Joan is busy preparing our luggage for the South Pacific cruise. We leave Perth on Tuesday morning and board the ship in Sydney the following day. Daughter Helen is going to baby-sit our place for a few days at a time. She is hoping for a teaching placement before school starts on 2nd of February.
The reporter from the local newspaper who wrote a story on my efforts to distribute free computers did not include a contact number, but agreed that if I wrote a letter to the editor including my contact details they would print it. I wrote the letter, but they didn't print it. I'm sure they want me to take out a paid advertisement. The paper is one of the Community Group .........they don't seem too community minded to me!
I managed to place four computers with one family yesterday. The mother firstly took two for her kids and when the rest of the family visited they wanted one as well. I think this will be the best way of getting the word around and placing the other 25 machines in my workshop. One of her sons looked a bit dodgy and seemed to be looking around whilst inside our place. We will use the alarm system for the period we are away in case he visits to get more than a computer. Might also park a car out the front on the drive to give the impression that someone is home.
We will post from the cruise liner. They have WiFi on board but it costs. They (P&O) also x-ray baggage for alcohol and have sniffer dogs searching for drugs. P&O bans passengers from taking any drinks on board to protect their monopoly. They also charge A$5 per passenger per day for tips to be distributed amongst the crew at the end of the cruise. Let's see....say 600 passengers X $5 X 8 days= $24,000. The ship is the Pacific Dawn which can carry 2000+ passengers with a crew of 700. With a full complement of 2000 passengers the tips would amount to $80,000 for the 8 day trip. That would work out at $114 each crew member. I wonder whether the toilet cleaner gets the same as a Deck Officer?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Australia Day
Australia Day is looming and along with that is the flag business. Each year the flag is promoted and cars and trucks are flying Australian flags (all made in China). I get a bad feeling about mass flags. In military parades different flags representing different units seems OK to me, but masses of a nation's flag sends Nuremberg shivers up my spine.
Joan bought some doughnut peaches and I tried a couple....brilliant! They are easy to eat, freestone and taste good. If that is an example of genetic manipulation, bring it on!
I have spent a couple of days servicing, cleaning and polishing our son's car. He has given it to me to sell. He was supposedly paying off traffic fines to keep his drivers licence, but has not made a payment for months and the boys in blue came and took his licence away. They are also issuing a summons for driving without a licence so he figures he wont be needing a car for at least a year. There is sure to be a substantial fine as well. I wonder who will pay that?
Martin has decided to do a draughting course at TAFE. If he is accepted he will train and bus to Leederville TAFE from Kwinana. Would have been easier with a car.
We are thankful that Australia has a good medical benefits scheme. Joan filled our current scripts yesterday and the total for a month's pharmaceuticals for the two of us was $42.40. The real cost was $334.51. Additionally, once we reach the safety net of $318.00, all scripts are free. We usually reach that amount by October. In the pic below you can see the real cost of my 80mg Lipitor.
Joan bought some doughnut peaches and I tried a couple....brilliant! They are easy to eat, freestone and taste good. If that is an example of genetic manipulation, bring it on!
I have spent a couple of days servicing, cleaning and polishing our son's car. He has given it to me to sell. He was supposedly paying off traffic fines to keep his drivers licence, but has not made a payment for months and the boys in blue came and took his licence away. They are also issuing a summons for driving without a licence so he figures he wont be needing a car for at least a year. There is sure to be a substantial fine as well. I wonder who will pay that?
Martin has decided to do a draughting course at TAFE. If he is accepted he will train and bus to Leederville TAFE from Kwinana. Would have been easier with a car.
We are thankful that Australia has a good medical benefits scheme. Joan filled our current scripts yesterday and the total for a month's pharmaceuticals for the two of us was $42.40. The real cost was $334.51. Additionally, once we reach the safety net of $318.00, all scripts are free. We usually reach that amount by October. In the pic below you can see the real cost of my 80mg Lipitor.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
NavMan GPS
Sister Shirley flew back to Esperance this morning. I always panic a little getting her to the airport on time. Even though it is only about a twenty minute drive most times; at 8am, peak traffic makes it a bit dodgy on the freeway. I decided to travel on the highway rather than the freeway and we made it in plenty of time. As we passed over the freeway at Canning Bridge we could see that it was a parking lot.
Shirl used one of our cars with a NavMan GPS device and she loved it and has asked me to get one for her down at Esperance. Esperance is quite a big place and if one is a bit dithery, NavMan is well worth having. But I reckon she just wants to show off to the grandkids.
Helen, our daughter is starting to panic about a teaching position for the 2009 year. She rang this morning asking me to contact a friend in staffing at the Dept. I am a little hesitant to put on him as we rarely talk and I haven't actually met up with him in about 15 years. Might put it off until tomorrow in the hope that she receives a posting in today's mail.
Joan and I never argue and for the 43 years of our marriage have had very few bad words. There is just one thing that is a little competition between us and that is the placement of the paper towel roll on the stand. The stand was given to me by an ex-student who was brain damaged in a car accident. Anyway, when I see that the paper towel has finished I get to place it on the holder with the leader on the right hand side.....makes sense, both of us are right handed! Joan on the other hand prefers to tear the towel from the left?? I haven't dared flip the roll over when she has put the new roll on.
This morning we received a call from the travel agent who booked our South Pacific cruise leaving Sydney on the 28th January. She rang to offer us an upgrade of a much better cabin at a cost of $100 each. We took the offer. I reckon there are people a lot smarter than us who realised that January is the South Pacific cyclone season and decided not to book a cruise at this time and thus the availability of more cabins?
Shirl used one of our cars with a NavMan GPS device and she loved it and has asked me to get one for her down at Esperance. Esperance is quite a big place and if one is a bit dithery, NavMan is well worth having. But I reckon she just wants to show off to the grandkids.
Helen, our daughter is starting to panic about a teaching position for the 2009 year. She rang this morning asking me to contact a friend in staffing at the Dept. I am a little hesitant to put on him as we rarely talk and I haven't actually met up with him in about 15 years. Might put it off until tomorrow in the hope that she receives a posting in today's mail.
Joan and I never argue and for the 43 years of our marriage have had very few bad words. There is just one thing that is a little competition between us and that is the placement of the paper towel roll on the stand. The stand was given to me by an ex-student who was brain damaged in a car accident. Anyway, when I see that the paper towel has finished I get to place it on the holder with the leader on the right hand side.....makes sense, both of us are right handed! Joan on the other hand prefers to tear the towel from the left?? I haven't dared flip the roll over when she has put the new roll on.
This morning we received a call from the travel agent who booked our South Pacific cruise leaving Sydney on the 28th January. She rang to offer us an upgrade of a much better cabin at a cost of $100 each. We took the offer. I reckon there are people a lot smarter than us who realised that January is the South Pacific cyclone season and decided not to book a cruise at this time and thus the availability of more cabins?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sandgropers
We have my sister Shirley staying with us for a few days. She is up in Perth from Esperance. Esperance is a nice seaside town (is it a city?) which is a day's drive south. The airfare is $400+ return. She is up here for a 70th birthday celebration of a long time neighbour from when she and her family lived in Wattle Grove. She is also here to buy lots of clothes, shoes and bling.
We loaned her one of our cars and a SatNav to get to the party house which was a further 37 kilometres north of here. I gave careful instructions on how to press the Home button to get instructions to return home today. I guess we will get a phone call if she can't work that out.
This morning I removed a passionfruit vine from a large terracotta pot. It hasn't had one flower and there were many root stock shoots crowding the pot. As I was pulling it out I found a gopher cricket, or as we call them here, a Sandgroper. They are an amazing little animal and their tunnelling is done with two very strong 'paddles' each side of the face. Read about these beauties here. We have another two Passionfruit in large pots and although they are both healthy, only one of them is setting fruit. One of the vines has flowers but very little pollen and unfortunately both vines flower at different times.
Residents of Western Australia are colloqially called 'Sandgropers'. I guess each state has similar, but I can only think of another two at the moment......Crow Eaters are South Australians and Banana Benders are Queenslanders.
We loaned her one of our cars and a SatNav to get to the party house which was a further 37 kilometres north of here. I gave careful instructions on how to press the Home button to get instructions to return home today. I guess we will get a phone call if she can't work that out.
This morning I removed a passionfruit vine from a large terracotta pot. It hasn't had one flower and there were many root stock shoots crowding the pot. As I was pulling it out I found a gopher cricket, or as we call them here, a Sandgroper. They are an amazing little animal and their tunnelling is done with two very strong 'paddles' each side of the face. Read about these beauties here. We have another two Passionfruit in large pots and although they are both healthy, only one of them is setting fruit. One of the vines has flowers but very little pollen and unfortunately both vines flower at different times.
Residents of Western Australia are colloqially called 'Sandgropers'. I guess each state has similar, but I can only think of another two at the moment......Crow Eaters are South Australians and Banana Benders are Queenslanders.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
W.A. Teacher shortage
In today's daily newspaper there is an article telling of the teacher shortage in Western Australian government schools. The Education Dept is down around 170 teachers as the start of the school year approaches. This is very hard to understand as our daughter Helen and no doubt hundreds of other teachers still do not have notice of their 2009 placement and indeed if they even have a job this year.
There are permanent teachers and temporary teachers. Helen is a 'temp'. It is quite difficult to become a permanent teacher. There are three avenues to permanency as I see it. 1. You select a country school with the flies and the heat and cold with often poor accommodation and stay there for a few years. 2. You can ask to be sent to a school which is difficult to staff. In other words a school in a poor area with difficult students and parents. The third way to gain permanency is to apply for a position in a school offering Merit Selection. Not many schools offer Merit Selection and quite often the position offered is already marked for someone. There are many female teachers who remain temporary because of family or other commitments.
So, are these teachers, the temps, counted in that 170? Many teaching positions are notified within days of the start of the school year. Thank goodness Joan and Kev were always permanent and didn't have that hanging over us up until the day before the start of the school year.
Helen has been looking at other jobs and one I pointed out to her was at the U.S. Consulate in Perth. The job was an Executive Officer and the salary started at $87,000 per year with nice working conditions etc. The job was well within Helen's experience, having worked in a similar position at BHP for a number of years. When we came to read the Selection Criteria it was obvious that the job was written for someone already in the job. The education level was High School! This high-flight job should demand at least a degree, with some business quals. Damn!
There are permanent teachers and temporary teachers. Helen is a 'temp'. It is quite difficult to become a permanent teacher. There are three avenues to permanency as I see it. 1. You select a country school with the flies and the heat and cold with often poor accommodation and stay there for a few years. 2. You can ask to be sent to a school which is difficult to staff. In other words a school in a poor area with difficult students and parents. The third way to gain permanency is to apply for a position in a school offering Merit Selection. Not many schools offer Merit Selection and quite often the position offered is already marked for someone. There are many female teachers who remain temporary because of family or other commitments.
So, are these teachers, the temps, counted in that 170? Many teaching positions are notified within days of the start of the school year. Thank goodness Joan and Kev were always permanent and didn't have that hanging over us up until the day before the start of the school year.
Helen has been looking at other jobs and one I pointed out to her was at the U.S. Consulate in Perth. The job was an Executive Officer and the salary started at $87,000 per year with nice working conditions etc. The job was well within Helen's experience, having worked in a similar position at BHP for a number of years. When we came to read the Selection Criteria it was obvious that the job was written for someone already in the job. The education level was High School! This high-flight job should demand at least a degree, with some business quals. Damn!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The perfect tourist
must have a camera around his neck.
I saw this Tshirt today and bought it for Kevin to wear on the cruise. I am not sure if he actually will - but he at least tried it on.
I saw this Tshirt today and bought it for Kevin to wear on the cruise. I am not sure if he actually will - but he at least tried it on.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Beware of Dutchmen bearing gifts
Way back in 1974 we were teaching in Popondetta in Papua New Guinea. I was manager of Popondetta Vocational Centre and Joan was head of the Girls Voc. Section. We went on leave to Australia at the end of '74 and returned to Popondetta to find that one of my staff, 'Dutchy' had damaged our car. A front mudguard was ironed out flat by a steel power pole. Dutchy was contrite and gave me a Black and Decker bench grinder. I accepted the bribe as I was restoring a WW2 Jeep left in the area by departing military. That grinder, with wire wheel on one side, did stirling work on old Jeep parts found around the place. When we left PNG in late 1975 we packed it and it has seen much more work up until yesterday.
You will note the the sturdy metal construction and the bakelite on/off switch (non standard).
Yesterday I noticed that the switch had cracked and would no longer work. Easy, I'll just replace it with another.
WorkSafe safety covers.
When I removed the switch I pulled the wires further out of the hole to attach a new switch and that's when I found the bare wires. In all those 34 years the bare wires had not come into contact with the metal body of the grinder. Now that deserves a Lotto ticket!
I will rewire it and install a suitable, safe switch.
Just recently I have noticed a number of burned cars at various roadside locations. Abandoned cars usually have their plates removed and after a few days get a notice stuck to the body saying that this 'vehicle has been reported'. That is also the death notice for the car...windows smashed, parts taken and just recently arson attacks. I guess it's fair game if the car is really abandoned. I'd be pretty unhappy if my car was left on the roadside after it was stolen and nobody checked who it belonged to.
Even when the plates are removed a vehicle is easily traced from the chassis and engine numbers. Begs the question; why don't the authorities trace the owners and charge them for the disposal? Up until a couple of months ago a car body could be collected by a scrap merchant and $100 cash given to the owner. Maybe somebody in authority was pocketing the scrap metal money?
You will note the the sturdy metal construction and the bakelite on/off switch (non standard).
Yesterday I noticed that the switch had cracked and would no longer work. Easy, I'll just replace it with another.
WorkSafe safety covers.When I removed the switch I pulled the wires further out of the hole to attach a new switch and that's when I found the bare wires. In all those 34 years the bare wires had not come into contact with the metal body of the grinder. Now that deserves a Lotto ticket!
I will rewire it and install a suitable, safe switch.
Just recently I have noticed a number of burned cars at various roadside locations. Abandoned cars usually have their plates removed and after a few days get a notice stuck to the body saying that this 'vehicle has been reported'. That is also the death notice for the car...windows smashed, parts taken and just recently arson attacks. I guess it's fair game if the car is really abandoned. I'd be pretty unhappy if my car was left on the roadside after it was stolen and nobody checked who it belonged to.
Even when the plates are removed a vehicle is easily traced from the chassis and engine numbers. Begs the question; why don't the authorities trace the owners and charge them for the disposal? Up until a couple of months ago a car body could be collected by a scrap merchant and $100 cash given to the owner. Maybe somebody in authority was pocketing the scrap metal money?
Friday, January 9, 2009
IT stuff
One of our local free newspapers did a story on my efforts to distribute free computers to locals. The reporter talked with me at length and I gave him my contact details and sat back waiting for the phone calls to come....nothing! I went and picked up a paper at the local shopping centre and the article was pretty accurate, but no contact details. When I rang them they apologised and muttered something about their policy of not giving out phone numbers to all and sundry. They seemed reluctant to do another short follow-up, so I asked if they would print a letter to the editor which included my contact details and it seems that that will be OK. So I wrote to the editor thanking him for the article and mentioning that I still have lots of free computers and people interested could call me on our phone number. We'll see if it works.
I did get two phone calls about the computers; one from the office of the Federal Member for Fremantle. She is supposedly interested in local efforts like this and will write me a letter of thanks. I'd like her to take a couple of computers. The other phone call was from a lady who wanted me to collect an old PC. I agreed to collect it and although the PC is rather old and slow the monitor and attached speakers are very nice.
Today I received the two black ink cartridges I ordered from Hong Kong. They work well and are just a fraction of the price of originals here in Aus. Total cost including postage was $11.59. Best price I could find in Aus. was $29 each plus postage.
Now something quite different.....find the Nude Dude
I did get two phone calls about the computers; one from the office of the Federal Member for Fremantle. She is supposedly interested in local efforts like this and will write me a letter of thanks. I'd like her to take a couple of computers. The other phone call was from a lady who wanted me to collect an old PC. I agreed to collect it and although the PC is rather old and slow the monitor and attached speakers are very nice.
Today I received the two black ink cartridges I ordered from Hong Kong. They work well and are just a fraction of the price of originals here in Aus. Total cost including postage was $11.59. Best price I could find in Aus. was $29 each plus postage.
Now something quite different.....find the Nude Dude
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
43 years
Kevin Arthur Lock and Joan Lilian McHugh were married at Wesley Church, Perth at 4 pm Friday January 7, 1966.
Check Joan's blog for further information
Check Joan's blog for further information
Monday, January 5, 2009
Big Brother
Today I was trolling through blogs through the 'next blog' tab on Blogger and came across an American family who are into shooting the watsaname out of deer. At the top of their blog is a sort of counter which shows who has been looking at their blog and all the details of their ISP and indeed the computer system and browser used. Ours showed up.
If that information is easily seen, then all those people who are accessing naughty stuff should be worried. So if you are into devious stuff on the internet, open your computer case, take out the hard drive, find out where Main Roads is doing highway repairs and surreptitiously toss the HD under a road roller, go to a computer shop and buy a new one and install your Operating System again. If you don't know how to do that, then start worrying.
*******************************************************************************************
Our daughter Helen has not yet been offered a school for next year. She has been in the system for a few years now and is a bit jacked off that she doesn't know what school she will be offered for the 2009 school year. It could be a bogan school with lots of anti-establishment parents and kids that usually appear on 'The Nanny' on TV. The appointments are as late as a couple of days before the school year. So she is applying for an executive type job with one of Australia's big players; Kerry Stokes. Her resume reads very well and she has a shoe-in having met Stoke's Employment Officer socially a few days ago. Go Hel!
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I have recently ordered a couple of black cartridges to suit my HP Photosmart D5360 printer from Hong Kong. The best price I could find in Australia was $29.95 plus postage.
The HK price was $1.25 each and $9.00 postage for two carts. I shall report on the quality of the print. Our HP photosmart printer has a warning message when I refill the cartridges with bulk ink...'It appears that you have used a fake cartridge' or something similar.
If that information is easily seen, then all those people who are accessing naughty stuff should be worried. So if you are into devious stuff on the internet, open your computer case, take out the hard drive, find out where Main Roads is doing highway repairs and surreptitiously toss the HD under a road roller, go to a computer shop and buy a new one and install your Operating System again. If you don't know how to do that, then start worrying.
*******************************************************************************************
Our daughter Helen has not yet been offered a school for next year. She has been in the system for a few years now and is a bit jacked off that she doesn't know what school she will be offered for the 2009 school year. It could be a bogan school with lots of anti-establishment parents and kids that usually appear on 'The Nanny' on TV. The appointments are as late as a couple of days before the school year. So she is applying for an executive type job with one of Australia's big players; Kerry Stokes. Her resume reads very well and she has a shoe-in having met Stoke's Employment Officer socially a few days ago. Go Hel!
*******************************************************************************************
I have recently ordered a couple of black cartridges to suit my HP Photosmart D5360 printer from Hong Kong. The best price I could find in Australia was $29.95 plus postage.
The HK price was $1.25 each and $9.00 postage for two carts. I shall report on the quality of the print. Our HP photosmart printer has a warning message when I refill the cartridges with bulk ink...'It appears that you have used a fake cartridge' or something similar.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Kilroy and Foo were both there!
During WW2 Kilroy appeared everywhere U.S. troops were stationed; even in battlefields. His Australian cousin was Foo. They looked identical and were usually depicted peering over a wall.
Kilroy is even engraved into the wall at the WW2 Memorial in Washington DC.
There is a movement in the U.S. to have the U.S. Postal service strike a ‘Kilroy was here’ stamp. Patrick Tillery is pushing for the postage stamp, but has not yet been successful. Maybe next year we will see something like this on letters from the U.S.?
Wikipedia has a story on Kilroy and his cousins here.
We have Magpies back again. There is one young fella who makes a very loud noise when he wants to be fed. He can fly well and is bigger that his mother and can eat himself, but it seems that mum won’t let him and she still feeds him. Maybe this is some precaution against him eating something potentially bad until he knows what’s what?
How do I know it is a He? Because he reminds me of our son who still gets sustenance from us at the age of 37.
Kilroy is even engraved into the wall at the WW2 Memorial in Washington DC.
There is a movement in the U.S. to have the U.S. Postal service strike a ‘Kilroy was here’ stamp. Patrick Tillery is pushing for the postage stamp, but has not yet been successful. Maybe next year we will see something like this on letters from the U.S.?
Wikipedia has a story on Kilroy and his cousins here.We have Magpies back again. There is one young fella who makes a very loud noise when he wants to be fed. He can fly well and is bigger that his mother and can eat himself, but it seems that mum won’t let him and she still feeds him. Maybe this is some precaution against him eating something potentially bad until he knows what’s what?
How do I know it is a He? Because he reminds me of our son who still gets sustenance from us at the age of 37.Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's Eve
New Years Eve went quietly at our place. Our guests have been celebrating the New Year at our place for the last few years. This year John was absent. I usually take a group photo, but last night I didn't. At our age, any future photos of NY celebration could start to look like the photos from Back to the Future with fading images of individuals.
I would hope that this year brings peace and goodwill to all, however peace is not on the agenda for about 10 war torn countries and when they settle down, other countries will no doubt be involved in new wars.
Yesterday I received, along with 25 others in a group mailing, an email titled 'It's Our Country' which tells refugees and other immigrants to go away if they don't like Australia and the way we run it. Unfortunately one of the paragraphs is lifted from a similar rant about immigrants in the U.S.. See here:
In God We Trust' is our National Motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you
consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.
I can't think what our National Motto could be but it certainly isn't 'In God We Trust'.
I would hope that this year brings peace and goodwill to all, however peace is not on the agenda for about 10 war torn countries and when they settle down, other countries will no doubt be involved in new wars.
Yesterday I received, along with 25 others in a group mailing, an email titled 'It's Our Country' which tells refugees and other immigrants to go away if they don't like Australia and the way we run it. Unfortunately one of the paragraphs is lifted from a similar rant about immigrants in the U.S.. See here:
In God We Trust' is our National Motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you
consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.
I can't think what our National Motto could be but it certainly isn't 'In God We Trust'.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Coal versus Hydro
In today's local paper there is a news story about a decommissioned hydro-electricity power plant at the south west town of Collie. The power station was decommissioned after it was flooded in 2000. The government gifted it to the National trust as a heritage site.
They never thought that would come back and bite them.
The Trust chief executive, Tom Perrigo is a go-getter and has asked the Heritage Minister for $4.8 million to get it running again to feed power into the grid. Collie is a big producer of coal; that nasty stuff we should stop using, but will continue to use at the Collie power station at a rate of 1 million tonnes a year. Griffin Coal, the Collie miner, is also building another two coal-fired power stations at Collie. Is this what is meant by carbon trading???
Over the weekend a man was taken by a white pointer shark. Only some scraps of his wetsuit have been found. His family don't want authorites to do away with the shark as the man was in the shark's environment. Fair enough, but what of other swimmers and divers. I am sure that sharks are no different to other fish, birds, insects and animals. They will return to a known source of food. I wont be going diving at Port Kennedy.
I have at last replicated the 1950/60s recipe for chilli Beef eaten by many hundreds of customers at Pals hamburger bar at Canning Bridge. Pals was an instituion and people travelled from all over the metro area to eat at their Canning Bridge site. Unfortunately when the Kwinana Freeway was extended, Pals had to close down. My friend Dennis pleaded with the owners to get their recipe, but unfortunately they decided to take it to the grave.
Here is my version:
Canning Bridge Chilli
Ingredients:
1kg casserole beef
1 large onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
3 tablespoons of oil or (authentically use beef dripping)
fresh chillies or chilli powder (you decide your own fire)
1 each teaspoon of cumin and oregano
tomato sauce
500ml beef stock
1kg of casserole steak diced; floured with salt/pepper seasoning.
Fry steak in oil until rich brown
add onions and garlic and saute
add 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano
cover with beef stock
add chillies or chilli powder to suit heat
simmer until meat is falling apart.
add a small amount of tomato sauce to taste
They never thought that would come back and bite them.
The Trust chief executive, Tom Perrigo is a go-getter and has asked the Heritage Minister for $4.8 million to get it running again to feed power into the grid. Collie is a big producer of coal; that nasty stuff we should stop using, but will continue to use at the Collie power station at a rate of 1 million tonnes a year. Griffin Coal, the Collie miner, is also building another two coal-fired power stations at Collie. Is this what is meant by carbon trading???
Over the weekend a man was taken by a white pointer shark. Only some scraps of his wetsuit have been found. His family don't want authorites to do away with the shark as the man was in the shark's environment. Fair enough, but what of other swimmers and divers. I am sure that sharks are no different to other fish, birds, insects and animals. They will return to a known source of food. I wont be going diving at Port Kennedy.
I have at last replicated the 1950/60s recipe for chilli Beef eaten by many hundreds of customers at Pals hamburger bar at Canning Bridge. Pals was an instituion and people travelled from all over the metro area to eat at their Canning Bridge site. Unfortunately when the Kwinana Freeway was extended, Pals had to close down. My friend Dennis pleaded with the owners to get their recipe, but unfortunately they decided to take it to the grave.
Here is my version:
Canning Bridge Chilli
Ingredients:
1kg casserole beef
1 large onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
3 tablespoons of oil or (authentically use beef dripping)
fresh chillies or chilli powder (you decide your own fire)
1 each teaspoon of cumin and oregano
tomato sauce
500ml beef stock
1kg of casserole steak diced; floured with salt/pepper seasoning.
Fry steak in oil until rich brown
add onions and garlic and saute
add 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano
cover with beef stock
add chillies or chilli powder to suit heat
simmer until meat is falling apart.
add a small amount of tomato sauce to taste
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is an emotional word. Right-to-lifers spring out of the woodwork at the casual mention of the word. I am unsure if I would have the courage to top myself when the time comes.
It is argued that we would not keep a pet animal in the state we keep our loved ones.
Today I made the decision to stop the continual suffering; the daily stress of extreme heat and cooling nights. At the morning a rejuvenated one wilts almost to death at the rising of the sun.
So it was time to let my potted silverbeet go. I gave it every chance of survival; plenty of water, a shift under shade, but in the end I gave in and did the deed.
Christmas Day was a good time to catch up with rellies and consume enough seafood, ham and Christmas pud to feed a large village in Zimbabwe. Brother Graham did us proud with his pièce de résistance, a large dish of seviche; Mackerel pickled in lemon juice with garlic, spring onions and chilli. Yum!
Graham works for a large seafood wholesaler and as a bonus the boss gave him a large ham, a few kilograms of freshly cooked prawns and some good folding money. He had already bought a large ham and that was gifted to us as leftovers. I am rapidly getting over ham and there is still a heap of it left.
We were last to leave at around 5pm.
The mob. Our son Martin had already left to go on to another show.
It is argued that we would not keep a pet animal in the state we keep our loved ones.
Today I made the decision to stop the continual suffering; the daily stress of extreme heat and cooling nights. At the morning a rejuvenated one wilts almost to death at the rising of the sun.
So it was time to let my potted silverbeet go. I gave it every chance of survival; plenty of water, a shift under shade, but in the end I gave in and did the deed.
Christmas Day was a good time to catch up with rellies and consume enough seafood, ham and Christmas pud to feed a large village in Zimbabwe. Brother Graham did us proud with his pièce de résistance, a large dish of seviche; Mackerel pickled in lemon juice with garlic, spring onions and chilli. Yum!
Graham works for a large seafood wholesaler and as a bonus the boss gave him a large ham, a few kilograms of freshly cooked prawns and some good folding money. He had already bought a large ham and that was gifted to us as leftovers. I am rapidly getting over ham and there is still a heap of it left.
We were last to leave at around 5pm.
The mob. Our son Martin had already left to go on to another show.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Day
Monday's dinner party went very well....good food, good company and conversation.
Today, Christmas Day, is the big one. Brother Graham has gone all out with preparations and food. Should be a great day. I believe there are around 20 guests and I will take a group photo when everyone has eaten.
We gave each other our gifts after breakfast. As usual Joan is the one with the creative ideas and she gave me a book, another of the series by local chap, John Dowson called 'Old Fremantle Children'. I taught with John at Willeton SHS and had contributed some old photographs to a major project he completed a few years ago titled "Old Fremantle'. Thanks Joan.
The other present was a solid silver chain for a coin that I wear around my neck. I noticed it went missing a couple of days ago after I had left it on the basin after showering. She had whisked it off to a jeweller to have the chain fitted. That coin is a South African 2/- piece my grandfather Maurice Lee brought back from the Boer war. He wore it as a watch fob and promised to leave it to me when he 'coughed it'. Thanks Joan.
I 'gave' Joan a new handbag and wallet. Naturally she selected both as I have no clue about these things. When she opened her present I was pleasantly surprised that I had selected well.
Christmas Day morning is a bit stressful for Joan as there is no newspaper delivery. She purposely set aside a portion of yesterday's paper to read today. Joan devours the paper and books at a great rate. I reckon she even reads the page numbers. She is a good reference to refer to if I have occasion to remember some detail that I skimmed over in the daily.
Today, Christmas Day, is the big one. Brother Graham has gone all out with preparations and food. Should be a great day. I believe there are around 20 guests and I will take a group photo when everyone has eaten.
We gave each other our gifts after breakfast. As usual Joan is the one with the creative ideas and she gave me a book, another of the series by local chap, John Dowson called 'Old Fremantle Children'. I taught with John at Willeton SHS and had contributed some old photographs to a major project he completed a few years ago titled "Old Fremantle'. Thanks Joan.
The other present was a solid silver chain for a coin that I wear around my neck. I noticed it went missing a couple of days ago after I had left it on the basin after showering. She had whisked it off to a jeweller to have the chain fitted. That coin is a South African 2/- piece my grandfather Maurice Lee brought back from the Boer war. He wore it as a watch fob and promised to leave it to me when he 'coughed it'. Thanks Joan.
I 'gave' Joan a new handbag and wallet. Naturally she selected both as I have no clue about these things. When she opened her present I was pleasantly surprised that I had selected well.
Christmas Day morning is a bit stressful for Joan as there is no newspaper delivery. She purposely set aside a portion of yesterday's paper to read today. Joan devours the paper and books at a great rate. I reckon she even reads the page numbers. She is a good reference to refer to if I have occasion to remember some detail that I skimmed over in the daily.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Dinner Party
We are hosting a curry night tonight for our next door neighbours and another couple we know through Joan's fabric endeavours. Joan knows Juliet through the group Designing Women.
Joan is also in another four groups: Innovative Stitches, Contemporary Quilt Group, Husqvarna Sewing Club and Secret Drawer. She has been a member of the latter for over 20 years.
Joan has cooked three curries which are not from canned pastes and a sample of each shows the difference in flavours to the commercial curry pastes. Wonderful. There is a Beef Vindaloo, a chicken curry and a vegetable curry.
The male guests have not met before and it will be interesting to see where the conversation goes. Dave, our neighbour, runs a very successful environmental composting business near a massive piggery. Juliet's husband Chris is a 'Mud Engineer'. There is probably a more formal title than that, but he 'builds' the mud that goes down the bore hole on oil rigs. This work has taken their family all over the world for a couple of years at a time.
A party like this gives the house a good clean up. We found much dust and grease which we wouldn't have noticed without the clean-up. Brother is going through the same preparations for the family Christmas Day show at his place.
On brother Graham; he recently took delivery of a surround sound system for his plasma TV. Very nice too. We set it up and had trouble getting all speakers to work. Solution; call in the kids! In this case Graham called in his 16 year old grandson and it was all done in about an hour. Sounds great. Maybe I'll get one too.....not the grandson...the surround sound system.
Joan is also in another four groups: Innovative Stitches, Contemporary Quilt Group, Husqvarna Sewing Club and Secret Drawer. She has been a member of the latter for over 20 years.
Joan has cooked three curries which are not from canned pastes and a sample of each shows the difference in flavours to the commercial curry pastes. Wonderful. There is a Beef Vindaloo, a chicken curry and a vegetable curry.
The male guests have not met before and it will be interesting to see where the conversation goes. Dave, our neighbour, runs a very successful environmental composting business near a massive piggery. Juliet's husband Chris is a 'Mud Engineer'. There is probably a more formal title than that, but he 'builds' the mud that goes down the bore hole on oil rigs. This work has taken their family all over the world for a couple of years at a time.
A party like this gives the house a good clean up. We found much dust and grease which we wouldn't have noticed without the clean-up. Brother is going through the same preparations for the family Christmas Day show at his place.
On brother Graham; he recently took delivery of a surround sound system for his plasma TV. Very nice too. We set it up and had trouble getting all speakers to work. Solution; call in the kids! In this case Graham called in his 16 year old grandson and it was all done in about an hour. Sounds great. Maybe I'll get one too.....not the grandson...the surround sound system.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
New storage shelving
After selling a couple of pieces at an art show, Joan spent some of the money buying a shelving system for her workshop. The system is made in Switzerland and very well designed. There is a top rail which is anchored to the wall directly below the ceiling cornice. That rail has a hooked edge on which the vertical shelf supports lock into. The actual shelf arms clip into the verticals and the wire shelving clips into the supports. It is similar to a 1980s shelving called Ladderax.
The top rail is the only piece which is attached to the wall. All the rest remains in place helped by the weight of the shelves and the bits on them. Simple, but good.
I don't know how well this would support the weight if it was used on wallboard or plasterboard.
The top rail is the only piece which is attached to the wall. All the rest remains in place helped by the weight of the shelves and the bits on them. Simple, but good.
I don't know how well this would support the weight if it was used on wallboard or plasterboard.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Bridal Train
A local group, The Waifs, hail from Albany. Two sisters and a very talented guitarist make up the group. They have been very successful on the world and Australian stage.
One of their pieces is the Bridal Train telling the story of the girls' grandmother who as a WW2 bride made the trip on the Bridal Train from Perth to Sydney to join others to travel on the Monterey to meet their 'Yankee Sailors' and their families.
It is a moving piece even if the Australian accent is a little overdone. The story of the Bridal Train can be found here.
A video on You Tube lets you hear The Bridal Train. The video images hardly relate to the song, but it is a good listen.
We knew another couple; Homer White, a USN submariner and his Australian wife who resettled in Darwin and then Albany. Homer and his wife were well-known in Albany and almost certainly knew the girls' grandmother and husband after they returned to Australia two and a half years after settling in the U.S.
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In Western Australia there is only one oil refinery, owned by BP. Tomorrow BP service stations are jacking up the price of Petrol by around ten cents a litre. Other oil companies have to buy their fuel from BP, but manage to keep fuel at the lower price. BP are always dearer and have no shopper- docket loyalty schemes. Price gouging?
One of their pieces is the Bridal Train telling the story of the girls' grandmother who as a WW2 bride made the trip on the Bridal Train from Perth to Sydney to join others to travel on the Monterey to meet their 'Yankee Sailors' and their families.
It is a moving piece even if the Australian accent is a little overdone. The story of the Bridal Train can be found here.
A video on You Tube lets you hear The Bridal Train. The video images hardly relate to the song, but it is a good listen.
We knew another couple; Homer White, a USN submariner and his Australian wife who resettled in Darwin and then Albany. Homer and his wife were well-known in Albany and almost certainly knew the girls' grandmother and husband after they returned to Australia two and a half years after settling in the U.S.
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In Western Australia there is only one oil refinery, owned by BP. Tomorrow BP service stations are jacking up the price of Petrol by around ten cents a litre. Other oil companies have to buy their fuel from BP, but manage to keep fuel at the lower price. BP are always dearer and have no shopper- docket loyalty schemes. Price gouging?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Australia the movie
Last evening we went to the movies to see Australia. It was a charity screening and I wasn't keen on sitting still for 2.5 hours. I haven't been to the movies for a couple of years and it would have to be a better show than this to get me back again.
The theatre air conditioning was not working and it was stiflingly hot. I had forgotten that the main feature is preceded by about 15 adverts....just like commercial TV, but thankfully all at once.
I had read reviews about the film. None praised it. I gave it a 5/10.
I am a bit of a recent-history buff and to see Japanese ground troops on an island just off Darwin left me bewildered. No Japanese troops landed on Australian soil. The movie was pure formula with romance, fist fights, villains, lovable drunks and a bit of aboriginal magic thrown in. The young mixed-race ('creamy') lad manages to stop a stampede of cattle as they rush to the edge of a cliff simply by staring them down.
There were some very good bits to this epic, but it should not have been named Australia suggesting that it was somehow a historic portrayal. Faraway Downs, the fictional station of the story would have been an adequate name.
The theatre air conditioning was not working and it was stiflingly hot. I had forgotten that the main feature is preceded by about 15 adverts....just like commercial TV, but thankfully all at once.
I had read reviews about the film. None praised it. I gave it a 5/10.
I am a bit of a recent-history buff and to see Japanese ground troops on an island just off Darwin left me bewildered. No Japanese troops landed on Australian soil. The movie was pure formula with romance, fist fights, villains, lovable drunks and a bit of aboriginal magic thrown in. The young mixed-race ('creamy') lad manages to stop a stampede of cattle as they rush to the edge of a cliff simply by staring them down.
There were some very good bits to this epic, but it should not have been named Australia suggesting that it was somehow a historic portrayal. Faraway Downs, the fictional station of the story would have been an adequate name.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Fuel Vouchers
Coles and Woolworths, the main supermarket chains in Aus give fuel discount vouchers of $0.04 off a litre of fuel for shopping bills of over $30. Joan spies out other deals such as the Coles' liquor stores where purchases of a half dozen bottles of wine give a 20c discount per litre on fuel at Coles Express service stations. Fuel has dropped dramatically over the past few weeks and the 20c per litre discount really makes this deal worthwhile.
Joan gave me a Coles' docket a couple of days ago and I have been holding out on filling up until I am almost empty. Today was the day and I cruised into the service station and squeezed as many litres in as I could and fronted the cash register to proudly present my 20c off discount voucher. This was the first time about about a year that the bowser meter clicked over with litres and dollars in unison.
'This is a Coles voucher' said the lass behind the counter at the Woolworths' service station. 'Oh OK' I said trying not to look like I wasn't the 69 year old dimwit that I am. I paid by card the full amount and now will have to use up that tank full on a trip to Kalgoorlie to take advantage of the discount before the voucher expires on December 17th.
Joan gave me a Coles' docket a couple of days ago and I have been holding out on filling up until I am almost empty. Today was the day and I cruised into the service station and squeezed as many litres in as I could and fronted the cash register to proudly present my 20c off discount voucher. This was the first time about about a year that the bowser meter clicked over with litres and dollars in unison.
'This is a Coles voucher' said the lass behind the counter at the Woolworths' service station. 'Oh OK' I said trying not to look like I wasn't the 69 year old dimwit that I am. I paid by card the full amount and now will have to use up that tank full on a trip to Kalgoorlie to take advantage of the discount before the voucher expires on December 17th.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Beef Chilli
Our Australian Prime Minister is riding the highs in the popularity stakes.
Just today he announced, at a meeting in Indonesia, that Australia is to give Indonesian a billion dollars Aus to promote democracy. I confess to not knowing excreta from clay, but Indonesia recently ordered Russian submarines and helicopters etc. See here. Democracy does come at a high price!
My friend Dennis and I have been on a long-time project to replicate a chilli beef dish which was very popular at a hamburger bar at Canning Bridge in the 1950s. He has claimed to have cracked the recipe and I have tried many times to do so too. Memories are funny things....we remember the same things about what was served and even the deposits on the white china bowls, but even though we have come close we have not been succesful. Today we discussed it at length and decided that the cuisine of the day didn't include fancy sauces and the chilli was probably made from skirt steak with plenty of fat and some raw chillies. To that end I bought some gravy beef and some chillies and did a long, slow cook with beef, chillies, onions and a little gravy powder.
The result is as close as poo is to swearing! I reckon I have cracked it and will take a sample of my CB Chilli for Dennis to try. In such a competitive atmosphere I am not sure he will admit to my success.
Just today he announced, at a meeting in Indonesia, that Australia is to give Indonesian a billion dollars Aus to promote democracy. I confess to not knowing excreta from clay, but Indonesia recently ordered Russian submarines and helicopters etc. See here. Democracy does come at a high price!
My friend Dennis and I have been on a long-time project to replicate a chilli beef dish which was very popular at a hamburger bar at Canning Bridge in the 1950s. He has claimed to have cracked the recipe and I have tried many times to do so too. Memories are funny things....we remember the same things about what was served and even the deposits on the white china bowls, but even though we have come close we have not been succesful. Today we discussed it at length and decided that the cuisine of the day didn't include fancy sauces and the chilli was probably made from skirt steak with plenty of fat and some raw chillies. To that end I bought some gravy beef and some chillies and did a long, slow cook with beef, chillies, onions and a little gravy powder.
The result is as close as poo is to swearing! I reckon I have cracked it and will take a sample of my CB Chilli for Dennis to try. In such a competitive atmosphere I am not sure he will admit to my success.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Xmas Day
Brother Graham has claimed the right to hosting families on Christmas Day. A bit of bidding was done to determine who makes what for the feeding frenzy. Bro wanted a Christmas Pudding and Joan decided that she would make it and another fruit salad for our contribution; I will do my share and bring the wine. We have not had a Xmas pud for years; in fact the last time we had one it contained 'zacs' (three-penny pieces) pronounced 'thruppences'. The spell checker didn't like those words!
Joan made the pudding yesterday and it took most of the day to mix up and cook. After mixing up loads of fruit and cake ingredients it was ladled into a pudding bowl, the lid tied down and boiled in water for 8 hours. It looks great. Once cooled down it was wrapped in cling-wrap and put in the fridge until the day. The instructions say to give it another two hours of boiling before serving.
The pudding bowl reminds me of Norman Lindsay's Magic Puddin, a devious little pud who replenished itself after every serving. Need a few of them for starving Africans.
Read about Lindsay and the Puddin here.
Joan made the pudding yesterday and it took most of the day to mix up and cook. After mixing up loads of fruit and cake ingredients it was ladled into a pudding bowl, the lid tied down and boiled in water for 8 hours. It looks great. Once cooled down it was wrapped in cling-wrap and put in the fridge until the day. The instructions say to give it another two hours of boiling before serving.
The pudding bowl reminds me of Norman Lindsay's Magic Puddin, a devious little pud who replenished itself after every serving. Need a few of them for starving Africans.
Read about Lindsay and the Puddin here.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Making Sushi
We bought a rice maker last weekend because it was on sale and really cheap . We had one years ago, but rarely used it because it was so large. You had to cook a minimum of 3 cups of raw rice. It went to the Good Sammies, and I hope a larger family got good use from it.This one will cook a minimum of 160g raw rice. We eat a lot of rice, but there is only the two of us, so this seemed a good deal. We have used it twice this week, so it is earning its keep.
Kev decided he wanted to make sushi (inspired by Paul a couple of days ago). I had made some in the past, so we might have some of the ingredients.
I looked in the pantry. I had short grain rice. I had sugar and rice vinegar. I had a package of nori (seaweed) sheets - but what was this use by date? Had I really kept this for nearly 20 years?!!
Into the bin it went and the shopping list was amended.We had sushi for dinner tonight. The filling was prawns, cucumber and carrot, with a squirt of QT mayonnaise, and wasabi, ginger and soy on the side. Two sheets of nori and a cup of rice is more than enough for the two of us.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
people I would like to meet before I go
I have just watched an interview between Kerry O'Brien and Woody Allen on the 7.30 report (ABC Australia). I have always loved Allen's movies and his sense of humour. He came over very well in the interview, self depreciating and warm. I thought I had most of his movies on tape and was surprised to hear that he has made 44 movies. He doesn't believe that he is an artist just a lucky film maker. Yeah!
Love The Purple Rose of Cairo starring his last wife Mia Farrow.
The other filmaker I would like to sit down with and share a drink with is Mel Brooks. He is quite a different character ... more along the lines of the three stooges. Mel manages to slot in some German soldiers into most of his comedies.
Both these blokes are Jewish and that shines through in their comedies. Sometimes I feel that there might be some Jewishness in my background. My cousin thinks he has traced it way back to our roots.
I recall an interview with an old Jew who was a farmer in the W.A. wheatbelt. He was asked about his plans for the future and he replied...'At my age I don't even buy green bananas'.
Love The Purple Rose of Cairo starring his last wife Mia Farrow.
The other filmaker I would like to sit down with and share a drink with is Mel Brooks. He is quite a different character ... more along the lines of the three stooges. Mel manages to slot in some German soldiers into most of his comedies.
Both these blokes are Jewish and that shines through in their comedies. Sometimes I feel that there might be some Jewishness in my background. My cousin thinks he has traced it way back to our roots.
I recall an interview with an old Jew who was a farmer in the W.A. wheatbelt. He was asked about his plans for the future and he replied...'At my age I don't even buy green bananas'.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Infanticide in NG Highlands
In today's West Australian newspaper there is a report about infanticide in the New Guinea Highlands. It seems that women from opposing warring clans have been killing their newborn sons to stop another generation of fighters disrupting everyday life in the villages. They figure that if there are fewer men, there will be far less fighting. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. There aren't a lot of women out there starting wars.
The report quoted two women from opposing clans, Rona Luke and Kipyona Belas who said...'Male infanticide reduced the cyclical payback violence infamous in Highlands' tribal fights'. Not bad for unsophisticated villagers.
That 'quote' was almost certainly a westernised version of 'If they die they don't fight'.
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My brother works for a seafood wholesaler/distributor. On deliveries to restaurants he has seen some grotty kitchens. The business deals in a lot of cash transactions (?). Other restaurant owners give their cheque book to bro and he writes out the amount and they sign it. Illiterate?
When he delivers the seafood and puts it in their freezer he is obliged to eat a sample of their food...fish and chips; Chinese , Vietnamese etc.
Recently his employer has dumped his W.A. distributor of local frozen chips and imported two containers of chips from Germany. Can they be much cheaper than the local product?
The report quoted two women from opposing clans, Rona Luke and Kipyona Belas who said...'Male infanticide reduced the cyclical payback violence infamous in Highlands' tribal fights'. Not bad for unsophisticated villagers.
That 'quote' was almost certainly a westernised version of 'If they die they don't fight'.
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My brother works for a seafood wholesaler/distributor. On deliveries to restaurants he has seen some grotty kitchens. The business deals in a lot of cash transactions (?). Other restaurant owners give their cheque book to bro and he writes out the amount and they sign it. Illiterate?
When he delivers the seafood and puts it in their freezer he is obliged to eat a sample of their food...fish and chips; Chinese , Vietnamese etc.
Recently his employer has dumped his W.A. distributor of local frozen chips and imported two containers of chips from Germany. Can they be much cheaper than the local product?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Lotto
After the hassles I had on Saturday losing my wallet with all my credit cards, a lotto ticket and some cash, I was very relieved to get it back courtesy of an honest K Mart staffer.
Saturday was also my birthday so I figured it was looking good for the Saturday night Lotto draw. How many times have I thought that?
Sunday morning I checked the ticket against the winning numbers and I found that I had won a minor division 3 prize of $1650.05
Joan is suggesting that I buy an iPhone. I like them, but I don't often use my current mobile. The various iPhone contracts are quite confusing, but the lowest seem to be around $70 a month for a reasonable amount of data.
Have to have a think about that.
Saturday was also my birthday so I figured it was looking good for the Saturday night Lotto draw. How many times have I thought that?
Sunday morning I checked the ticket against the winning numbers and I found that I had won a minor division 3 prize of $1650.05
Joan is suggesting that I buy an iPhone. I like them, but I don't often use my current mobile. The various iPhone contracts are quite confusing, but the lowest seem to be around $70 a month for a reasonable amount of data.
Have to have a think about that.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Birthday (old) boy
Today I turned 69. Got a couple of nice pressies and happy birthday wishes.
I went to a large shopping centre with brother Graham and we had a very mediocre Chinese meal at a food hall. Bro decided that he wanted to buy an electric carving knife and so we went to several stores looking for them. En route I bought a lotto ticket and folded it into my wallet. I remember that part. After exiting K Mart I realised that I had lost my wallet with a hundred dollars cash, but more importantly ALL my cards.
Bro did the sensible thing and asked the infuriating question: 'where did you lose it?' After visiting all the places we had been I suddenly remembered that whilst we were in K Mart I had put the wallet on a shelf to show him how a hand-held vacuum cleaner worked. We dashed back to K Mart just as a K Marter was handing it in to the front desk. Much thanks and relief expressed.
That lotto ticket could be a lucky one?
Is it something to do with being 69? Probably not as I have been doing things like that since I was sixteen.
I went to a large shopping centre with brother Graham and we had a very mediocre Chinese meal at a food hall. Bro decided that he wanted to buy an electric carving knife and so we went to several stores looking for them. En route I bought a lotto ticket and folded it into my wallet. I remember that part. After exiting K Mart I realised that I had lost my wallet with a hundred dollars cash, but more importantly ALL my cards.
Bro did the sensible thing and asked the infuriating question: 'where did you lose it?' After visiting all the places we had been I suddenly remembered that whilst we were in K Mart I had put the wallet on a shelf to show him how a hand-held vacuum cleaner worked. We dashed back to K Mart just as a K Marter was handing it in to the front desk. Much thanks and relief expressed.
That lotto ticket could be a lucky one?
Is it something to do with being 69? Probably not as I have been doing things like that since I was sixteen.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Midnight marauders
I get up reasonably early in the mornings and when I go out to inspect my veggie patch I see snails making their way back under cover for the day's sleep. The buggers only eat at night and the only other time they are active is when it rains. They are apparently the same breed of snail that the French eat. I guess that would be one way to control them, but I'll go for the snail pellets thanks.
Another observation I have made with our magpies is that they do not have the instinctive chicken foot scratching when foraging for food. Strange really, seeing that we have lots of earth worms in our garden. Two pieces of worthless information for you!
We have some problems with fences at one of the units we own. On two sides, the fences have been forced over...one with a heavy vine growing on an adjoining vacant block and the other which a neighbor is using as a retaining wall for a metre of rubble, old bicycles etc etc. Both of the owners are going to be difficult to deal with. Dividing fences are a major problem in suburbia and the W.A. government has even published a 29 page booklet about dividing fences and the bylaws pertaining to them. It is most likely that we will have to bear the costs ourselves.
Another observation I have made with our magpies is that they do not have the instinctive chicken foot scratching when foraging for food. Strange really, seeing that we have lots of earth worms in our garden. Two pieces of worthless information for you!
We have some problems with fences at one of the units we own. On two sides, the fences have been forced over...one with a heavy vine growing on an adjoining vacant block and the other which a neighbor is using as a retaining wall for a metre of rubble, old bicycles etc etc. Both of the owners are going to be difficult to deal with. Dividing fences are a major problem in suburbia and the W.A. government has even published a 29 page booklet about dividing fences and the bylaws pertaining to them. It is most likely that we will have to bear the costs ourselves.
Monday, November 24, 2008
So the Real Estate market has collapsed?
On the weekend bro and I went to a house opening in Bicton. The house was one that our family owned which we sold in 1993 for around $215,000. It is now on sale for $990,000 - $1.o5M. The house has had a very nice work-up since we sold it, but it is still a timber-framed asbestos clad three bedroom suburban dwelling. Here is a pic from the advert:
Also on the market is a country residence in the town of York. York is a lovely country town with a lot of Western Australian history. It has many fine colonial buildings and a vibrant art and museum culture. We could live there. This York residence is a major building and whilst I can see that working in the city, accommodation can command high prices, the York house wins on value. Trouble is ...1. We would be really stretched to find that sort of money. 2. We like where we are and 3. Once we start to get really oldie-sick we would have to be in Perth for serious treatment. And one other thing....we would need servants just to keep the place clean.
Here is the York place. See it here.
Also on the market is a country residence in the town of York. York is a lovely country town with a lot of Western Australian history. It has many fine colonial buildings and a vibrant art and museum culture. We could live there. This York residence is a major building and whilst I can see that working in the city, accommodation can command high prices, the York house wins on value. Trouble is ...1. We would be really stretched to find that sort of money. 2. We like where we are and 3. Once we start to get really oldie-sick we would have to be in Perth for serious treatment. And one other thing....we would need servants just to keep the place clean.
Here is the York place. See it here.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Drugs in sport
Ben Cousins, our local football star with a drug problem is back in the news as the AFL demands that he undergo regular urine and hair tests to make sure he doesn’t get back on the good stuff. I hazard a guess that there are quite a few players in the League throughout Australia who also party hard on weekends and use a bit of the good stuff.
The local newspaper seems to put up a bad photo of him whenever there is any news about Bennie. This is one photo that regularly crops up and shows him a bit worse for wear, shirtless, showing off his large tattoo ‘Such is life’. At first I thought they were being a bit mean to Ben, but then he had it done and probably wants people to see it.
He missed his first hair sample test because he had his hair and indeed his body hair, cut short making the test worthless. Most reasonable people would think that that is a bit suss.
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We love curries and before John went into care, would dine out at Indian restaurants with John and Joy. Remembering, that I decided to take him a curry for lunch this last Wednesday. It was a Thai Red Curry chicken dish. He left nary a grain of rice. That of course doesn’t mean that he loved it. John can eat more than most people of our age.
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I ran into a bit of a problem with setting up the computers for shipment to Africa. Murdoch University Student Guild was a bit worried that all the software I was about to load didn’t have licences specific to each machine. That is a bit of a worry as it could cause Murdoch and me a bit of strife if Apple found out about it.
Today I rang Apple Australia and explained that I had saved these machines from landfill and the software (operating system) I was loading was legacy software anyway. I was passed on to three different blokes who explained the legalities and the last fella explained that each computer must have its own OS disc and they could do a deal @ $10. For each OS Disc. I explained that the machines were going to remote African schools which could not afford to buy computers anyway. The man said he would talk to the boss of Apple Australia and get back to me. Within 30 minutes I was told that they would waive any claims over software licences. I did think that that would be the case. I wonder if Microsoft would do the same?
About Bill Gates; he has stepped down from running Microsoft.... just like Vladimir Putin has stepped down from running Russia.
The local newspaper seems to put up a bad photo of him whenever there is any news about Bennie. This is one photo that regularly crops up and shows him a bit worse for wear, shirtless, showing off his large tattoo ‘Such is life’. At first I thought they were being a bit mean to Ben, but then he had it done and probably wants people to see it.
He missed his first hair sample test because he had his hair and indeed his body hair, cut short making the test worthless. Most reasonable people would think that that is a bit suss.
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We love curries and before John went into care, would dine out at Indian restaurants with John and Joy. Remembering, that I decided to take him a curry for lunch this last Wednesday. It was a Thai Red Curry chicken dish. He left nary a grain of rice. That of course doesn’t mean that he loved it. John can eat more than most people of our age.
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I ran into a bit of a problem with setting up the computers for shipment to Africa. Murdoch University Student Guild was a bit worried that all the software I was about to load didn’t have licences specific to each machine. That is a bit of a worry as it could cause Murdoch and me a bit of strife if Apple found out about it.
Today I rang Apple Australia and explained that I had saved these machines from landfill and the software (operating system) I was loading was legacy software anyway. I was passed on to three different blokes who explained the legalities and the last fella explained that each computer must have its own OS disc and they could do a deal @ $10. For each OS Disc. I explained that the machines were going to remote African schools which could not afford to buy computers anyway. The man said he would talk to the boss of Apple Australia and get back to me. Within 30 minutes I was told that they would waive any claims over software licences. I did think that that would be the case. I wonder if Microsoft would do the same?
About Bill Gates; he has stepped down from running Microsoft.... just like Vladimir Putin has stepped down from running Russia.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Early word-processors
There was a news item on local TV about a bloke who had collected lots of typewriters. We have just two; an Underwood Standard Portable and a wonderful Standard Folding Typewriter.
The Underwood is probably a 1950s model. The Standard was patented in 1904 and ours was built in 1910. Both still work. The folding job comes in a nice flock-lined box.
No problems disposing of old typewriters; one could just construct a very nice piece of sculpture like our friend Haddon did.
The Underwood is probably a 1950s model. The Standard was patented in 1904 and ours was built in 1910. Both still work. The folding job comes in a nice flock-lined box.
No problems disposing of old typewriters; one could just construct a very nice piece of sculpture like our friend Haddon did.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Ubuntu
Having exhausted most avenues to send SH computers to third world countries, I thought I would have to try and give them away to individuals. Out of the blue I received a comment on our last blog with details of a Murdoch University scheme called '8Ball Computer Recycling Program'. I contacted the gal who fronts the program and she was very happy to use my cache of computers until she found out that they were Macs. 'Our IT students don't know anything about Macs', she said. I got over that one by offering to set them up with all the programs that come with the Apple operating system and she was very happy about that. The next shipment goes in February, so I have plenty of time and no doubt more Macs will come my way from other sources.
The Murdoch IT students overcome the software piracy problem by installing Ubuntu, an open- source operating system on the PCs they configure. That stops the computers 'phoning home' to Mr Gates and getting sued. Ubuntu can be installed on Macs, but OSX is such a nice OS and it comes with everything needed without having to use Mr Gates' stuff.
The Murdoch Students' Guild page is here...http://murdochguild.murdoch.edu.au/swb/
The Murdoch IT students overcome the software piracy problem by installing Ubuntu, an open- source operating system on the PCs they configure. That stops the computers 'phoning home' to Mr Gates and getting sued. Ubuntu can be installed on Macs, but OSX is such a nice OS and it comes with everything needed without having to use Mr Gates' stuff.
The Murdoch Students' Guild page is here...http://murdochguild.murdoch.edu.au/swb/
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Malaria antibodies
Yesterday I received a letter from the Red Cross Blood Service letting me know that after some 45 years since I had a malaria attack, my blood still has Non-Parasitaemic Malaria Antibodies in it. Not that that means much; I can still donate for plasma. I would like to blame that malaria hangover for something, but cannot think of what.
I have mentioned before that I collect good computers from institutions for re-distribution to poorer countries. My shed has around 30 machines in good condition with monitors and software ready to go. Previous destinations have been Bali and Zimbabwe. Both those destinations are no longer viable because of transport problems. This week I have contacted the Lions Club, Rotary and Notre Dame university in Fremantle to offer them for shipping to East Timor. Alas, all three have ceased shipping gear to ET. Next I searched the net for Aboriginal Missions in outback Western Australia. I talked with the Principal of an SDA Mission school in Meekathara. Their web page suggested that they find funding difficult and looked like a good target for my gear. 'Sorry', she said 'We are about to receive our new computers and dump our old ones.'
I cannot let these machines go to landfill and so will approach our City Council to get an article placed in their newsletter offering them to people who cannot afford a computer or are a bit afraid of technology. There must be lots of oldies thinking about writing their memoirs. The offer will include set-up, instructions and follow-up help. I have done it for a few people in the past and it isn't that difficult.
I have mentioned before that I collect good computers from institutions for re-distribution to poorer countries. My shed has around 30 machines in good condition with monitors and software ready to go. Previous destinations have been Bali and Zimbabwe. Both those destinations are no longer viable because of transport problems. This week I have contacted the Lions Club, Rotary and Notre Dame university in Fremantle to offer them for shipping to East Timor. Alas, all three have ceased shipping gear to ET. Next I searched the net for Aboriginal Missions in outback Western Australia. I talked with the Principal of an SDA Mission school in Meekathara. Their web page suggested that they find funding difficult and looked like a good target for my gear. 'Sorry', she said 'We are about to receive our new computers and dump our old ones.'
I cannot let these machines go to landfill and so will approach our City Council to get an article placed in their newsletter offering them to people who cannot afford a computer or are a bit afraid of technology. There must be lots of oldies thinking about writing their memoirs. The offer will include set-up, instructions and follow-up help. I have done it for a few people in the past and it isn't that difficult.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Bali 9
So, the Bali Bombers are no more. I found it amazing that western journos and photographers were able to film amongst the radicals at the funerals without even a brick chucked at them.
The Australian Foreign Minister has just today; the day after the executions, appealed for a moratorium on the death penalty around the world. This must surely inflame the radical Muslims of Indonesia when Australian citizens from 'The Bali 9' are also on Death Row. Maybe the Minister should have waited a couple of months until things cooled down before speaking out. Maybe he has been informed that the Australians are also going to be executed very soon??
In my lifetime there have been some amazing inventions, but I think the best one for me is the no-leak, no clog, sauce bottle top. This wonderful aid to pie eaters has a sphincter-like lid which with pressure allows the sauce to squirt out and immediately cease as pressure is released. I can see applications here for we elderly. I have always been amused when I see people trying to shake out sauce from a bottle by banging on the base of it. Physics tells us that hitting the base of the bottle should make it go further back into the bottle.
A quote from Irish author Hugh Leonard....."There is only one immutable law in life — in a gentleman's toilet, incoming traffic has the right of way."
The Australian Foreign Minister has just today; the day after the executions, appealed for a moratorium on the death penalty around the world. This must surely inflame the radical Muslims of Indonesia when Australian citizens from 'The Bali 9' are also on Death Row. Maybe the Minister should have waited a couple of months until things cooled down before speaking out. Maybe he has been informed that the Australians are also going to be executed very soon??
In my lifetime there have been some amazing inventions, but I think the best one for me is the no-leak, no clog, sauce bottle top. This wonderful aid to pie eaters has a sphincter-like lid which with pressure allows the sauce to squirt out and immediately cease as pressure is released. I can see applications here for we elderly. I have always been amused when I see people trying to shake out sauce from a bottle by banging on the base of it. Physics tells us that hitting the base of the bottle should make it go further back into the bottle.
A quote from Irish author Hugh Leonard....."There is only one immutable law in life — in a gentleman's toilet, incoming traffic has the right of way."
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Arabica and Robusta
Rummaging through the pantry cupboard for some spices for my pickled cabbage project I found several bottles of instant coffee. I thought that Joan might be doing a Nell. Nell was my dear grandmother who, when late in her life started buying daily amounts of bacon and chicken. We had to dispose of quite a lot of her hoard and my mother managed to restrict gran’s cash.
No this wasn’t Joan sliding into dementia, she just buys it when it is on special at the supermarket. I was astounded at the price of instant coffee and wondered why we actually drink it. Coffee houses are doing great business and I can’t see what it is all about. I don’t get any sort of buzz from drinking coffee. Wine works for me!
I do understand why coffee is expensive as I have had first hand experience of the harvesting and processing coffee when we worked in Papua New Guinea before independence. The plot my school had was owned by the agriculture station nearby and they let us have use of it for a couple of years. The small coffee farmer in PNG works very hard to earn very little from their coffee crop. To get the ripe beans (called cherries) to the dried state (called parchment) is hard work.
Lowland coffee is Robusta coffee and is used as the poor cousin to the finer Arabica which is grown in the NG highlands. The plot we worked was Robusta which needs to be grown in shade. The shade tree is Leucaena-leacocephala, a sort of mimosa with fine leaves. When the cherries are ripe they are picked by hand by pulling down the coffee tree branches which spills the dead leucaena leaves on the picker. Another foe is the nasty Korokum ant which, although not poisonous, is a right mean bugger. The cherries unfortunately do not ripen all at the same time so there is a bit of hunting for ripe beans.
Coffee pulper
Once enough beans have been picked they are put through a huller which breaks off the outside flesh, and the beans are then fermented in water for about a week to get rid of the adhering fruit flesh. After much washing the beans are laid out on plastic in the sun to dry, which takes about a fortnight in dry weather until the beans are so hard a tooth makes no impression on them. At this, the parchment stage, the coffee is ready for sale to a buyer who usually drives past the village if it is on a road.
The factory door price for highlands Arabica coffee is around A$1.20 per Kilo. Robusta is much less and buyers of course pay even less at the village. Hardly worth the effort!
Papua New Guinea produces about 1% of the world’s coffee, most of it Arabica.
No this wasn’t Joan sliding into dementia, she just buys it when it is on special at the supermarket. I was astounded at the price of instant coffee and wondered why we actually drink it. Coffee houses are doing great business and I can’t see what it is all about. I don’t get any sort of buzz from drinking coffee. Wine works for me!
I do understand why coffee is expensive as I have had first hand experience of the harvesting and processing coffee when we worked in Papua New Guinea before independence. The plot my school had was owned by the agriculture station nearby and they let us have use of it for a couple of years. The small coffee farmer in PNG works very hard to earn very little from their coffee crop. To get the ripe beans (called cherries) to the dried state (called parchment) is hard work.
Lowland coffee is Robusta coffee and is used as the poor cousin to the finer Arabica which is grown in the NG highlands. The plot we worked was Robusta which needs to be grown in shade. The shade tree is Leucaena-leacocephala, a sort of mimosa with fine leaves. When the cherries are ripe they are picked by hand by pulling down the coffee tree branches which spills the dead leucaena leaves on the picker. Another foe is the nasty Korokum ant which, although not poisonous, is a right mean bugger. The cherries unfortunately do not ripen all at the same time so there is a bit of hunting for ripe beans.
Coffee pulperOnce enough beans have been picked they are put through a huller which breaks off the outside flesh, and the beans are then fermented in water for about a week to get rid of the adhering fruit flesh. After much washing the beans are laid out on plastic in the sun to dry, which takes about a fortnight in dry weather until the beans are so hard a tooth makes no impression on them. At this, the parchment stage, the coffee is ready for sale to a buyer who usually drives past the village if it is on a road.
The factory door price for highlands Arabica coffee is around A$1.20 per Kilo. Robusta is much less and buyers of course pay even less at the village. Hardly worth the effort!
Papua New Guinea produces about 1% of the world’s coffee, most of it Arabica.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Lincoln & Obama
Yesterday, the 6th of November, 148 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. Those states were hardly united and seven of them seceded before Lincoln took the oath of office.
Lincoln had only one year of formal schooling.
It is a pity that Barack Obama missed out by one day.
He has been elected at a time when things are looking a bit bleak. On the other hand he cannot be blamed for the economic crisis or the minor wars the U.S. is involved in. I cannot see how he can fix things, but if he does he will be remembered as not only the first black president, but also the saviour of that nation.
In an Australian poll taken during the election run-up, 76% of Australians thought Obama would make the better president. I thought he looked and sounded statesman like.
There are enough gun nutters in the U.S. to keep the Presidential security personnel employed for quite a few years.
Lincoln had only one year of formal schooling.
It is a pity that Barack Obama missed out by one day.
He has been elected at a time when things are looking a bit bleak. On the other hand he cannot be blamed for the economic crisis or the minor wars the U.S. is involved in. I cannot see how he can fix things, but if he does he will be remembered as not only the first black president, but also the saviour of that nation.
In an Australian poll taken during the election run-up, 76% of Australians thought Obama would make the better president. I thought he looked and sounded statesman like.
There are enough gun nutters in the U.S. to keep the Presidential security personnel employed for quite a few years.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Christ Church Grammar
A couple of days ago we received a letter from the agents looking after a rental property we own. It seems that the tenants have given notice that they are moving out. Looking at the dates shown in the letter, we reckon we should go them for backdated rent.
Last night a friend and I went to a show at Christ Church Grammar School, an Anglican College in Claremont. Not too shabby at all. The purpose of the show was a MacIntosh Users' Group meeting to take a look at their 'Future Sphere' IT Centre. The School has a student population of around 1310 boys and the fee structure is heavy compared to government schools. I guess this is why their facilities and equipment is state of the art. The school that I taught at before my retirement has nothing like the equipment and facilities at CCGS. The fees payable at government schools are very modest indeed. Lower school fees are set at $250 per year. These fees are calculated to cover the basic courses and if a student elected to take, for example, continental cooking; additional fees would be levied for ingredients etc. Upper school fees are calculated at $400 per year. At Willetton SHS, where I taught, about 96% of fees are paid. Other schools in poorer areas would probably only collect about 30% of their fees.
Don't spread it around, but it is not generally known that Government school fees are not compulsory.
Last night a friend and I went to a show at Christ Church Grammar School, an Anglican College in Claremont. Not too shabby at all. The purpose of the show was a MacIntosh Users' Group meeting to take a look at their 'Future Sphere' IT Centre. The School has a student population of around 1310 boys and the fee structure is heavy compared to government schools. I guess this is why their facilities and equipment is state of the art. The school that I taught at before my retirement has nothing like the equipment and facilities at CCGS. The fees payable at government schools are very modest indeed. Lower school fees are set at $250 per year. These fees are calculated to cover the basic courses and if a student elected to take, for example, continental cooking; additional fees would be levied for ingredients etc. Upper school fees are calculated at $400 per year. At Willetton SHS, where I taught, about 96% of fees are paid. Other schools in poorer areas would probably only collect about 30% of their fees.
Don't spread it around, but it is not generally known that Government school fees are not compulsory.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Bali Bombers
The Bali Bombers are soon to die. Speculation about when is rife. It may have already happened or it may again be delayed by a last minute appeal from family and lawyers.
The last execution in Australia was 41 years ago with the hanging of Ronald Ryan. It took a few years more for most states to abolish the death penalty. Many of the arguments against the death penalty were based on the fact that quite a few innocent people on death row were executed. Not so with the Bali bombers. They freely admit their guilt and are looking forward to martyrdom and the virgins which are going to be theirs in paradise. Question: Do female martyrs get male virgins?
It might be a cultural thing, but I think that most Australians are disgusted to see the trio laughing about their atrocities along with their prison guards and soldiers. Even if a cop here was sympathetic towards a prisoner, there would be no public acknowledgment of it.
For six years we have heard news reports of the trial and the repeated phrase 'killed 202 people, including 88 Australians'. I haven't heard much about the deaths of over 100 Balinese people and if there has been any significant aid going to those families.
Should the Bali bombers get another reprieve and there is a change of government in Indonesia at the next election and a radical is elected as President, the Bali Bombers could well get a Presidential Pardon.
Australia does have conflicting views about the death penalty in foreign countries.
Not in my time, but Radical Islam is going to be a problem for Australia in the future.
Let them go to Paradise.
The last execution in Australia was 41 years ago with the hanging of Ronald Ryan. It took a few years more for most states to abolish the death penalty. Many of the arguments against the death penalty were based on the fact that quite a few innocent people on death row were executed. Not so with the Bali bombers. They freely admit their guilt and are looking forward to martyrdom and the virgins which are going to be theirs in paradise. Question: Do female martyrs get male virgins?
It might be a cultural thing, but I think that most Australians are disgusted to see the trio laughing about their atrocities along with their prison guards and soldiers. Even if a cop here was sympathetic towards a prisoner, there would be no public acknowledgment of it.
For six years we have heard news reports of the trial and the repeated phrase 'killed 202 people, including 88 Australians'. I haven't heard much about the deaths of over 100 Balinese people and if there has been any significant aid going to those families.
Should the Bali bombers get another reprieve and there is a change of government in Indonesia at the next election and a radical is elected as President, the Bali Bombers could well get a Presidential Pardon.
Australia does have conflicting views about the death penalty in foreign countries.
Not in my time, but Radical Islam is going to be a problem for Australia in the future.
Let them go to Paradise.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
How to beat the Trick or Treaters
Halloween is not an Australian tradition, but seems to be creeping more and more into suburban life. We were never visited at Bicton by costumed blackmailers, but the first year we were in this house we were. At least three groups. Totally unprepared, we had to resort to small change.
I was prepared last year. I made sure we had some sweets on hand. We had one visitor, a teenage girl who retreated in fright when Kevin let out a roar as I was handing out the goodies.
Yesterday we were just about home when we noticed some kids in costume coming out of their house. Ooops, I had forgotten it was October 31. Kevin went to the shop and we prepared a bowl of tooth destroyers.
No visitors. So now we think we have hit upon the formula to avert visits by Trick or Treaters. No need for garlic or silver crosses - just buy a couple of bags of home brand lollies and they will never come near the house.
I was prepared last year. I made sure we had some sweets on hand. We had one visitor, a teenage girl who retreated in fright when Kevin let out a roar as I was handing out the goodies.
Yesterday we were just about home when we noticed some kids in costume coming out of their house. Ooops, I had forgotten it was October 31. Kevin went to the shop and we prepared a bowl of tooth destroyers.
No visitors. So now we think we have hit upon the formula to avert visits by Trick or Treaters. No need for garlic or silver crosses - just buy a couple of bags of home brand lollies and they will never come near the house.
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