Swine Flu - It's Not That Contagious

Last I heard there has only been one confirmed case of swine flu in Western Australia. Sometimes it's not so bad to be isolated. But the guy who contracted the virus shared a plane with the Fremantle Football Club and they were very concerned that the players might have caught the virus. This would lead to an upheaval in the AFL fixtures for the year if they were unable to field a team for a week or two whilst players were quarantined.

They needn't have worried. If you've seen the Dockers form of late they can't as much catch a football so what hope have they got of catching a virus?

Hard Bargain To Change A Watch Battery

My watch battery died a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't had enough time to take it and have the battery replaced until last Saturday afternoon just before 4:30. Most shops closed at five but this one just happened to have a 4:30 finish scheduled.

I asked the lady in the shop how much to replace the battery. She said it would be $34.95 and I, somewhat shocked, said that it cost $25 only two years ago. "It was $28.95 in January," she responded. Then she kept going on about the need for a pressure test, the watch is water resistant to 100m, but I wasn't interested in paying $75 (plus inflation from eight years ago) for that, which didn't put her in a good mood. I've had no issues with water so the seal must be in good nick. Not having a great deal of choice I accepted her offer.

She set to work and seemed to be struggling. I offered to go shopping for a few minutes and return but she wanted me to wait. Obviously wanting to make a fast getaway. When it came time to set the watch she was bamboozled. "Do you know how to set this watch?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I'll only charge you $28.95 then."

Six dollars for less than six minutes work? So, I got my bargain but had to do some of the work myself. And the watch is slightly more difficult than a video recorder to set so I did myself a favour. Gee, what's it going to cost in two to three years time when the battery needs to be replaced again?

Deep Water - Air France Flight 447 Crash

I guess the biggest story at the moment is the Air France Flight 447 crash because 228 people have gone missing, presumed dead, and nobody really knows what happened to them. Just reading the news online this morning and I noticed a report from Australia's ABC News. The location of some wreckage is known but it appears that the flight data recorders are in 3000 to 7000 kilometres deep water. I think that that's a little deeper than the Mariana Trench which is considered to be the deepest point of the Earth's surface below sea level.

Can't wait to see this one on Air Crash Investigation.

Funny Ads In Korean Newspaper

I can read Korean but there isn't much point when I don't understand what it is that I'm reading. So when I came across an ad with a bit of English in it that caught my attention. Closer inspection of the language revealed a lack of depth of meaning. Heck, we can't even get it right in our own country so who am I to badmouth someone else who's mother tongue it is not?

The Swiss Jura ad contains a funny line. See if you can spot it.

Swiss Jura Special Event

I saw a few men who could do with more hair in parts but I can't see too many of them using this product. Not that it's any worse than the comb-over though.

Korean spray-on hair

Gotta be careful not to get the spray on your palms or people might start talking. I'd say the guy needs a bit of the spray above the top lip as he's a bit thin in that area.

Spot the funny bit in the coffee machine add. "Buy One Get One. Special Event!" Since when was that ever a special event? If I buy one I at least expect to get one. I'd be quite disappointed if I only received 95% of one after paying for a whole one. It's a fairly normal occurrence actually.

Frugal The Checkout Chick

I noticed a few nights ago that my local Woolworths has opened six self-service checkouts. The thought of being responsible for doing the checkout job myself with the obvious scrutiny scared me, a little. I'm not going to pinch anything but the thought of people thinking that I might try to steal something worries me.

Perhaps that goes back to when I was about 10 years old and went to the supermarket by myself when my mum was at a fabric shop run by a friend of hers. I spent a lot of time in the lollies section considering what to spend my money on and in the end decided that nothing offered good enough value. As I went to leave through the checkout, which was manned by the daughter of the shop manager, she tried to check my pockets. She said, "I know you took (or stole) something." Being accused of shoplifting horrified me. After informing my mum about the incident my parents accompanied me to the shop that night and confronted the manager and his daughter over it. I received an apology as I hadn't done anything wrong.

So, with slight trepidation, I went to the shop a couple of nights ago and served myself. After finishing checking the groceries I placed my mail that I had collected in one of the bags. The machine said, "Unexpected item in bag. Please remove," or something similar. So it obviously measures the weight of your goods. Interesting experience and no false accusations.

Now I can add checkout chick to my resume.

Western Australia Confirms That It Is A Backward State

Yesterday Western Australia had a referendum on whether we wished to have daylight savings or not. For the last three years we took part in a daylight savings trial as the government imposed this upon us, as a responsible government elected to look after our wellbeing should do. The results are 55.5% "No" and 44% "Yes". It will be the biggest no vote in the four referenda held on the issue.

Talk about confirming your backwardness as a state. Much of my business dealings are on the east coast and instead of being two hours behind I'll be three. It'll be nearly lunchtime there before I get to speak to somebody. On the other hand, if I email them something after they finish work they'll have three hours to work on it before I start work.

Maybe I will be able to have my morning walk before starting work but say goodbye to an evening ride with The Boy after tea.

Depth Perception Issue

Since returning from Korea on Sunday I have noticed a depth perception issue. It is more difficult to judge the oncoming speed of vehicles and whether or not it is safe to pull out in front of another car. Even coming to a stop for a stop sign, yes, sadly I am one of the few who does this, I find myself just a little bit off the mark and braking late.

I'd say that it has something to do with being slightly traumatised by Korean taxi drivers who think nothing of flying along 20-30 km/h above the speed limit in town and weaving through the traffic if not driving through red lights. I can't judge whether the guy coming towards me is doing 60-65 or 90 km/h.

I hope this is a temporary affliction.

Special Taekwondo Training With Korean Grandmasters

There was a special taekwondo training course held last weekend. Two grandmasters from Korea visited. They were 10th dan Park Hae-man who helped developed the higher poomsae (patterns) and 9th dan Kwan (or Kwon) Young-woo (or Young-woon) who is a three (or five) times Korean national champion and former Korea special forces instructor. No two Websites spell his name the same, in English at least, or provide the same credentials.

Much of the lesson was done in Korean so the students were a little lost at times. Grandmaster Kwan was very entertaining for a man who must be about 70 years old. And I think that he could still kick most peoples' arses. He was lightningly quick.

The Boy with Grandmaster Kwan Young-woon (9th dan)

The Boy with Grandmaster Park Hae-man (10th dan)