Sunbeam Motorcycle

As a young fella I was into motorcycles from the age of 17. My first bike, paid for by my father, was a Matchless 500cc which broke down on the way home from the dealer. That dealer was an ex-cop who was a bit dodgy when he was in the force. As I recall, when he was at Fremantle Traffic Office, he gave out Driver’/Riders’ licences (sans test) for a fee of 10/-.

Anyway when I wheeled the Matchless back to the bike shop he told me to bugger off.

I had a couple more bikes after that, an Ariel twin and a BSA Bantam. Later in Papua New Guinea I had a couple more bikes.

When I was around 19, my uncle, who was Police Prosecutor at Fremantle Courts, decided to sell his motorcycle, a Sunbeam. The Sunbeam was a beautiful piece of machinery and I wanted it. Unfortunately Unc wouldn’t sell it to me. I was never sure why...maybe it was that he thought I couldn’t pay for it or that it may have some fault that would give me trouble later or the most likely reason that my parents asked him not to sell it to me.

The Sunbeam was built by BSA and had a two cylinder in-line engine. A couple of other bikes still have a similar engine, BMW and Moto Guzzi. Both these engines are noisier and somewhat ‘rougher’ than the Sunbeam. One slight ‘problem’ that these three bikes have is right thrusting torque effect when revving the engine at the lights. If the rider missed a gear at high revs the bike could ostensibly tip over to the right. Never actually heard of this happening though.

Here’s a pic of a Sunbeam. Note the shaft drive. I have trolled the net and there are very few for sale anywhere. Pity.
Sunbeam S7- 1951

Phone scam

On the 8th of June we wrote about a scam on Channel 9 which featured an advert with a simple competition to win an iPod. It ended up costing us $55. before we realised what was happening.

On my computer desktop today another ad appeared offering a $50. phonecard if I could correctly answer the following question....

Which Australian public TV network is spelled with letters instead of numbers?
The three alternatives offered were.... Channel 9, ABC or Channel 7. No brainer there!

See the ad. here. After reading the 'Terms and Conditions' I can see how they raid your wallet.

Please don't attempt to win a phone card from this site. The ongoing costs could be enormous.

Fennel is Fabulous

I admit to an ingrained prejudice against this vegetable. Anything that grows wild alongside the roads and walkways can't be that good. Plus it tastes of aniseed and I detest liquorice. So for the last 40 years I have ignored the enormous stands in Wattleup, Spearwood and Bibra Lake.

Last week Kevin visited some friends and Marina offered sliced raw fennel as a snack. He loved it - but then, he also loves liquorice. I remained unimpressed when he raved about it.

Then I read a piece in some paper or magazine that promoted braised fennel. Still unimpressed.

However, on my weekly visit to the vegetable market down the hill, I spied fennel at a really cheap price - 3 bulbs for $1 - so I bought some. I brought it home and Kevin sliced some up for a snack. I didn't like it at all, and he wasn't that enthusiastic about consuming the rest on his own. I could have dumped the remainder in the compost, but my Scottish ancestry kicked in.

Google has umpteen recipes for fennel. I ended up doing my own version as usual. Dinner tonight was great. Lamb cutlets, rice cooked in chicken stock, green beans and braised fennel.

I loved the fennel. I am now a convert and like most newly converted I want everyone to share my revelation.

Here is my recipe for braised fennel.

3 (well 2-1/2 tonight because of the bit Kevin had cut off) smallish bulbs fennel
2 cloves garlic
6 spring onions
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 Tbs butter
1/4 c verjuice

Chop the onions and garlic. Slice the fennel horizontally in thin slices. Strip the leaves from the thyme stalks.
Melt the butter in a frypan on low heat. Soften onions and garlic.
Increase heat, add sliced fennel and thyme leaves and toss till mixture starts to brown.
Lower heat to lowest point, cover pan and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Remove lid, add verjuice and increase heat, stirring till liquid evaporates and mixture is slightly caramelised.

YUM!! We may now take a spade on our next walk at Bibra Lake.

I still don't like liquorice though.

Mr Rudd's education plans

The Prime Minister has made a few grandiose statements about his education policy. One of the statements suggest that the government would sack Principals of non-performing schools.

I have seen a few non-performing schools and I am sure the Principals are not the main factor in this non-performance. Principals can, of course, inspire staff and students and I did see this at a large high school I worked at for 12 years. The students at this high school; approximately 2,000 in number, were from middle class to wealthy families. Many Asian immigrants moved into the school catchment area to be eligible for their kids to attend.

That being said, there are schools which have a cohort of students largely sitting out their time of compulsory education. It is PC not to admit that less wealthy areas do have a population that is not craving higher education. Several schools spring to mind and there is often a 'them versus us' attitude between staff and students.

We sent our kids to government schools and by and large they had a good education. I am a strong supporter of government schools and have always thought that private schools have two bob each way. If a child mucks up at a private school, he or she can be expelled and have to return to the government school system. It is almost impossible for a rude or violent student to be expelled from a government school.

Today I visited a large private girls' school to collect a couple of computers from their IT people. I was impressed; very impressed. Presbyterian Ladies College in Peppermint Grove is set in Perth's most affluent suburb with fine buildings and facilities. As I walked around the campus I noticed young ladies in very proper school uniform walking quietly around in a dignified manner; their uniforms not dishevelled. The staff I met seemed free of the constant need to discipline students.
Government schools have uniforms, but most of the time the wearing of them is compromised by adding baggy trousers etc.

I would have liked to spend a couple of years teaching there. That being said I enjoyed immensely my 12 years at Willetton Senior High and many ex-students keep in touch with 'the old fart Lock .'

Written by Kevin, using Joan's account

the born loser

Just lately I am thinking that I qualify for the born loser badge. I still haven't set up my DVD recorder to transfer old BetaCord tapes to DVD. My cousin who is a Techo has had an unsuccessful attempt to do it and gave up.

I saw a analogue to digital converter for sale on eBay and bought it for $85.00. It arrived yesterday and bugger me that also won't work as it should. After three or four hours of fiddling I managed to record sound and motion, but it was scrambled and heavily pixelated. Fortunately the bloke who had it up for auction made an immediate refund and I posted it back to his Melbourne address this morning.

The next move with the DVD recorder is to take it into the big Sony store near us and let them see if it is just me or there really is something wrong with it. Times like these....and only times like these, I wish we had a 15 year old grandson.

Our daughter Helen wishes to remain at her current school next year, but as she hasn't gained permanency yet her boss cannot do anything to help. Appointments are made from Silver City (education HQ). She rang the District Office and someone there said that her boss can recommend her. Conflicting opinions! Helen is putting the heavies on me to ring a colleague in Staffing to find out what the real story is. Neil taught as the same high school with me...or did I teach with him? Anyway, I should be able to get some info from the horse's mouth. A progress report later.

Kevin wrote this post, not Joan.

Hospice

I have been putting off phoning a friend who is dying in a Queensland hospice. I wrote him a letter, but not had the courage to speak with him until today. Other colleagues from my Papua New Guinea teaching days assured me that he is in good spirits and enjoys a chat.

When I rang him he was indeed in good spirits and told me of his daily visitors and phone calls from all over Australia. He mentioned that he had intended to visit W.A. again this September, but wont be able to make it. He has made a list of contacts for his friends to ring upon his departure. Very organised is Bob. I will ring weekly for a short chat.

Our son, under the influence of 'medication' gave a front guard a bit of a scrape on Joan's car. I took it to our tame panelbeater to get a 'cashy' done. He quoted me $350 folding money for the job. I figured I would make an insurance claim and only pay the $100 excess. It turns out that after a previous dingle the insurance company upped the excess to $400, so we went ahead with the 'cashy' and all is as new again. Might look into changing companies.
A before and after
My 'upside down' tomatoes are doing well. I planted two varieties; cherry tomatoes and some Grosse Lisse. The cherry tomatoes are growing much faster than the Grosse Lisse. Go small people! My brother wants to know how to cook an upside-down tomato.??

Another group of Papua New Guinea colleagues is returning to PNG for a look see in a couple of weeks. PNG is an expensive place to visit and Port Moresby, the capital, has the reputation of being the most dangerous city in the world. See here. Haven't they heard of Baghdad? I declined an offer to accompany them as they were to spend some time in the highlands. I was mostly on the coast when I/we taught there and the highlands is also 'wild west' country with lots of AK47s and holdups, rape and murders are common place. Not for me.

Grumpy old people

Over the last few days I have noticed that there are a few grumps amongst my family and friends. Most of the time there is reason to be a bit offside about things and sometimes a bit of yelling is a good release of pent up frustrations.

I have a friend who has problems with supermarkets and their specials. He claims that advertised specials are not available when he fronts up to buy them even in the early mornings. He says that the specials (promotions by the suppliers) are out the back, but not displayed on shelves until the special offers are over, thus reaping profits at the expense of customers. He often lets them know about it too. Loudly!

My wife Joan, normally unruffled by supermarkets, came home cranky because Woolworths were relaying ( a ruse to get shoppers to see different products whilst searching ) their shelves. Nobody knew where the beef stock was and they weren't too helpful with suggestions. She says she walked each aisle at least 3 times. I guess that's what self-serve is about.

Brother Graham took his motor scooter battery back to the supplier under warranty and was told that as he hadn't used the scooter for 4 wintry weeks the warranty was void. Say what!? He rang the agent supplying the battery who through a few questions deduced that the scooter was made in China (isn't everything?) and that was the reason it didn't make it past 11 months. The battery itself was made in Taiwan. Graham was more than a bit vocal.

Another friend doesn't like being in supermarket checkout queues when there are other registers without checkout chicks working and tells them so.

I, myself, did a somewhat stupid thing today and roundly cursed myself. I have been bidding on eBay for a number of laptops for a teacher's daughter. They were all from the same seller and I carefully read the description of all but the one I won. Leading up to the finish of the auction I reread the details of the one it seemed that I had a good chance of winning.....'Condition Poor'. I won it and will have to refurbish it and resell it. I might lose a bit of money. Bugger!

Upside down tomatoes

I have been preparing for spring, planting tomatoes, silver beet etc. Our house guest, Jennifer, is from the U.S. state of Oregon and suggested that upside down tomatoes could work for me. They seem to be the latest fad in the states.

The idea is that some sort of receptacle; in my case an old hanging planter pot, has holes in the bottom and seedlings point down. The claimed advantages are that they do not need to be staked, creepy crawlies can't get at them and that the crop is at eye level. Sounds reasonable!
They aren't protected from fruit fly and other flying bugs.

I bought some Grosse Lisse seedlings and teased the foliage through the holes in the bottom, filled it with good compost and hung it on a roof gutter to see what would transpire. This morning the seedlings are recovering from the transplanting and rough handling. I am concerned for these tomatoes though. Nature has dictated that they should emerge from the soil and head towards the sun and I am turning their life upside down. Will the roots grow up instead of down?? Will they have a mental breakdown and turn into a vegie?

Old wheel barrows are good planters for the winter as they can be moved around to get the best sun. For the Silver Beet and Bok Choi the white cabbage moth is the enemy. My father used a badminton racquet to dispatch his cabbage moths.

Birthday bash

Haddon has hit the magic 70. There was a time when, fighting the prostate cancer, he thought he wasn't going to make it. But here he is with the prospect of quite a few years left. His chemo has reduced his PSA to around 6 and we hope that continuing doses will bring it down to normal. The Chemo has not been kind to him. Hair loss and toes and finger nails ravaged.
The Birthday Boy

It was a nice sunny day in his Baliesque back yard....a panama hat sort of day with plenty of food and drinks. Luckily we cadged a ride home.

Georgian conflict

The Sudetenland

Older readers and historians probably know a bit about the Sudetenland: a part of Germany annexed to Czechoslovakia with a large German speaking population mostly loyal to the Mother Country. Hitler used that loyalty to force Britain & France to agree to turn a blind eye to his repossession. Along with the territory regained, Czechoslovakia lost most of its mountain defensive positions and when Adolph later invaded Czechoslovakia the Czechs had little defence opportunities.

The current situation in Georgia where an independent Georgia has a couple of provinces with largely Russian citizens wanting to be back with Mother Russia parallels the Sudetenland.

The nice western-looking President of Georgia, Mikheil Saaskashvili apparently decided to give the separatist in the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkahasia a bit of a pasting . Silly man; he should have read up on his history. Of course the Russians retaliated and Pres quickly called for a cease fire and talks. Georgia has the ‘support’ of the U.S. but I doubt that they want to try their military against the Russians.. Let’s hope George doesn’t do more than a bit of bluster.

I am predicting that the Russians will want to do a ‘Sudetenland’ on those two Georgian provinces.

The look-see in my digestive tract went well. I have a small Hiatus Hernia at the entrance to my stomach which is not a real problem. Joan drove me home from the hospital and I was very tired and had a nice two hour nap. Today I am still tired, but figure that tomorrow should see me back to normal. The anaesthetist told me that he was giving me two small doses of anaesthetics. He said that after the Gastroscopy he would talk to me and give me the second shot before the Endoscopy. I did wake up and a nurse was at my side and she informed me that it was all over: missed that second conversation somewhere.

I don't know how it happened but I am back collecting computers for an overseas project. The workshop is filling up with older Macs which are suitable for the English language programme I am installing. As people hear what I am doing they offer their machines up. Many have been superseded and reside in a back shed. The only cost involved in these oldies is a P Ram battery at about $10., although I imagine these batteries in Thailand will be considerably cheaper. The P Ram (PRAM) battery controls things like time and date and such things as printer selection. The battery is not terribly important if you are not concerned about date and time and can manually select a printer each time you wish to print.
At the moment I have 11 Macs in the shed with another three promised.

Something that I can't work out is how I have amassed a heap of power cables from computers. If you need a jug cord come over and take a pick.

Today I had a phone call from the TEAC agent in Perth. The software update to enable our set-top box to receive channel 9 was ready. A $5 fuel trip and a 15 minute wait and it was all fixed. I am still amazed that there has not been a press report about channel 9 changing their broadcast settings and thus shutting out hundreds of people trying to watch their broadcast in Digital TV.

Colonoscopy and Gastroscopy

I am booked in tomorrow at SJOG Hospital at Murdoch for both a Colonoscopy and a Gastroscopy; which means that doc is going to have a look down and up inside me. I have had them before and they have not been unpleasant; in fact I find it amazing that as the anaesthetist slips a little needle in the back of my hand and I ask him 'how long will I be out' he explains that it was all over an hour ago.

Just a few minutes ago Joan read the instructions ( I thought I had done that already) and it seems that I shouldn't have been eating any solids over the last 24 hours as well as no milk, milk products,pips or seeds,stock cubes and food colouring. Oops.

The worst part about this procedure is the clean-out. There is a foul tasting brew to be drunk causing diarrhoea. For me I start this evening at 6pm by drinking a litre of this stuff, then another litre at 7pm and then another litre at 7am tomorrow morning. If the discharge is not clear yellow I take another litre at 8am. I am due at the hospital at 12.30pm well and truly flushed out.

The reason for this procedure is that my father died of a secondary cancer of the liver which originated in his bowel.

8.25pm Update. I have almost downed two litres of the muck and watched Joan devour a lovely Thai chicken curry whilst I fast. She is drinking her third glass of Bubbly (Binge Drinker!) as I make dashes to the toilet. Not sure what is going to happen at bed time. Oops time to dash again. Promise to wash my hands thoroughly before typing more.

Nightclub violence

I talked with my cousin Val today. She was very upset because her grandson had been viciously attacked in Northbridge and is to have surgery to reconstruct his cheekbones and insert plates into his skull. He was attending a 21st birthday party at a function room above a nightclub in Northbridge. He is 18, doesn't drink and gets bored pretty easily when others around him get a bit intoxicated. He and a couple of his mates left early and upon hitting the footpath encountered a group of young blokes blocking the path. They attempted to move through the mob and were abused and he was king hit from behind and went down on his knees. A second blow put him on the ground and a few kicks to the head did all the damage. Fortuitously a couple of the boys in blue were only about 50 yards away and arrested two blokes for GBH. Grandson spent some time in hospital.

The mates of the attackers claimed that they didn't start the whole thing and so Crime Stoppers and the police asked Channel 7 to do an interview to see if more witnesses could be found. As it happens, several witnesses phoned Crime Stoppers and there was no need to screen the interview. The cops believe they have enough evidence to win in court.

Currently running on TV is a dramatised Public Service Announcement about such incidents. New legislation is being drafted to come down heavily on 'One Punch' deaths of which there have been a number over the last few years. Fortunately at age 68, my clubbing days are over.

Fremantle Boys High School

Today we drove to Mosman Park to join a group of friends celebrating John’s birthday. He seemed to enjoy the company, probably without really knowing what we were all there for. The weather was nice and sunny and warm for this time of the year and everyone enjoyed a good get together. As with all these get-togethers, the guest of honour is usually secondary to the interaction of his/her guests.

Driving back along Stirling Highway we passed what was the Fremantle Boys North Fremantle Annexe. I was sent there in Year Eight along with a couple of hundred other drongos of the tested non academic herd.

The annexe was a tough school. Most of the staff considered the student body the enemy and dished out harsh punishment like a reform school. That was pretty well the norm then. Quite a few of the teachers were returned servicemen and I wonder whether they did much in the way of formal teacher training.

My form teacher, George Elliot, was nicer than most of them and, as was the case then, taught sitting down at a desk. He had a very flowery signature which was usually accompanied by a mark out of ten for whatever we were doing. He liked me and I usually scored above 5/10. On Friday during the last period of the day he would attempt to read to the class from Beau Geste. Unfortunately as soon as he started to read he would fall asleep and then the lads would act up. I can’t remember when exactly he started to read to us, but I do remember that he never finished the novel.
The Italian boys usually brought Rosella sauce bottles of homemade wine for the Friday reading and had a tipple, passing the bottle around. Others were not so restrained and publicly fondled themselves. We were not to be the doctors and lawyers of W.A.

The Art teacher was Mr Freutus who spent almost all the year teaching us Der Flet Vash.
The Phys Ed teacher was a bastard who kneed kids savagely when he thought they deserved it. The English master was very gentle and these days I’m sure unkind students would muse over his sexual preferences. All the boys would go to Manual Arts at a technical centre in East Fremantle for one day a week where we would learn to use a three pound jack plane and a try square and marking knife. No machinery for kids then. In the blacksmith shop, boys would wait until Mr Smith left the workshop and plunge their red hot metal work into the oil bath to see if a firestorm would result: usually just filling the workshop with thick white smoke.
Fremantle Boys' High School est. 16 October 1854..now Fti cinema.

In year 9, we all moved into Fremantle Boys High School to make room for another lot of losers. In Freo we had to come to grips with a new lot of teachers...sort out how you should act in their class and what they would punish you for. The Science master, Dickie Borman, was similar to his cousin, Reichsminister Martin Borman and dished out punishment at random. In his science lab, students were seated on timber lab stools. These wooden stools were designed by Dickie (I’m sure) so that the adipose tissue on ones backside formed a small but obvious roll of flesh that presented itself to Dickie’s cane as walked around the lab. A sudden yelp signalled a Dickie strike. For more serious misdemeanors Dickie took you into his inner sanctum and gave you a good caning on the hands. Over the door of his store room was a notice saying 'lose faith all ye who enter here'.

Friday afternoon was sport time where students went to various nearby ovals where teachers waited for them. I recall biking it to North Fremantle oval for my dose of footy and being only one of three kids to turn up. The teacher gave us a card stamped with the school logo telling us to make sure we brought the card with us to school on Monday. Monday saw all the card holders dismissed from the assembly and the rest of the mob numbering probably 150 kids getting 6 of the best from an overworked staff.

It was not politic to brag about not being caned. That could be very detrimental to the shape of your nose. Just lie doggo and keep mum about it all.

After Year 9 I left that esteemed establishment and did a Pre Apprenticeship course at Fremantle Technical School before getting a placement at the State Engineering Works as an apprentice turner-machinist.

The Olympics

Australia's Olympians have arrived in Beijing and will probably grab a pile of gold medals during the games. Surely other nations must be wondering how a nation of around 20 million can do so well.

ABC television had a segment last week showing how Australian scientists at the Australian Institute of Sport are helping with expertise and lots of government money. Back in the cold war days we were bitching that the eastern bloc had government run training camps to win gold. Times have changed.

Swimmer Felicity Galvez says that she missed out on a spot in the Australian swim team because Speedo couldn't find her the magic costume LZR because of her diminutive size. These swim suits retail at around $A900.00. This must give wealthy nations an unfair advantage over poor nations. I cannot imagine East Timor being able to rustle up a scientist let alone LZR suits for its swim team. I am pretty sure East Timor won't be competing these games.

This sounds like I know a bit about the Olympics...not so. I look at the Olympics as a platform for nationalism. It has always been so.

Howard is a friend who taught in Papua New Guinea at the same time as I did in the early 1960s. We caught up last year after 46 years when I visited him and his wife in Brisbane. He has Parkinsons disease and when I told him about my brother-in-law having the deep brain stimulation operation he was most interested, He rang a couple of days ago to tell me the operation to insert the electrodes into his brain was imminent. He was seeking assurance that bro-in-law's operation was successful. I explained that although the severe dyskinesia was now almost completely gone, his obsession to fix things that didn't need fixing was still there. Howard admitted that he also had an obsession, that of spending money especially on travel and his wife has had to hide credit cards and the cheque book. He knows what he is doing is dumb, but can't help himself.

Another colleague of Howard and me is Bob who also lives in Brisbane. When I visited last September, Bob was doing well after treatment for the Jack Dancer. It seems that he has had a major relapse and is in a hospice with only weeks to live. I have his phone number and postal address at the hospice but am hesitant to call and don't know what I could write in these circumstances.

Firepower

I am quite unsympathetic for people who invest in a scheme that looks too good to be true.

Firepower was such a scheme. The company promised motorists huge increases in fuel economy with great benefits to the world's environment all achieved by dropping a pill in your fuel tank. People of my age, 68, would have read of similar scams in the U.S. from the 30s on.

The owner of the now defunct company has done a runner and the $80,000,000 seduced out of investors and sports stars has all gone...somewhere. The promoter is apparently a charismatic bloke who managed to get himself in photo opportunity shoots with presidents, pollies and sports stars. There was a lot of spin about the company with stories about the Russian rail system and military entering into a deal with Firepower.

A number of prominent Western Australians look like getting in the poo after financial advisers tipped them off to a good thing and they bought shares at 1c and sold them anywhere between 35c and $1.40. Sounds like salting the mine.

Back in the 1950s water/alcohol injection was popular mainly because it enjoyed success in the P51 fighter aircraft. It involved a venturi system sucking a water/alcohol mixture into the carburetor once the engine was running and warm. The water/alcohol system was turned off before one arrived at ones destination and the car finished up running on petrol. People claimed benefits, but it didn't get off the ground like the P51.

There should be an Investors' Bible with a bold heading of... If it Looks Too Good to be True...It Probably Is.

Pickled onions

A couple of days ago I bottled some pickled onions, or more correctly, I bottled some onions in pickling vinegar and they should be pickled in a couple of weeks.

Whenever we buy commercially pickled onions they are invariably soft and the vinegar seems to be watered down. I thought about the wonderful, crisp POs that my aunty Glad used to make and decided to look up pickled onions in the CWA Cookery and Household Hints book.

This book was compiled from recipes and hints from women members of the Western Australian Country Womens' Association. It was first published in 1941 and surprisingly, is still sold for around $30. I say surprisingly because it is full of recipes that are relics from the past and often are inaccurate or not detailed enough. No Souffles or Satay Beef and Noodle Stirfry there.

Here is a recipe for Ginger Beer.....The average home brewer knows that those bottles would explode if not consumed within a week. Kerosene tins were in common use up until the late 50s for all sorts of things including cooking crabs.
Another old cook book is the Golden Wattle Cookbook published in 1926. The Golden Wattle is a bit more professionally set out and was used by HomeEc teachers in days of old. It has an updated edition at around $19.

Joan received a message on her phone to call her GP. When she replied, the receptionist couldn't tell her what it was about except that the GP wanted to see her and the earliest she could get in was a week today. If Joan was waiting for some test results this could be a bit scary. She cannot imagine what this is all about and I confess that I wouldn't be waiting a week to find out if it were me.

Notes from a Padded Cell

Trolling the net for articles/blogs about Papua New Guinea I came across a wonderful page by Jim Austin called 'Jim Austin's Notes from a Padded Cell'. There are short stories covering a wide range of topics including some from his PNG experience. Jim lives in Vermont USA. Check it out here, it is a great read.

Our friend Brian had his triple bypass operation on Friday and is doing well. Marg, his wife, says that he is doing well as he is starting to whinge about being in hospital.

Today I visited John, our friend who is in care . No change on that front. He imagines that his wife Joy visits him about every three weeks. Today is the first time she hasn't visited him in a couple of months as she travelled to York looking at houses and employment possibilities for their daughter Sue. York is about 97 kilometres from Perth and is one of the original country settlements in Western Australia. See here about York.

Jackson Pollock

Occasionally I take a look at a Sunday Arts Program called Sunday Arts. I find it strange that it hosted by a very cultured voiced bloke who was previously a very good TV comedian. It is a pretty good program until the host does an in-depth interview with an artist or musician.

Anyway, tonight there is (because I gave up on watching it) a segment on the Sydney ‘Biennale’, which translated means bi-annual. Art seems to need a foreign touch to be successful.

Also required at art exhibitions is an old warehouse with crumbling limestone walls and rough jarrah floor boards.

I am not a complete Bolshie about art. I have been to a few ‘openings’ and gotten into the plonk and tucker.

Art is a very intellectual business not for the likes of me. Blue Poles, for example, is something that is beyond my comprehension. Purchased for the National Gallery it has dramatically increased in value. See it here and if you can see what it is about, please let me know.

A trip to the tip

After pruning our roses and transplanting 42 broadbean plants around the rose stumps, we decided to remove a huge 'hedge' of what is called Moses in the Cradle (Rhoeo). It looks very much like another troublesome plant we have in our rear garden named Wandering Jew (Tradescentia). Another bit of anti-semitism?

The trailer was pretty well loaded and I went to the tip (landfill site). As I was unloading the Moses in the Cradle a truck backed in beside me and a bloke who was a landscape gardener told me that I was throwing away thousands of dollars. 'Put each bit of root in a pot and when it shoots it will sell for $2 each at a swapmeet. People love it'. Bugger!
Maybe we will look out for remnant sprouting and our son can make a few bucks. It seem that it is of value. See here.

We have been having problems with Channel 9 reception on digital HD TV. All the other channels are fine, but even when I revert to factory settings, the set-top box won't find 9. At the place where I bought the TV and set top box, there is an ex student of mine and he told me to bring the box in to use their antenna to grab Channel 9. It couldn't find 9, so he talked to the TEAC agent and was told that Channel 9 have changed their settings and a software upgrade is necessary to once again get Channel 9. I have to take the box to the other side of the city in about a week. I would have thought that Channel 9 could have told viewers about the impending problem.

ABC Television has just started iView, which allows people with a good Broadband connection to download TV programs; even stuff you missed seeing a few weeks ago. Once again we are losers who are unable to get a fast BB connection because of a phone wire system called 'Twin Pair Gain' and also because we are beyond a RIM, which is a sort of sub-station for phone lines at a distance over about four kilometres from an exchange. Telstra who owns the lines is not about to change anything for me. Bugger again!

Dying seagulls

Today there was a news report of a couple of hundred seagulls suddenly dying at Woodmans Point. See, there is a God!

On ABC radio talkback this morning a caller suggested that they all died of cholesterol induced heart attacks caused by stealing chips from diners' plates in the fishing boat harbour.

It has not been determined what did them in. Autopsies and tissue samples have not shown any cause as yet. It is amazing that this problem has not affected the other sea birds at Woodmans...pelicans, cormorants, terns etc. The local landfill site is a very popular place for all these birds and thousands of them congregate there picking over the juicy morsels from suburban garbage bags. At the tip site,the council has a bird scatterer gun going off at regular intervals, to no avail.

Joan and I pruned our roses on Monday and yesterday I transplanted a lot of broad bean plants from a shady area out the back of our house in amongst the rose stumps in the front yard. They will get full sun in that northerly aspect. It looks a bit dumb with vegetables in the rose garden.

Bye bye Incandescents

The Australian government has decreed that incandescent light bulbs are a no-no and they are soon to be banned from sale. I reckon there will be a bit of panic buying as the deadline nears.

The alternative is to be economical compact fluoro lamps. They produce a cold white light. Maybe if they could make them a bit warmer as they do with some large fluorescent tubes they would be more acceptable. People like us with lots of halogen down lights might have to make regular trips to Bali to buy up the illegal bulbs.
Classy light ??

On lighting, I have spent a bit of time recently restoring three kerosene table lamps. One is an Aladdin made in the USA in 1923 which has a round wick lighting up a silk mantle. It is nickel plated and once held pride of place at my grandparents' farm. A nice piece with a bright white light. Nickel plating saved the work of polishing the brass although most of the classy lamps were of embossed brass. Click on photos to enlarge
The next lamp is a beauty; a Miller, made in the U.S. in 1892. It has a complex wick winder, a highly embossed tank and stand and gives off a nice warm light.

The last of the three is a repro and the brass plating is corroding off in places. Still a nice lamp!

I had to buy expensive parts for the Aladdin and the Miller but it was worth the cost and effort.

Today has been very stormy with lots of damage to houses and trees in the local areas, but our power supply has held. Damn, I was looking forward to reading under a lamp tonight.

Pingelly house report

Pingelly is about 180 kilometres from Fremantle. It is a pleasant drive of about 90 minutes. At this time of year the wheatbelt is looking good with large acreages of wheat and rapeseed each side of the roads. The appointment was for 11am and we had 30 minutes to drive around the town to check out our potential neighbors. 30 minutes was plenty of time!

Pingelly, according to the 2003 census, has a population of 1141 people. I suspect that it is even less these days. Although the town looks reasonable, it, like many other regional towns is dying out. There were many empty buildings and shops. The Pingelly Shire is insisting that any person purchasing the house must open the adjoining shop (part of the sale) at least for one day a week. As the house is in the main street, they don't want any more empty buildings in the main drag.

The house was great...probably the best house in Pingelly. The lovely Jarrah staircase and spacious and numerous rooms would be attractive if the house were in another town. After the inspection we visited Narrogin and the same house there would be selling at around $700,000.

Pingelly doesn't have anything going for it. We couldn't see ourselves just enjoying the house so far from the city.

Pros: Great house at a good price.

Cons: Having to negotiate stairs to go to bed.
Nothing to do in town.
Reasonable shopping is over 50 kilometres away.
Away from family and friends.
Price of fuel.
Part-time hospital
Don't want to start a new business at our age.

Looks like the Cons win.

The salesman travelled from Perth and was happy to show us the place with no annoying pressure or follow-ups.

Morse Code

We have made an appointment to view the house in Pingelly. The salesman is going to be a bit offside when we don't offer to buy as he also has a two hour drive from the city to open the house.

A couple of days ago I had a conversation with a chap who writes a newsletter for ex members of the W.A. Police Force. The Police Force in Western Australia was recently renamed the Police Service. I guess the 'Force' bit was a bit too heavy.

Peter is, along with others, establishing a Police Museum and he recently found a wonderful piece of equipment last used in policing in about 1950. It is a Morse Code machine. Morse Code was still used quite extensively up until then. The main trouble with sending Morse code with the traditional Morse key is the speed, which is on average a slow 15 words per minute. This machine is a two part set-up with a typewriter keyboard producing a punched 'ticker tape' type of paper tape which was transferred to a reader/sender which enabled fast transmission of messages. The Picture below shows the typewriter/setter and the sender on the right. This amazing piece is from an era of electro-mechanical devices.


About 15 years ago I found a piece of computer software that translated Morse code heard on short wave radio into words on the screen. Even then it was difficult to find Morse Code out there in cyber space.

Praying for petrol

Rocky Twyman is an SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) and he started the "Pray at the Pump' movement in the U.S. He leads groups who link hands around fuel outlet pumps and pray for cheaper fuel. He claims success with a drop of $.30 a gallon after a pray-in in Toledo Ohio. That works out to be around a 7 cent a litre drop. Divine Intervention!

Today he is leading prayers in Washington and collecting signatures to petition the Saudi Oil Minister to pump more oil. 'We are asking them to have mercy on us'. Yeh right!

Are there rules about what you can pray for? 'No, sorry mate, we can't help with Lotto.'

Having second thoughts about even looking at the house in Pingelly. It would not be good if we liked it enough and actually had to move there.

Pingelly

We are pretty happy with where we live...a nice suburb, good neighbors and 10 minutes to Fremantle city. Our house is nice, with plenty of room and a large store room and workshop for me. So why has the idea of shifting suddenly popped up?

Pingelly is a country town in the wheatbelt of Western Australia about 90 minutes from Perth and Fremantle. I found an advert for a splendid residence there selling for an asking price of $550,000. See it here. It was built as a post office and has been made over into a wonderful house.

I was born in the country, but apart from nearly ten years in Papua New Guinea have lived mostly in the suburbs along the coast. I had to spend a year teaching at the small wheatbelt town of Goomalling and didn't like that at all. The locals were very critical of any teachers who left the town on weekends; even if they had family in the city. In the year I was there not one of the teachers received an invite to visit a farm or social event.

Writing this has almost cured me of moving to a country town. We will drive to Pingelly and do a bit of carpet crushing though.

Justice and the Church

Cardinal Pell in NSW, and Archbishop Hickey in W.A. have been a bit naughty over cover-ups of allegations of sexual abuse. They have both denied justice to some of their flock after the victims' complaints.

Father Terrance Goodall in NSW had a number of accusations levelled against him and in 2003 the Church determined that Father (not so) Goodall 'was guilty of other sexual and indecent assaults, had no boundaries and no sympathy for victims and was likely to re offend'. That sounded like it was enough to get a slap on the wrist, but it didn't happen and the original complainant was told by Cardinal Pell that his claim could not be substantiated.

Father Goodall went before the courts and was sentenced to a period of the rising of the court which turned out to be 4 seconds: a token sentence. If a policeman caught me taking a leak in an alley in the city, I am sure my sentence would be a lot heavier. Methinks there has been some lobbying by the good Cardinal.

winter days

342 Canning Highway circa 1900


These cool winters days make us regret not having a North facing backyard to bask in the sun. Our old house in Bicton had a nice, large backyard facing north...wonderful! The house itself was built in 1897 and we were the second family to occupy it. We lived there for 28 years.
Canning Road (Highway) circa 1900. Leopold Hotel with the Bicton house on the right. Kids playing on the road amongst the horse poo.

Both of us go to our GP next to our old Bicton residence and sometimes we wish we could take a tour of the place next door and the back yard to see what they have done with it. We had a concrete pool which lapsed into disuse and we converted it into a pond with waterfall and limestone edging. It was stocked with Koi, Goldfish and Yabbies. It was good to drop a trap in the pond and get a feed of Yabbies at any time. Yabbies, locally called Koonaks, are minature lobsters and they are a source of income to farmers who grow them in their dams. They are sold mainly overseas at inflated prices.

One of the crazy things about the pool/pond was that when it was a pool the local council had to inspect it annually to see that the fences and locks were in place to avoid drownings, but once we converted it to a pond, no inspection was necessary.

A couple of pics of the house and the highway out front and the pool conversion. The small building in the background of the pond is a 'cubby' with a spiral staircase and cellar underground.

Battle for Australia Day

In the Saturday edition of the West Australian, Paul Murray discusses the newly created Battle for Australia Day.

There is a bit of debate as to whether there actually was a battle for Australia as it has long been known the Japan did not have any concrete plans to invade Australia during WW2. It is believed any invaders taking on the vast barren distances (without sushi bars) from the North of Oz to civilisation could not easily be fuelled and fed. The argument by historians is that history is only about what actually happened and not what could have happened. People in Darwin and Broome along with Sydneysiders might argue the point after severe bombings and loss of life.

That being said, I personally believe that if U.S. men and materiel had not turned up in Australia, Japan would have won all the Pacific islands and eventually had a crack at invading Australia. Of course the U.S. build up was not entirely altruistic; they wanted to secure their own territories and the U.S. mainland.

Let's hope they do the same if we are threatened by Indonesia in the future.

A friend, Dennis, visited on Saturday afternoon with a couple of bottles of Swan Valley white. Very nice too; so nice that it inspired us to open another couple of bottles...just for comparison purposes of course. Joan ended up driving him home. I seldom do that these days, but when I do, I get a severe attack of phoneitis. Can't remember how many people I talked (mumbled) to.

Better in a week?

I have finished...I hope, the maintenance on our daughter's unit. The tenants are Indian and when I went to install the door lock hardware the wife pointed out (she can't speak English) that the basin taps no longer worked. I took a look and it seems that she had turned them off with such pressure that the knobs had stripped. I tried to explain to her in sign language that fingers are OK to turn off a tap, not strong-arm stuff. I went to Bunnings and purchased a new tap set and replaced it. Whilst I was replacing the door lock I noticed that there was a lot of water on the floor of the toilet area. Oh no; the bloody cistern I had previously installed is leaking! I got down on my knees in the water to try and find where the leak was. Nothing! I realised that my sleeve was wet from water on the toilet seat. It hit me: there was a bucket full of water with a dipper in it near the toilet and no toilet paper in the dispenser. The old Asian toilet trick!


This morning I went to have a haircut. I am inexperienced at visiting a hairdresser; I usually hack away at my own hair with a razor blade apparatus. The first 'salon' near us was full and the cost posted was $17 - $19. I drove to Kardinya Park shopping centre where the cost was $21 and I sat down waiting for my turn. There were four young gals cutting and whatevering four women and the eight of them were loudly discussing 14 topics. I got up and walked out and drove to Fremantle wharf to the markets in E Shed. The going rate there was $12.50 and I waited a short time to get in the chair. The young lady asked 'how I would like it'. Several answers there, but I suggested No2 on the sides and No3 on top. She commented that I must like it short and I sort of wondered then whether I had got it right. She did the sides first and then the first harvest over the top looked like a US Marine haircut. Eeeek! Too late then and now I look like I should go and get a few tattoos to match. 'A week and it'll be a number four', she consoled.

I tried to see some pros to offset the cons. 1. It will be easy to wash and comb. 2. I can put a shirt on without messing up my hair. 3. I will get to see some movies at home until it grows.

Troubles of the heart

A good friend, Brian rang a few days ago to tell me that he was going to have a stent inserted in a blood vessel due to a constriction. I rang him yesterday to find out how it went. It seems that the specialist had second thoughts and has scheduled him for a bypass operation to clear three restricted blood vessels. Brian is a healthy, very fit, athletic bloke. I wouldn't have picked him as a candidate for a bypass op! He is a bit apprehensive of course, but this operation, although rather complex is pretty well commonplace with a very good prognosis.

I have a distant cousin who had a triple bypass about six months ago. In convalescence he caught a cold and had to have a soft pillow handy to hold up to his chest when he coughed. Cuz didn't think it was too flash at all!

If you think you might like to get a stent, check out the market here.

Wartime refugees in Fremantle

In 1942 Fremantle Harbour became a port of refuge to five Chinese vessels after the fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese. These five ships were crewed by Chinese, but had European officers, mainly British. In all there were about 500 Chinese crew and refugees.

Unrest among the crews occurred . They were demanding increased pay rates and and refusing to work. They threatened violence to the master of the Chungking. The ship's master along with the other masters reported the problem to the naval authorities suggesting that the crews be removed until they agreed to work and obey commands.

About 300 Australian troops armed with rifles and fixed bayonets were ordered to remove the crews and truck them to Woodmans Point Detention Centre. As troops boarded the Chungking about 50-60 Chinese crew attacked the soldiers attempting to take their weapons. Six shots were fired; four Chinese were shot and two of them died. A soldier was wounded by a ricochet bullet.

The 'trouble makers' were separated and taken to detention. The rest of the crews quietened down after the rifle shots.
Photograph: Saxon Fogarty. U.S. submarines in Fremantle Harbour WW2

Research on this event was done by Mr Peter Skehan.

retirement's a cruise, right?

When our daughter Helen leased out her unit we thought that all the work I did there repairing and sprucing it up would be the end of it....wrong!

She had a call from the managing agent to say that the tenant wanted a few things fixed and Mr fixit Kev volunteered to do the job.

I loaded the car up with all the gear I thought I needed and headed off at the arranged time. I was given a mobile number to ring if anything else was in need of fixing. That mobile number was to the woman's husband on a mine site somewhere up north. The reason I was given his number was that his wife of about 18 years (of age) cannot speak any English.

I replaced tap washers in a shower recess, replaced a toilet cistern valve and replaced a security light at the rear of the unit. At that stage she had called her husband and she passed the phone over to me. He wanted me to replace a toilet/ laundry door lock as it wasn't locking. I suggested that as there were only two bedrooms and no other occupants that it probably wasn't necessary. Our Indian friend demanded a new door set. He also advised me that the light switch in the main bedroom was a bit dodgy. I went to Bunnings close by, bought a switch and changed the light switch. Unfortunately I installed it so that the on position was reversed. This is not a biggy as in rooms with two switches one is inverted anyway. The wife still motioned that she wanted it fixed and that was reinforced by another call from the husband on the company phone. Phone calls must cost mining companies thousands of dollars.

I went home a little frazzled, but satisfied, until I received a call from the agent saying that the toilet was leaking still. This toilet is a single flush oldie and the only way to solve the problem was to buy a new cistern and install it, which I did today. Whilst I was in the midst of a dunny repair my nemesis from minesite somewhere rang to remind me about the locking 'privacy' door on the toilet/laundry. Shit!!! For once the installation of the new cistern went well and I bolted before Sanjay, or whatever his name is, gave me more tasks. I'll go back on Monday to do the door lock job and repaint around the cistern which is smaller that the old one.

We purchased a small car for our son today. I think that will be number 8. Nuff said!

internet hoaxes and chain letters

I have just received, along with 18 others, a well meaning warning about a most virulent virus circulating throughout the world which if opened will immediately destroy your computer hard drive. I have seen it before and even if it were true it wouldn't worry our Macs. It is, as usual, a hoax. See...http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/invitation.asp

Snopes is a web page which debunks all those stories and urban myths out there in cyber space. I am unsure why people don't bookmark Snopes and refer to it before passing on those bits of BS to all and sundry. This one, like lots of others came from a relative, so it is not easy to tell them that they are being silly. This relly also sends me quite a few of the 'Pass this on to 12 friends within 4 days and get a wonderful surprise' chain letters. I can wear them, but not the implied warning that bad luck will befall me if I don't.

Today I also went and looked at a cheap car for our son. I need to drive it before making an offer to buy. I was unable to drive it because another car had blocked it in and the owner was not at home. Tomorrow maybe.

Martin went to look at a job on Sunday. He was told it was forklift driving and delivery of goods. It turned out that there was heavy lifting involved and his back problem (ankylosing spondilitis) would not allow him to do the required work. A cheap reliable car will give him more options...we hope.

Helen has moved!

Helen, our daughter has moved into her new unit. The rent is $520 per week and she is sharing with another couple who work on mine sites up North of the state. We had a few hours of packing and transporting 'smalls' from their old Cottesloe beach unit. Glad that is over.

The co-tenants, Dave and Marcia, have been living at Cottesloe for the last ten years and have collected heaps of junk some of which I helped transport to the new unit. Most of it was trashy stuff especially for a classy unit in South Perth, but Kev thought it better that I say nothing at this stressful time. Is there anything more stressful than having to move over two days?

This morning I successfully set up a computer for Clint, a profoundly disabled 43 year old bloke. He loves footy and does his footy tipping by email. I will leave a browser, Firefox of course, and his email programme, Eudora, on the desktop and hide everything else away so that he can't get into the system and foul things up. He also likes looking at a few girlie sites.....don't blame the poor bugger!

Our son Martin went to check out a job today....fork lift and delivery driver. It is only for two weeks as the regular man damaged his foot by dropping a pallet of goods on it. Even thinking about that grabs my testicles. He has the use of a Falcon 4 litre auto car with bad brakes and that will use up most of his pay just getting to and fro from work. We have decided that if he is to get work we should buy him yet another car which will run on the smell of an oily rag. I checked out the car market today and most of the small cars have been sold at first light. Plenty of V8s out there. The car yards are full of them. I remember the oil 'crisis' in the late 70s when people were setting fire to their V8s.

We have purchased all but one of Martin's cars and all have been sold off for peanuts.

When we get down about our son we tend to hope that things will ( and they could), get better. At least our son, and us, don't have as many problems as Clint and his parents.

Heaters

The gas/fuel crisis here is almost wartime-like. The Premier, Alan Carpenter, did a 'fireside' chat ala FDR to plead with householders to cut back on energy use. It is starting to seem like the gas pipeline which burst was in poor condition with heavy corrosion. It has also been 'leaked' by someone that government inspectors hadn't been able to inspect it regularly because of staff shortages. This facility on isolated Varanus Island has been in operation for more than 20 years.

The state has had to dip into the RAN's reserves of diesel fuel on Garden Island and a bit of commercial piracy is grabbing parts of diesel shipments to other states. The premier is talking in terms of up to six months to get things back on track and many businesses (employers) are looking at temporary closure. I bet the wood-fired tile fires are going to make a comeback.

I could sure do with a nice big heater this morning.

Daughter Helen has done her kindergarten reports for her two groups. The reports are quite interesting and part of an anonymous report can be viewed here.

Times have changed. Kindy kids are being taught things. It is no longer wiping noses and rest times.

Petrol prices are still rising despite the Saudis increasing production. Here is my fuel gauge.

Full circle

The gas 'crisis' in Western Australia is starting to bite. This morning's Sunday Times newspaper has a headline of 'Leave or be Axed'. That is not quite what it sounds like. In the sub-heading it goes on to say that workers are being urged to take leave to avoid being sacked. The Sunday Times really is a rag.

Never-the-less the recent gas pipe explosion on Varanus Island has cut our supplies by 30% affecting all sorts of industries. Home owners are being urged to conserve gas/power by taking short showers and rugging up to avoid using heaters. It will be about three months before the pipeline can be recommissioned and the state government is recommissioning two coal fired power stations with a run-up time of about six weeks. In the past we have been urged to do away with polluting wood burning tile fires in our houses and go gas. I bet there a quite a few houses with such fires all snug as a bug in a rug now. I wonder how people in the northern hemisphere are going to exist when oil starts to run out? Not a lot of winter sun for solar panels up there!

The other full circle thing I thought about yesterday was the old Volkswagen beetle. When we owned one in the 60s, some owners were a little ashamed of its exhaust note and many had exhaust systems manufactured to give their VW a regular engine sound. Today the Subaru WRX has a hotted up VW engine and owners want the old VW sound. I'm guessing that flares will make a return soon.

We have some good news

Helen, our daughter has been in a 'tizzie' of late. She says she is depressed about a number of things especially her failure to secure a dwelling to move to after getting the eviction notice from her beachside unit. There have been tears shed. Methinks there is a little more to it than accommodation......... Boyfriend!

She is feeling a little fragile about being 38 years of age and not having a stable relationship, marriage and kids. Her boyfriend is a bit of a #$$@ and only turns up when he wants a bit of company.

Anyway, this morning Helen rang us and told us that she was frazzled by the House-hunt thing and asked if I could do a search for her. 'Of course, of course'. I looked at one two-story townhouse and Joan went with me to look at the exterior of another townhouse. We rang her and left a message on her phone saying she should visit us after work and we would show her the two town houses we had sussed out. She turned up quite negatively and had all the external appearance of someone about to slash the wrists. When we were driving to look at the first townhouse, she received a phone call from the agent handling one of the units she missed out on before and got the news that she had been successful and could now have the unit. I don't think that Helen and Mum and Dad have had such good news in a long time.

We think that all is well in accommodation land. Next comes the move.

Disappointments

Martin phoned yesterday. He was going to come today to make some job applications because he doesn't have the internet. Fine. We rearranged our calendars (yep, retirees still need one) so that one of us would be home all day. He didn't come and we didn't get a phone call to explain why.

Helen phoned this evening. She wasn't successful in renting the unit she looked at last weekend and was feeling really frazzled. She feels overwhelmed with the responsibility of finding a place that will be acceptable to her flatmate and her flatmate's partner without their input (they work on a mine site and only get back every three weeks or so). Her flatmate is due back early next week and is going to do some searching while she is here. Helen now plans to take a week or so off from house hunting to concentrate on the student reports she has to write.

We would like some good news.

Living with Lewy Body

I have just read most of a blog written by a woman describing the last 5 months of caring for her father's last stages of Lewy Body Disease. It could be a textbook for other carers. She refers to her father and the disease as 'Lewy'. It is a story of care and love and in the earlier stages, some humour. It can be seen here.

Our friend John has Lewy Body Disease and he has/is displaying the same symptoms as those written about by Pauline. Last week John lapsed into academic mode and grabbed a bundle of notes from a visitor to the nursing home. It seems that the visitor goes daily to feed and visit his wife who has had a major stroke. While he was feeding his wife it seems that John casually walked in to her room and grabbed six months' worth of study notes and vanished down a hallway, probably to mark them as a university lecturer. The man is still very angry and the notes have not been found. When Joy, John's wife, searched his room trying to find the missing notes she found some other papers belonging to the front desk.

Warning

- an expensive lesson in reading the small print.

Kevin saw a competition on TV about a month ago. You could win an iPod by answering simple questions by text message on your mobile. Because he doesn't know how to text on his phone I got the job. I sent off the message on my phone to a number and thought nothing more of it.

After about 4 messages there was one that said each response would now cost $5. Blow that, I thought, and promptly deleted every new message.

Friday I got a warning from Telstra (I have a prepaid plan) that my credit was now less than $10. Saturday I went to call Helen and was told I didn't have enough credit to make the call. What the ?????

When I went to recharge I heard the option of checking the last five calls. I did so and found that there were 2 data calls. Data calls? What are they? I don't have internet connection on the phone. I checked the inbox and there were 2 messages from the number. The data calls must be those but why had they caused my credit to drop so quickly?

Anyway I recharged the phone then did some searching on the internet. I was able to download my last month's history. This is part of it:
0:00:30 Voice Main Balance 0.45 0.5
0:00:30 Diversion Main Balance 0.05 0.06
0:02:00 Voice Main Balance 1.28 1.41
500 cents Premium SMS Main Balance 4.55 5
500 cents Premium SMS Main Balance 4.55 5
500 cents Premium SMS Main Balance 4.55 5

So for the "privilege" of receiving messages that I promptly deleted I was paying $5 a pop? And I had done this 10 times in the last month according to the statement. What was a Premium SMS anyway? On the Telstra web site I found the FAQ which explained that it was probably a ringtone download and how to unsubscribe and promptly did just that.

But I was really angry. We had thought we were entering a competition. There was no fine print that we could read on the TV screen and definitely no voice over warning.

Kevin did some googling and found the "competition" website. There is some small print - very small print- there.

So because we didn't see that we were downloading a ringtone with every message we are $55 out of pocket and could have been more if I had recharged without checking. A very tricky little scam.

Pricing madness

Sometimes the price of things just astounds me. I recently bought a Hewlett Packard multi-function printer, scanner and copier for $28.00.

Then today I went to a store to buy two plastic cutlery baskets for our dishwasher. I ended up walking out of the store as they were priced at $46.65 each+GST. These baskets seem to last only a few years and one would think that they could be knocked out in the People's Republic Plastic Factory #3500 for a few cents each. I had a close look at them and they don't seem to have any moving parts, electronic circuitry or flashing lights like the printer.

I have been thinking of getting our Sonata converted to gas and so today went to a workshop near us here to get the price. The Federal Government and the State Government both subsidise the conversion to the tune of $3,000 but that still leaves $1200 extra to find. Gas conversion results in less power and more consumption and I will have to do my sums to see if the whole idea is really good economy as the demand is high and the conversion could not be done until late September and the price of gas will probably leap along with petrol. Pessimist Kev!

I'm not losing it yet!

Well, after three trips up to Cloverdale to try and get an internet connection set-up for a colleague's disabled son I have just heard that the father called Telecom out to see what the problem was and they determined it was interference from the security system.

I noticed that there was a security system and asked if there was a filter in the line and Paul told me that the system was not yet activated.

It seems that it was up and running and the cameras were probably recording a couple of silly buggers making multiple unsuccessful attempts to connect to the net. Paul will get the security firm back to do their job and call me to set up his mail program and secure the Mac so that his son cannot get into the system and trash anything.

The reason they have a security system is that Paul, Clint's step father, wants to monitor Clint and his carers from their own computer at home.

Contractual obligations

Today I went to John's nursing home to visit him and give him a haircut. On his 70th birthday I gave him a homemade voucher offering a lifetime of haircuts and computer support. Not much to do on the computer for his wife Joy, but the hair still keeps growing. It is always rewarding cutting John's hair as it seems to transform him when his hair is close-cropped and his eyebrows and ears are clipped. He actually seems brighter.

When I arrived, John was near the front door talking to the receptionist at the front desk. I didn't really hear what he was saying to her, but it was along the lines of a command. Most of the time John believes he is still at his workplace, Edith Cowan University. I can see how he must perceive the rabbit warren of rooms and nurses stations to be like the offices of his old workplace.

We were shown a small room which is used by an itinerant hairdresser to cut and style patients' hair. The hair cutting distracted maybe a dozen 'inmates' who were nearby watching television. John has developed a bad case of dandruff and I will suggest to Joy that he needs some dandruff shampoo and a bit more attention in his toiletry by his carers.

He now perceives that this is his home (and workplace) and so Joy can take him out and return him without too much drama most times. They usually drive to a riverside cafe and have a coffee and something to eat. This is a very sad situation for John and Joy. There are times when John seems to be aware of his situation and gets a bit weepy. Me too!

After the haircut we had a long talk covering many topics and to a casual observer it would seem a normal conversation. Today he told me that he could not easily connect his thoughts to his mouth.

Still house hunting

Daughter Helen is getting desperate to find a suitable unit to live in after getting an eviction notice at her current place on Cottesloe Beach. Today she asked us to go with her to view a unit with sweeping river and harbour views. Great place on three levels with almost all rooms with a view. She is filling out the application form tonight as no doubt the other four people will be.

The unit was occupied by four single blokes of around 25 years of age. One of them was cleaning up when we inspected the place. There was ample evidence of parties and booze-ups. Exhaust fans greased up and the floor sticky from spilled beer. We hope she wins it and can move in as soon as it is cleaned up.

I am still having problems setting up an ADSL connection for a colleague's disabled son.The modem is trying to talk to the ISP but as they say...the lights are on, but nobody's home. We, a friend and I, believe that telecom has not yet switched us on at the exchange. The ISP says we are connected, but we have tried two different modems without success. I am waiting for a phone call from the disabled man's father saying that a connection has been established. At 68 I am getting a little old for such problems.

Adventures with Fungi

On our walk around Manning Lake this morning we were delighted to find that recent rain has filled it. Even the edges are waterlogged.

We also found some intriguing fungi. Most were growing under and around the 100 year old Rottnest pines, but there were scattered colonies in full sun in the middle of lawns.




The colours were very strong so Joan thought they might be able to be used for dyeing. We collected a plastic bag half full and when we got home she broke them up and boiled them.

The results today were disappointing, but she is going to try again tomorrow.