As If Air Travel Isn't Fun Enough

Plans are afoot by Qantas to launch an in-flight mobile service. Apparently the business class clientele of Qantas have told them that this is a good idea.

I can just imagine the advertising spiel to go with it:

Do you find that you just don't meet enough angst-filled, noisy teenagers during your day?
Do older ladies with an accent like they come from Queens having unfeasonably long conversations drive you wild?
Do you wish that all of the mindless drivel that passengers seated next to you and want to share could be broadcast to the nearest 30 or 40 people also?
Do you hate being able to watch the in-flight movie without being constantly interrupted by the incessant noise emanating from mobile phones?
Do you really need everyone within the vicinity to know about your sex life and that of the people close to you that badly?

If the answer is yes then fly Qantas cattle class where you can have more fun than you can poke a stick at.

I'd much rather not have to put up with it. People don't even have the decency to wait until they get into the terminal before using their phones anyway. I think that there will be more air rage and broken mobiles because of this. I can also see competitions to see who can carry on the longest conversation during a flight. Gee, I'd rather give that a miss. Four hours in a plane and not having to put up with people dribbling into their mobiles is not so bad afterall. Currently, that is.

Full Weekend For The Boy

No wonder the boy fell asleep in the car a couple of times this weekend. After playing computer games before breakfast he headed to Korean school on Saturday morning. I went to the chiropractor as my neck is still giving me curry and dropped in at Golf Box on the way to collect him. I bought Jesters pies for lunch.

Straight after school Yu-Jin was taking part in an ergonomics university study on five and six year olds and their posture when drawing on a computer, on paper and on a tablet PC. We had a bit of trouble finding the place as I can't read a map properly. He had his neck shaved so that they could attach some electrodes to measure his muscle reactions. I'd show you the photo but my battery went flat.

The room in which the Curtin University ergonomic study took place.

Everything worked well until Jemma, one of the ladies conducting the study, mentioned that everything was working well which was unusual. Yu-Jin also had some funny reflective balls glued to points on his body so that with the use of lights and cameras his body movement could be followed by a computer. The comment was even made that it was good that he was such a patient boy. For his trouble Yu-Jin received a $20 Coles Myer voucher.

Then we rushed off to taekwondo and were 15 minutes late. Luckily his instructor is in New Zealand for the Oceania Championships so that didn't cause any problems. Yu-Jin still had some bases for the electrodes on the nape of his neck as the glue made it painful to remove them. He looked a bit bionic.

It's little wonder that he fell asleep on the way home. Later we went and hired some movies. Spiderman Vs Doc Ock (original TV show), Unleashed starring Jet Li, Silmido (true story about South Koreans trying to assassinate Kim Il-sung, Sidewalks of New York (tangled web of deceitful relationships) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (17th Century Dutch setting about a maid and a painte).

Sunday morning Yu-Jin was straight into the computer. The weekend is the only time that we let him use it as there are plenty of other things to do in life. We had a kick of footy whereby you score one point if you hit the fence/wall and six points if you kick the ball over it. Good way for Yu-Jin to practice counting.

Miky made kimbap for lunch. Mmmm. Then Yu-Jin and I went to the city for haircuts. I dunno, I must have had a blonde moment as I asked for a number one on the sides and a number two on the top instead of my usual flattop. Only we he started running the shaver through my hair did I realise my mistake and by then it was too late. Miky hates short hair.

Short-haired Thinker.

Short haircut. What was I thinking?

We went shopping for a toy for Yu-Jin. He wanted to spend his voucher on a light sabre and thankfully we didn't find one. Instead he purchased an 8-in-1 dinosaur Lego set. Bought some tofu and udon noodles at Loi's asian shop in the city with some saewoogang - shrimp-flavoured snacks. Canny lot these Chinese shop owners. They are obviously suffering from competition from Seoul Mart so they have employed a Korean girl to run the checkout.

Statue in the city of Perth.

On the way back to the car we stopped in the garden of the cathedral to finish our saewoogang. Bit of a warm day in Perth and it was almost like the beginning of Spring. Girls in the city were certainly wearing clothes that it indicated Spring had sprung. He fell asleep in the car on the way home again. After a short nap probably the next hour and a half was spent making a triceratops.

Once again Miky spent the whole weekend working as she had about eight dresses to do. On Saturday she started just after six am and finished after 10 pm. Last night we took a few photos.

I don't know who he thinks he is.

Some Excitement In Dullsville, At Last

Interesting start to the day. Just prior to arriving at work I spotted the smoking remains of something. My first thought was that it was a pipe that had burst under a carpark and was on fire. But no, it was something a bit weirder than that.

Fireman hard at work.

Fireman about to be eaten by a garbage truck.

Now, this occurred near a couple of fast food chains. And the smell was a little worse than usual. Having a closer look it appears that the load in the garbage truck caught alight and the driver decided to dump the load. Probably a very wise move. And it was probably very lucky for the owner of the car that normally parks with its back wheels on top of the fire hydrant. The owner may not have been too impressed with his window being smashed so that the firefighters could move the car or having a bullbar shoved through the back.

Keep a close eye on the fire boys. Don't let it get away from you.

A smouldering mess.

I couldn't believe that some woman was desperate enough for a drive through meal that she drove through all of the smoke. Otherwise it was quite a slow morning for the fast food chains in the vicinity.

At least the drive through was still open.

This woman needed to have her coffee, apparently.

Some People Just Don't Deserve To Be Taking Up Space

I was driving home from taekwondo last night with Miky and Yu-Jin. The road was wet, it was dark and we were almost there. I had just turned into our street and was coming up to a speed bump therefore there was little need to accelerate. Prior to reaching the speed bump I noticed a male youth on a bike, on my side of the road, coming towards me, with no lights or a helmet. As I was only doing about 15km/h I thought bugger him, if he wants to play chicken he can go right ahead. At that speed I shouldn't do too much damage and can always blame him as he is at fault.

At the last moment he veered away. Miky was horrified as this was the moment that she spotted him and all she could think of was "Splat!!". Yeah, well. It didn't come to that. But he was just another idiot taking up space when he didn't deserve to. I would love to have cleaned him up but it wouldn't have been worth the hassle. Plus, I would have been first on the scene and had to do most of the cleaning up of the aftermath myself. Definitely not worth the trouble.

My Volleyball Career Is Over

At least in the short term. The neck injury that I suffered, or at least worsened considerably in our last win, is still giving me a great deal of discomfort and I have had to opt for an early retirement. Miky isn't unhappy about it but I love my volleyball and am somewhat traumatised. I haven't played golf since I was injured so you can see that I am taking it seriously.

I hate to be the one letting the team down also. Take it from me, if the neck was good I'd be out there on that court trying to thump the opposition. Miky even encouraged me to play golf instead. Hmm, that's just plain cruel. You can't say that to a person in my state.

I wish the Purple Cobras well and hope to return in a month or two. Cross your fingers.

Strange Flavour For An Icy Pole

Yu-Jin wanted to have an icy pole tonight after I offered to buy ice cream. Now, I remember the Calippo icy pole coming out when I was in primary school. When you think about how many ice creams and icy poles there are on the market these days, much like magazines, it is surprising that it has withstood the test of time. I liked them when I was a kid. His first choice was a Bubble 'O Bill but we weren't going to have him chewing on bubble gum just before bed. That was released when I was in primary school too, I believe. It must have been because I hardly ever bought lunch at the canteen once I started high school.

Melon and Mandarin flavour Calippo.

Talk about a strange flavour for an icy pole - melon and mandarin. Isn't Mandarin a language and not a fruit. Google tells me that I'm probably incorrect although there are some four and a half million entries for mandarine, which is how I thought the fruit was spelt.

Parking - Problems Everywhere

I had a bit of a whinge lately about the parking in Subiaco at our work. Road parking is for a maximum of two hours when it used to be all day. It appears that parking anywhere in Subiaco is a problem. Unless you are a council worker. What an oxymoron that is.

The Tap Doctor can't park properly in Subiaco.

What part of "Strictly No Parking" don't you understand?

On closer inspection it appears that this parking is just for spectacles. No cars accepted.

Obviously a hard day at the office for this council worker. He had to park his arse.

Don't park in a Clearway, idiot!!

On my way home a woman stopped in a Clearway in front of me so that she could post some letters. It didn't matter how much I abused her for blocking me she wasn't going to move. The silly cow even pointed out the parking sign to me!! If she was able to read it she would have understand that it was currently a Clearway.

Interestingly, I parked my car in the city tonight and the parking inspector, pictured above, whistled to me and called out that it was a Clearway zone and that I had to move my vehicle. Well, I was only checking the sign for parking anyway and would have been moving it in the next thirty seconds. There's no way that I want to receive a parking ticket.

Funny Number Plate

The owner of this car has a great sense of humour. His number plate is DENEFEW. Don't get it? Reminded me instantly of this joke:

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A pregnant woman from Virginia was involved in a car accident and, while in the hospital, she fell into a coma. When she awoke days later, the woman noticed that she was no longer carrying a child, and asked, "Doc, what happened to my baby!"

The doctor replied, "Ma'am, you've had twins! You're the proud mother of a handsome baby boy and a beautiful baby girl. Also, you should know that while you were in a coma, your brother named the children for you."

"Oh, no!" shrieked the woman. "Not my brother! He's not really all together, if you know what I mean!"

The doctor replied, "Well, ma'am, your brother named your daughter Denise."

"Oh, that's no so bad," smiled the woman. Then, hesitantly, she asked, "What's the boy's name?"

The doctor grinned and said, "Denephew."