Cook's Voyages

Some time ago I had the good fortune to meet a man through my Mac computer recycling efforts.  He, like me, was in the W.A. Education system and we have since found that we both know quite a few of the characters of the local teaching profession.   At the time of our first meeting, he mentioned that one of his hobbies was bookbinding and I immediately pressed him for advice about our copy of a 1790 publication of Cook’s voyages which was in bad repair and falling to pieces.  Yesterday I collected the rebound book and it is a great restoration of this valuable record of Cook’s voyages in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  Thank you Merv; great job!

Of course 1790 was quite some time before photography and photolithography and so the illustrations are ‘woodcuts’.

A friend who lives in Sydney,  Albert, suggests that woodcuts are not of a print standard of those in the book.  He has a graphics background and thinks they are more likely 'steel cuts'.  They could also be copper plate etchings.

A full group shot of the attendees at the Papua New Guinea ex-Pats gathering a few days ago. This is one photo of me that I am happy to own up to.  Rear 2nd from left next to the giant.

PNG Expatriates

I have just returned home from a pleasant get-together of around 10 folk who lived and worked in Papua New Guinea.  There was one young bloke amongst us, Greg, who introduced himself and also told me that he reads my blog.  First time I have met someone I had not known before who reads my blog.  Life is full of coincidences.

Greg who seems to be accustomed to holding up a number

The rest of us are all around 70 and I’m guessing Greg is in his 50s.  He still has a business interest in Papua New Guinea and travels there up to five times a year.  I might offer to carry his bags on one of his trips.

The gathering was at the Zamia restaurant in Kings Park.  Most ex PNG types settled back on the eastern seaboard of Australia, many in tropical Queensland.  And seeing that the Western Australians are scattered around a state which a fair bit of Europe could be squeezed into, large gatherings are unlikely.   It was almost a reunion as I had previously met three of the attendees at another function. 

                                                      The mob, sans Kev

House inspection

I had a neighbour’s cat visit today on an inspection tour.  She/He/it checked out every room and seemed quite satisfied that it would be a good place to live or at least visit.  I don’t know exactly where it lives, but it cruises past about one a month and drops in for a visit.

I recently found some photographs of an airstrip at Kikori in the Gulf of Papua which was my first posting in 1962 when I taught there.    Back then there was no airstrip and all flights in and out were made in the wonderful Catalina flying boat.   The current airstrip is not operational because of lack of maintenance on the Marsden Matting.  Marsden Matting was used all over the Pacific in WW2 by U.S. forces to make swampy/sandy land into solid landing strips.  As I recall it was often like landing on a collander with water and mud shooting up onto the bottom of aircraft through the holes.  Very noisy landings too.

The Angiogram

Well today was the day....I had the Angiogram and I am pleased to say that it was not an unpleasant experience and the results showed that an artery was estimated to be 50% blocked with calcification.

The Cardiologist told me that that level of calcification needed to be monitored, but not treated with  a stent or bypass at this stage.  Good news for me.

The nursing staff and operating theatre staff were efficient and most pleasant.  One nurse, Fran, was assigned to me (and probably to others as well)  but she made me feel as though I was somewhat special.  As an oldie I liked that.

The actual procedure was interesting and as I was conscious was able to follow the whole thing.  A port was inserted in my inner elbow to give me some relaxant meds. Another was inserted in my groin for the tube which would release a dye into the artery near my heart to enable a clear image scan of the calcified artery.  I was able to view the procedure on a TV screen and could clearly see the constriction.

Brother Graham collected me at 5pm and I was home in no time for a couple of coffees.

I have a referral for a stress test in six months and if anything shows further deterioration, a stent might be inserted to widen the constricted artery.

That over, I can go ahead with bookings for flights and hotel in Sydney town on our South Pacific Cruise on July 1st.

Cardiac stuff

In the past...my past; Doctors (GPs) did everything...home visits, tonsillectomies, appendectomies, sutures of small wounds and everyone seemed to survive....I did.  These days,  Technology reins.  I had an ex-ray, then a CT Scan, then a referral to a Cardiologist who today suggested I needed an Angiogram which he will conduct on Friday.    There seems to be a specialisation of services which has followed the technology of the computer age and I am quite happy that my treatment is more precise than that of my youth.

A scan showed that I had calcification of a vein into my heart which could be of concern. I doubt that that could have been accurately determined 50 years ago. The Angiogram will, I understand, run a test which will tell the man if the calcification is restricting blood flow to my heart and suggest that all is OK, or that I need a bypass op.   Don’t care too much as I have had 73 years of a successful life and I am not enjoying being without my late wife Joan too much.

I am off to hospital on Friday at mid-day and should be discharged around 6pm.  Not allowed to drive, so my friend Dennis is delivering me to hospital and bro Graham collecting me when I am able to call him around 6pm.

As Willy Wonker said....’Strike that, reverse it’,  I am hoping for a good result.

Goldfields Drama

The goldfields of eastern Western Australia has had its share of dramas.  One was the rescue of an Italian miner, Modesto Varischetti, from a flooded underground mine near Coolgardie.   It is a good story and can be found here. There is also a reference to Herbert Hoover, who was a mining engineer at Kalgoorlie at the time and assisted in the rescue of Varischetti.    This plaque is on the wall of the student accommodation block at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines.

Coincidentally, whilst we were in Kalgoorlie,  Margaret struck up a conversation (strange that!) with a man named Richard, who turned out to be a distant relative of Modesto Varischetti, on his mother’s side.

                             Richard

By 1902 Kalgoorlie had a tram system and it ran up until 1952. 

Click this link to read about it.

Kalgoorlie lookback

We arrived back from Kalgoorlie around 3pm yesterday.  It was a seven hour drive@ the maximum speed limit of 110kph with a stop over at Merredin for a ‘cuppa’ and snack. Over the three days we were there, we ‘did’ Kalgoorlie taking in sites such as the Superpit, museums, some lovely public buildings and the gals haunted a few Op Shops.   I reckon Kalgoorlie must have more preserved old buildings that any other Australian town.  Some do need some restoration work.  Pics below.

The motel we had booked into was one I had previously used before, but on a travel site it was shown with a different photo of the hotel/motel.  A much different photo!  Some wag had posted an image of a substantial building.  Some folks would get a bit offside once they arrived after booking online.  I showed the photo to the management and they were unaware that someone had posted the the photo of lovely two-story hotel suggesting it was the Star and Garter.

The real Star and Garter

The motel was a bit basic and no awards were given to the designers of the ‘new’ units we were allocated.  They were definitely designed to be on-site accommodation for miners.

Kalgoorlie is a very busy town/city but relies heavily on the price of gold, which at the moment, has fallen almost to the point of mines laying off staff.

Interestingly, many small towns and places to the East of Perth have names ending in ‘-in’.....Tammin, Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Merredin, Burracopin, Carrabin, Bodallin etc, whilst when one travels South from Perth many towns have names ending in ‘-up’.....Burekup. Dardanup, Boyanup, Mallalyup, Balingup, Boyup, Manjimup etc.  These endings to place names are from the indigenous languages and usually mean ‘place of’.

We  enjoyed the drive and visit to Kalgoorlie.


                   Click on photos to enlarge. Click again to scroll through.

                                  Margaret and Joy with Padddy Hannan

                                             In need of restoration
                                      

                                             Old miner's cottage

                                        Joy admiring the Palace Hotel foyer

               Kalgoorlie's wide roads are a legacy of bullock wagon days

Kalgoorlie

I have been getting ready for the road trip to Kalgoorlie.  We head off at around 9am tomorrow and it is around an 7 hour drive.  I am ironing trousers and shirts, which is not something that I usually do.  Kalgoorlie isn’t a town that demands a certain standard of dress, but my two companions, Joy and Margaret are taking their Ball gowns, so I guess I should dress for breakfast at McDonalds.

The report from the ECG I recently had was  too complex for me to fully understand without the help of Mr Google and my GP gave me a referral to a Cardiologist.    He assures me that I am not going to die at the wheel en route to Kal, but Margaret and Joy seem a little doubtful and are boning up on the use of their mobiles so that they can call for help when I run off the road into a tree.

The current weather is very windy and we should save a lot of fuel by being propelled east by the wind.

Any medicos out there who can interpret the big words on the results below?

Sitemeter

I take a look at where visitors live who are looking at this blog.   By far the most hits are from someone living in Mountain View, California.  Surprisingly the most searched for topic is the post of Jacob and Josef Kohn furniture factory.  See that post here.

The tracking software, Sitemeter,  is very smart and gives information on lots of things.  The link to Sitemeter can be found at the bottom of each posting.   

Kalgoorlie

I have had an ECG on my blood pump.  The results show some highs and lows with the heartbeat, but the gal who did the ECG told me that this is not uncommon.  I will meet with my GP on Monday and see what he makes of the Physician’s report.  I have enquired about travel insurance and if the heart results are to be a problem, I can get cover for all the other things that could happen on our cruise.

Next Thursday we are off on the Kalgoorlie road trip.  I found a photograph of the small carriage my uncle used as his house and office for a year when he was sent to the end of the Wood Line circa 1940.    One old, scratched, underexposed photo from that time and another of the same carriage as it is at the Kalgoorlie Museum.  I previously mentioned my uncle’s first posting to Kalgoorlie when he joined the Western Australian Police Force in 1938. See here http://lockfamilyramblings.blogspot.com.au/search?q=Graham+Lee

Travel insurance

Brother Graham has sold his house unit and has already bought another in the suburb of Ardross.   He moves in in June.  Meantime he wants to go on a cruise and has asked me to accompany him.  Sounds good to me!

Yesterday we selected the cruise and deluxe cabin with a balcony.  Once we confirm the booking, we have three days to pay to secure that deal. The ship, a P & O liner, Pacific Sunrise, departing  from Sydney, goes to New Caledonia and on to a few other islands close to New Caledonia. About six years ago, Joan and I, along with Joan's sister Dorothy and husband Mike, did a similar trip to the South Pacific.  It was most pleasant.

I had a sudden problem where my GP sent me for a CT scan of my lungs after an Xray.  There were some plaque-like images on the Xray and he thought it best to see a clearer image of the lungs.  I figured that it was best to determine if there was any urgency to commence treatment before we paid up for the cruise.  The scan results were back today and the GP  informed me that there was nothing of immediate concern….except a calcified blood vessel into my heart and missing heart beats.  The images on the Xray were probably from a contact with TB in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s.    There goes my travel insurance.

I am having an initial ECG tomorrow and depending on the results, a further stress-test ECG later.  I thought of telling  a few 'porkies' when applying for Travel Insurance, but I reckon if something went wrong the insurance company would be talking to my GP about my medical history.  I will investigate the possibility of insurance excluding heart conditions.

Previous to today, I thought conditions of the heart were confined to romance.

A little over three years ago, my wife Joan and I paid up for a cruise to Indonesia and ports back down the Western Australian coast to Fremantle.  She was diagnosed with advanced bowel, liver and lung cancer and we had to cancel to commence the battle against the beast.  Our travel insurance refunded all the monies we had paid. 

Kalgoorlie Road Trip

Early next month we are off on a road trip to Kalgoorlie.  Kalgoorlie is east of Perth by 600 kilometres and is a large gold mining town with a population of around 31,000.

Kal, as most people call it, was established in 1893 after the discovery of gold by Paddy Hannan, Tom Flanagan and Dan O’Shea.   No prize for guessing their nationality.

The ‘we’ in this road trip are Joyce, Margaret and me.    Margaret was brought up in Kalgoorlie and we will be taking a look at what she remembers about the house and surrounds where the family lived.  Joyce (Joy) like me, has an interest in the history of Kal, but mainly we are ready for a road trip.  Initially we thought of using the Seniors’ card for a cheap fare by train, but I thought a drive would be better and so I will be driving my car.  We will be staying at the ‘Star and Garter’ motel (how very Western is that?) for the three nights we are there.

My uncle was a policeman at Kalgoorlie in the early 1940s and he told of many incidents which would be typical of isolated mining towns.  He ran afoul of the Superintendent of Police who had warned him not to upset the gaming houses and brothels.  One incident where he booked the proprietor of a gaming house won him a year’s posting at the end of the Wood Line living in a small railway carriage and doing his rounds by horse.  That railway carriage and uncle’s notes are on display in the Kalgoorlie museum.  A must see.

The Wood Lines were railway tracks built out from Kal to supply timber and firewood needed for the mining industry and townsfolk.  

Other things to see is Hay Street, the street of brothels, the water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie, the impressive old buildings, the massive Superpit, the Two-up school and minesites close to town.

The Goldfields' Pipeline was the baby of Engineer, CY O'Connor.  O'Connor   committed suicide almost a year before its completion.  Like many other visionaries, he was the target of harsh critics of this major project.  

Read about the pipeline here. 

Anzac Day 2013

Today is Anzac Day here.  There were Dawn Services throughout Australia honouring Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who served and died in conflicts starting with the Gallipoli campaign in WW1.   When I was a youngster in the 1950s,  there was not the interest in Anzac Day that there seems to be now.   As as member of the Boy Scouts back then it was almost obligatory for us to attend the Dawn Service at Fremantle war memorial.  It usually gathered a crowd of around 150 or so.

Today as I drove our son to work in Fremantle at 6am, we passed ceremonies at two memorials and judging by the number of cars parked up every side street, there must have been thousands of people attending.  

In this morning’s newspaper there is a photo of an retired SAS Commander who is now a politician who ‘urged vigilance so that nationalism, the toxic by-product of patriotism, does not rear its ugly head on Anzac Day’. 

Boston

This morning I woke to find that the Boston Bombers have been found.  One was shot and later died, the other is under arrest.     In one report on-line is a reference to a radical site named infowars.com.    Alex Jones is its owner and he is also a radio shock-jock.   I looked at his site and it is extremely anti-government and loaded with conspiracy theories.  He tells us that the bombings were orchestrated by the U.S. government to support the President's crackdown on assault weapons.

When Martin Bryant murdered 35 people and injured 22 others in Tasmania, Australia in 1996, conspiracy theories about Marty also popped up.  A search for Martin Bryant shows that there are many sites claiming that he was set up by the then Prime Minister John Howard, to enable the government to seize automatic weapons from the citizenry. 

After watching two of Jones’ diatribes I felt quite ill.  He  advocates a peoples’ coup d’état.    It would seem that he has many followers.   Sick!                                 

Placebo effect

I took the advice of a comment poster and dosed my passionfruit with Epsom Salts.  An old method of ‘keeping your bowels open’ was to be forced to drink a mixture of water and Epson Salts.....it worked!   I have tasted the first ripe fruit and it did taste sweeter than previous years’ crops.   Placebo effect?  The vines are ‘loaded’ and I am looking forward to feasting on ice cream and passionfruit.   Years ago I owned a Datsun 240z.  It was a sheep in wolves’ clothing.  Whenever it gave me a bit of trouble I would drive past a wrecker’s yard en-route to work and I swear it perked up.  Maybe the passionfruit sensed that I was about to rip them out if they didn’t start to taste better?

                         A 240z.  I bumped that sharp nose a few times.

The parcel of B & W film and paper I collected from my old high school went in no time.  I tried giving it to a technical college which until recently still practised a bit of ‘wet processing’ of film and paper, but they have completely gone over to digital photography.  So, I advertised it as a free come collect package in Gumtree, an on-line marketplace.  Within minutes of placing the ad the calls started.  By lunchtime it was all gone and I withdrew the advert to slow down emails and phone calls.  Happy to see it go to worthwhile projects.

Passionfruit

My Passionfruit vines are producing flowers and fruit.  The bees have been few and I have had to hand pollinate the flowers with a fluffy brush.  I took the advice of an anonymous comment poster and gave them a liberal dose of epson salts which it is claimed will sweeten the fruit.  I had done that in previous seasons without noticeable improvement in the bitterness.   Hope it works this year.

Wet photography

A couple of days ago I visited my old place of employment, Willetton Senior High School.   It is still a great school, the largest government school in this state.   I was there to use the Industrial Arts workshop to do a bit of welding for my friend Dennis.  Whilst there the IA coordinator offered me a couple of boxes of photographic supplies, which when purchased, must have cost a pretty penny.  Schools long ago stopped teaching ‘wet’ photography and now exclusively teach digital photography which is the far better way to go. I recall doing weddings and sweating on the results at the processing lab.  The digital camera can instantly show you if the shot just taken is OK and before printing, Photoshop can perform miracles even if the photographer has made a few mistakes.   The one nice thing about wet processing of photographs was the magical emergence of an image before your eyes in the developing tray.

After a bit of research I found that there is a photography course at a local technical college which still has students experience ‘wet’ photography.  The bulk film and paper has been kept in an airconditioned room and should still be OK.  Next week I will contact that college to see if they can use this stuff, otherwise advertise it for free in a local trading paper.

Excessive downloads

Soon after our son returned from Melbourne and moved in with me I noticed a marked increase in my internet usage of my 15Gb plan.   I decided to upgrade to an unlimited plan @ another $20 per month.  ‘Can’t take it with you’......that’s the money, not the plan.

Two days after upgrading I noticed a massive amount of downloads pushing my download to 64Gb.  I panicked a bit and assumed someone had hacked into my wireless network, so I changed the wireless password and trashed all cookies which I thought may have been a source of silent updates etc.  Still, the usage was  excessive.   Then I received a message from  BackBlaze a trial piece of ‘cloud’ type software announcing that my backup had finished.   I can’t remember activation BackBlaze and I uninstalled it from my computer.  All is well.   In the two times I exceeded my download allowance I was cut back to dialup speed....eeeck!

My garage ceiling repair is finished and it would look pretty good galloping past on a horse.  Actually, it isn’t too bad and will not fall down again unless something from North Korea comes this way.  What can one say about North Korea?  A rouge state run by a 28 year-old who loves Dennis Rodman. When Rodman visited Nth Korea as a personal guest of Kim Jong Un recently, he would have been the only person in Nth korea to be so adorned.  

                                                   That’s love!

I placed a leftover plate of Spaghetti Bolognese on the lawn for the crows to finish off. It seems that they liked everything except the onions. If you don’t eat your onions you can’t have your Spag.                         

                                           Apologies to Pink Floyd

71st Birthday party

On April 2nd, Daughter Helen and hubby James hosted a small gathering to celebrate what would have been Joan’s birthday.  As it was thought to be her 70th we invited  a gathering of our close friends to celebrate her birth date.  Joan’s sister Dorothy brought us back to earth when she informed us that Joan would have been celebrating her 71st birthday, not the 70th.  On reflection Dorothy was correct.  Joan died on 25th February and her birthdate was April 2nd.  She was 68 when she left us and it has been just over two years and that is how we miscalculated.  It was a great afternoon with much laughter and storytelling, just as she would have wanted it.

There was plenty of food and drink; so much so that I never got to break out the ‘Little Boys’.  Little boys, is a recent term for cocktail Franks.  I will leave you to work out why they are called little boys.

I am nearing the end of my garage ceiling repair job.  One part of the repairs necessitated me climbing an extension ladder to get on my roof and remove terracotta tiles giving access to cornice which has to be attached to the brick wall with a special cement. Shouldn’t be doing that at my age especially when I have already experienced a nasty fall from five metres, dislocating my shoulder and breaking a piece of bone off my rotator cuff requiring two operations and months of recovery.  That accident happened some 11 years ago and I should not ever go roof climbing again.

Props holding the last piece of cornice  whilst I get up on the roof to cement it to the brick wall.

              I knew there was a use for heavy old computers.

The Writers' Almanac

A bad luck  story was told in yesterday’s delivery of The Writers’ Almanac; an online freeby I subscribe to.    Google it if you are into a bit of poetry and birthday notifications of current and historical people.  

A couple of days ago it had a story about Benjamin Franklin proposing daylight saving.

Another story was about a bad luck (or judgement) story about a fellow losing a lot of money.