Lotto

We buy a weekly Lotto ticket on Saturday. Occasionally we pick up a few dollars with three and a sup, but mostly get only a few numbers out of the 108 on the 18 game ticket. A few years ago we did win $1100. Yesterday's effort was pathetic...see the ticket. Reading up on the statistics of players and winners it seems that a Saturday night winner has a chance of 1 in 8,145,627 of getting the winning six numbers. That's about the same odds as our house being hit by a 747 trying to land at Jandakot regional airport.

Helen has talked with the agents of the beachside unit she is in at the moment and it seems that the whole block is owned by a mining company and they want the current tenants out to house their own people. We inspected another two bedroom unit yesterday. It is about 200 metres from the beach, in quite poor condition at $400 per week. The agent opened it for just 15 minutes and there were about 12 prospective tenants all eager. On Monday she will arrange to view the unit before making an application. The application must be accompanied by a $400 option fee.

Teary Helen

Bro-in-law Mike has shown quite a bit of improvement since his deep brain stimulator has been turned on. He can now pour and drink a glass of wine without giving everyone a shower. Previously he had to use a kiddie drink cup with a spout on it. The next time he sees the specialist the voltage will be increased and he should see still more improvement.

Daughter Helen is quite upset and teary today. Her plans to live in the beachside unit for a year may have fallen through. She has been there for about four weeks and has settled in nicely. Yesterday the tenants received 60 days notice of eviction, ostensibly to allow the demolition of the whole block of units. She inquired of the elderly woman who lives upstairs and found out that she has tenancy until January 2009. So it is possibly a move to get a higher rent in the intervening period. Helen rang today and we calmed down and formulated a plan which will either...1. See her sell her rented unit, or 2. Try and see if she can pay the difference of any rent increase, 3. Shift in with Mum and Dad, or 4. Rent somewhere else at the same rent as she is getting for her unit. The latter option is not good economics.

Last night the ordination of Australia's first Anglican Bishop took place in Perth. The traditionalists are unhappy claiming that the blokes who wrote the Bible weren't misogynists and got it right when shielas were specifically banned from running the show. She is 51 years of age, but looks quite a bit older. Are Bishops allowed to fib about their age?
I have turned into an eBay nut. Too many bargains to be had there. I blame it on Paul, a friend who seems to have bidders twitch. Just recently I have bought a remote for my Nikon D70 camera, an LCD protector for the camera, a chip re-setter to enable me to refill printer cartridges and I have two more items en-route from somewhere out there....a 512MB memory stick for brother's Mac and an in-line ADSL2+ filter again for Bro. All these items are at just a fraction of the same stuff purchased locally.

Gordon Ramsay et al

The Pommy chef, Gordon Ramsay is soon to land in Aus. Already there are restaurants lining up for his critical assessment. I am unsure why any restaurant would let him in the front door. It seems that most of them get a real caning from Gordon. He has a un-gentle manner with his critique peppered with expletives of the F word kind. Viewers seem to like people who use profanity on TV or the stage. Billy Connelly is adored by fans who lap up his naughty words.

Personally, I reckon people who watch such shows are just waiting to hear the F word. If I used it on the train I would be told to shut up. Bill Cosby managed to be very funny without resorting to profanity. There are still comedians who can do a great job without swearing...Garrison Keillor for one.

Avid motor sport fans watch the race in the hope of seeing a monster crash. Footy fans love the biffo of the game. I guess Ramsay's fans get the same sort of thing from him.

Another name and shame book

Cherie Blair's soon to be released memoirs is set to stir a few folks up. There were extracts from the book in Sunday's rag. There will be many more extracts leaked as the sales get into gear. I don't know why one would buy the book as the most interesting parts will be released as teasers.

Interestingly there was one paragraph where Cherie tells us that son Leo was conceived on a cold night at Balmoral Castle at a time when she forgot to pack her 'contraceptive equipment'. I wonder what sort of 'contraceptive equipment' a good Catholic girl would pack? I'm guessing it would have been a calendar and a thermometer. It is a pity that the Pope doesn't endorse the use of condoms in places like Africa and Papua New Guinea where AIDS is rife.

Joan had a weekend retreat in Perth along with 126 other gals who are members of Southern Cross Quilters. This is an Internet quilting group which has been going since 1994. She joined in 1995. With 2 days by myself I was going to get in the dancing girls - but I've forgotten the phone number.

good news

Bro-in-law Mike had his deep brain stimulation electrodes activated yesterday. The initial voltage is very low and in three weeks he will get an increase...steady as she goes. Both Mike and Dorothy believe it has already made a difference to his violent dyskinesia. Bodes well for the successive increases in voltage over the coming weeks.

Our visitors from the eastern seaboard have gone home. I drove them to the airport yesterday. They had a successful trip here, making contact with mining companies and quality printers. They have appointed an agent here and now hope that the orders roll in.

It is said that fish and visitors go off after three days. Not so with Dick and Pam. Great stories and lots of laughs. I introduced them to Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby, a NZ TV show. Hilarious! It can be seen on ABC2 Thursday nights at 10pm. It is about a NZ high school, its Headmaster and Staff and the rough class of 5F. Here is a Gormsby review.

Oomies and Bogans

This afternoon on ABC radio there was a segment about strange and humorous place names. A bloke called in saying the he would rather be Innaloo than Upper Swan. That doesn’t mean much to people outside of Western Australia. Australian states don’t really have different accents, although Queenslanders don’t speak that fast and tend to mention ‘The Man From Snowy River’ between beers. It is difficult for anyone to determine where one comes from by accent, however some states use different words for things and pronounce some words differently. ‘Bathers’ in W.A. are ‘Cossies’ in the east. In W.A. a port (portmanteau) is a suitcase and so on. For the word Castle, New South Welshmen say ‘Cassel’ whilst we here say “Carsel’ More on regional Aussie words here.

Our visiting friends didn’t really know what I meant when I called a bloke a ‘Bogan’. Where they live in Woy Woy NSW, they are called “Oomies’. Bogans and Oomies are one and the same. They both wear checked shirts, mullets and tattoos. Their three year old sons also have mullets. I’m not sure how the term Bogan came about, but Oomies are so-named because when a cop tells them to get out of their Valiant, they reply..”Oomie?’

Brother-in-Law Mike is to have his brain implant turned on this Thursday.

Visitors from the East

Our friends Dick and Pam arrived from Sydney Town and settled in at our place. We took them to daughter Helen's new beachside residence for a viewing of the sun setting in the west and a few drinks and a nice meal. This morning they are collecting their rent-a-bomb at $20 per day and starting out visiting large printing companies with a view to making arrangements to have quality printing done when the W.A. branch of their business gets going. It seems that printers in W.A. have the big time gear, but lack the work of printers in the eastern seaboard and so offer more competitive rates.

Brother-in-law Mike sent a bulk email to people who have supported him throughout his Parkinson's journey. He included two scan shots of his head showing the electrodes and wiring in his skull and brain. He has to wait another 2-3 weeks until the brain swelling has subsided before they turn on the power. I don't pray, but sincerely hope he will reap some benefit and relief from the dyskinesia he now suffers from.