over time. I ended up working an hour later than planned. Luckily there was a stack of buses, about seven or so, heading to the bus stop and the last one in the queue was one that I wanted to catch. When I caught up to the bus he still hadn't reached the bus stop due to the number of buses in front. I gestured to the driver to let me on and he just pointed to the bus stop. Playing by the rules I guess so not much wrong with that.

This morning I was walking to the bus stop and gas-bagging to my mum. "Oh, bugger," I said as I'd noticed the bus coming to the traffic lights which are about 100m before the bus stop, "There goes my bus." I didn't even motion to the driver but continued talking until I noticed the driver had put the indicator on. There was no-one else at the bus stop so he was pulling in for me. So I did the right thing and ran after the bus and thanked him very much. I had resigned myself to waiting for the next bus but that would have been rude to convey to the driver. At least it gave me time to blog about it before starting work.

Talk about a contrast in bus drivers' attitudes.

Sports Day 2007 - What A Day

My boy's primary school had their annual Faction Carnival (Sports Day) yesterday. It's early spring over here and probably not a bad time to have it. At great expense to the management I took the day off work. I told them that I'd be coming in on Saturday instead but the truth is I would have worked Saturday anyway.

It was a beautiful morning and I arrived early to help with setting up. Working all the time I never get to help out at school so this was some service that I could offer. It entailed putting out some plastic sheets, hammering in marker flags, erecting a couple of gazebos and bringing out a BBQ for the sausage sizzle later on. A few other parents came along and I at least found someone that I knew. Getting to meet the PE teacher and the headmaster was nice.

The boy setting up my seat - Sports Day 2007


Expecting some rain they changed to programme somewhat so that the events that were required to choose the team for inter school races were run. The day started off well with a few sprints and Yu-Jin gained a third place in his 50m race. He was also involved in tunnelball, a bean bag relay, tug of war and over and under - his team came first in this event. He picked up a second for the tug of war which wasn't bad considering there were 23 competitors on his side and 30 for the opposition.

Third place getter - Sports Day 2007

First place getter - Sports Day 2007


We did have a rain interruption which sent the kids under cover for about 10 minutes. When approximately half of the total events, and nearly all of the running events, were completed it started pouring. And this was after Mrs Meeko assured us that it wasn't going to rain. I don't think that she is going to live that prediction down for a while. I sat in my chair under my rug and umbrella and not getting wet. The same can't be said about the other spectators.

The rest of the day was spent under shelter and lunch was called. When it was clear that the rain wasn't going to let up the day was called off trophies were presented. We were able to go home early and it was only about 1:30. Sorry, but I wasn't prepared to help pack up as it was still raining.

Pouring rain - Sports Day 2007

People getting drenched - Sports Day 2007


As I had the afternoon at home what better thing to do than fix the front door mortise lock. I had received my replacement screws so that the handle wouldn't fall off any more. I had instructions that the screws must go all the way through the door furniture. Grabbed my drill and started drilling after disassembling the lock somewhat. Drilling was more difficult once the metal was reached and then the door latch became wedged. It was after this that I realised the mortise lock was probably buggered. Rang the door handle guy and he told me this. Even though I had followed his instructions, he'd forgotten to mention the part about removing the mortise lock completely before drilling, he wasn't prepared to take any blame. Another phone call to abuse my builder for the slack carpenter that he had employed which set this all off and then I phoned the door company. Now Rocky, from Goodman Doors in O'Connor, suggested bringing the buggered lock to his shop and he would exchange it for a display item. Bloody champion. Door was fixed in no time and works like a bought one.

Next item on the agenda was replacing the lamp in the boy's room. It appears that the lamp got super hot when it popped and melted against the plastic batten. I couldn't unscrew it and then put a lot of pressure on it. Guess what? It then shattered in my hand sending glass all over the room and cutting my hand in a few places. Ended up removing the remainder with a set of pliers - power off, of course. Worst nightmare when changing a light. Not too much damage done though. I'll live.

Quiet Fathers Day

It was a quiet Fathers Day this year. Mainly because everybody else in the house forgot that it was Fathers Day. Even though the boy had made me a card at school two days before he thought that it was the following weekend. He did make me some Bart Simpson toast for brekkie and the missus made me a cup of tea. Not all bad.

Read the paper a bit, did the fruit and veg shopping, cleaned the house, played soccer with the boy for an hour in the park (he has some skill especially when it comes to slotting goals from an angle) and that was about it. Miky wanted to get some special meat from Seoul Mart in the city. It was frozen very thinly sliced beef which takes seconds to cook in a fry pan. Lovely stuff. A very enjoyable meal. Then the boy and I watched the last of the Osaka World Athletics Championships. The women's high jump was exciting and there was a high quality field. Pity that the long-standing world record didn't go as it was under serious threat.