Willetton SHS 1995 reunion

I had a wonderful Saturday evening at a reunion of students who graduated in 1995. I wasn’t part of that cohort, but taught many of them over their 5 years of high school.  

I was the only teacher who mixed it with the 130 ex-students of Willetton SHS.  I was a little disappointed with the lack of interest of other teachers of this group, but confess I enjoyed the attention and kind words bestowed on me.  Bit of an ego trip!

Brother Graham dropped me off at the venue at South Fremantle Football Club and responded to my call around 10.25pm; collected me and dropped me off home.

A few photos of these 36/37 year olds.  All of the guests I spoke with were most successful in their chosen careers.

Click on Pics to enlarge.....

The wonderful Sam who organised the event

My Joan

On TV tonight was a report about a U.S. study showing us that men didn’t like dating smarter women.  Hope they didn’t spend too much money on that survey.

My wife was several dozen points above me on the IQ scale and I loved her dearly for the 46 years we were together. Still love her.  We shared our intelligence and practicality.

Sister Shirl hits the Hamptons

I have just received an email from my nephew in NY telling me that my sister arrived safely from Perth, Western Australia.  Brother Graham and I had the task/pleasure of collecting sister Shirley at Perth domestic airport from her flight from Esperance on the south coast and looking after her before her evening flight on Emirates en route to NYC.   

We spent a few hours with Shirl before driving her out to Perth International Airport. My daughter Helen suggested I pay for a cab rather that try and negotiate the recent modifications on the airport roads.   ‘Nahh.  I can do it’, says Kev.  I had not been to that airport since multi-million dollar roadworks alongside and within the airport were completed and I had heard much discussion and complaints about the difficulty of finding the International Terminal.

Once off the main highway there are probably 7-8 roundabouts with not one indication of an International Terminal.   After about 30 minutes of somewhat terse criticism of the organisation, we were directed to a roundabout which eventually led us to the terminal.     Shirl was off, with a stopover in Dubai then on to NY.

Bruce and Tamara live in the Hamptons and Shirl will be mixing with the elite.

WSHS Class of 95 reunion

I arrived home from an outing on Friday and found a most welcome gift on my front door step.  Don’t know who left it there, but I am using it with some good soothing results on the the Psoriasis I am at present plagued with and I am most grateful for your kind thoughts.

Tomorrow I start round three of the UV Light therapy.  On Friday the exposure was for 3Min 10Sec.  The therapist told me that it is often at this stage that results start to be seen.   Hope so as I have a reunion of the Willetton SHS Class of 95 next Saturday and I don’t want to be scratching and squirming at that occasion.  WSHS was my most favourite workplace.

Dr Google

I am still suffering from this, my first ever attack of Psoriasis at 75 years of age.  The medical profession confesses that Psoriasis cannot be cured.   Dr Google has a myriad of people writing with successful treatments ranging from aloe vera, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dead Sea bath salts, epson salts bath, baking soda bath, Boracic Acid, Turmeric, beet juice, banana skin rub, etc etc etc.  Please note that all these must be in ‘organic’ mode.  

Candida gets a bit of the blame for Psoriasis.

Another wonder cure is Colloidal Silver both applied and taken internally.

I have made up a salve of aloe vera juice and body cream and it may be giving a little relief. Early days yet.    I am continuing the UltraViolet PhotoTherapy-Narrowband UVB treatment three sessions a week for another 7 weeks.

aloe vera

Psoriasis again

I am in my second week of the  Ultraviolet Phototherapy treatment.  The exposure times increase at each visit and my last exposure was for 2 minutes.    Today's visit will probably be for a 3 minute dose. I have not noticed any improvement in the rash or the continual itch.  I have tried many lotions and creams to no avail. 

The nurse who administers  the Ultraviolet booths tells me that it may be up to 8 weeks of exposures before I see (and feel) any better.   In some cases patients see no improvement.  She tells me that in this one small clinic she treats around 75 patients a day.

I have been using anti-histamines to try and ease the itch and I had to stop using one because of some nasty side effects such as slurred speech, balance problems and a strange hallucination where the tiled floor appeared to be flooded with gently swirling clear water.

I know that some people aim to experience these symptoms by taking/smoking/injecting, illegal substances.

A blurrygraph of my forearm

Second round of Ultraviolet Light Therapy

This morning I had the second  round of Ultraviolet Light Therapy.  I am scheduled to have this therapy three days a week with each session of increasing exposure.  Today the exposure was 1Min 20 Sec.     I am unsure how long this therapy will continue. In the 15 minutes I was there approximately 12 patients either entered or left the building.  On Monday I shall ask the nurse how many patients/treatments she has in a week.

Click Pics to enlarge.

The sock is not easy to attach

 so I am looking for a baby's booty.

Ultraviolet Light Therapy

For the last 6 weeks I have been suffering with a bad run of Psoriasis. I have had mild incarnations at approximately the same time each year over a 10 year period, but this time Psori  looks like it is trying to stay with me.

G.P., Dermotologist,  home-grown pseudo doctors have all weighed in the fight to no avail.    Ointments ; cremes, powders and a variety of witches' brews.  I am itching and scratching all over my body and decided to see my GP to get another referral to revisit the dermo again.

In the referral the GP suggested  that I would be happy to try Ultraviolet Light Therapy.  This is done at the Dermo’s suite where there are a number of round ‘booths’ lit by infrared light tubes. The patient has to be nude and wearing dark sunglasses as well as using a facemask. It is estimated that at three times a week I should see much improvement in 6 - 8 weeks.  I have been told by a friend who has had this treatment before that I should bring along a sock at each session.   Whatever can that be for??

Had my first session early this morning sans sock.

Fortunately the treatment is bulk billed and is free for the patient.  Australia has a very good healthcare system.

HMAS Australia 1935

I’m no Charles Darwin, but I know that girls tend to squeal more than boys.  I recently watched a nature programme which featured two groups of baboons in a territorial skirmish.  The males of both sides were showing all the aggression and the  presenter pointed out that the females in both groups were squealing.  I doubt that Joan of Arc was a squealer.

Today I recycled 30 older hard drives.  Many of those were from the first coloured iMacs and  the capacity ranged from 6GB to 10GB.  Base level hard drives these days start at 250GB.

This photo was taken by Naval Photographer Saxon Fogarty in 1935 when HMAS Australia was returning to Australia after the July Silver Jubilee Review at Spithead.  The dry dock was at Alexandria.

click to enlarge

Workshop cleanup

I decided that I will remain a single car person.  I have, in the past, had two or more cars;  my regular transport and maybe another one for weekend cruising.  At 75+ I figure that one car will do me and so the half of my garage which was just for junk has now been cleaned up and turned into the gardening section with all the gardening stuff including mowers, edgers, blowers, hedge trimmers, chain saw, whipper snippers neatly lined up.

There are a few duplicates there and I am too embarrassed to explain how that came about.

   

After shifting all that gear to the garage I had a major cleanup in my workshop.  I knew I had a problem with rats, but sweeping up all the rat shit made me determined to find where they are getting in and out of my workshop.  I found a poor piece of workmanship in the upper brickwork where a gap big enough for a cat to get in was found.  I have sealed that gap and have set rat traps to finish off any rats now caught inside.

This weekend I will start recycling computer stuff which has been sitting in the dust for years. In this stuff are 75 hard drives and I will recycle the older drives with lower capacity and others I have marked as dead.  

Mediterranean Fruit Fly

My loquat tree is loaded with fruit and I am going to ensure that I don’t let the Medfly (Mediterranean fruit fly)  lay their eggs in my fruit.

It is a two pronged attack on the little blighters*….foliage spray and sticky baits.

 I have made up a mix of sugar and Pyrethrum and sprayed most of the foliage which should attract and kill ‘em.   I bought two traps which contain a lure and a very sticky surface which is already grabbing medfly.

The Medfly is thought to have originated in Africa.  

* 1950s alternative for a swearword

More computers for my ongoing project

Last weekend I collected 5 Macs from an Australia-wide printing firm.   I was told that the two 24” iMacs weren’t working as well as two G5 Towers.    I have been successful in resurrecting one iMac and two G5s.  The other G5 tower is one I really wanted to get running again as it is a liquid cooled G5 Pro.  Nice machine, but the power supply is dead and so I went on Gumtree and advertised it for free for a Hackintosh build.  

  

A Hackintosh is a Mac case with a powerfull PC guts.  Within minutes of placing the advert I had replies from a dozen people keen to come and collect it.  As I answered each reply, several told me that my phone number didn’t work, so I rang the house phone from my iPhone....it worked.   It transpires that dummy Kev placed the advert on the NSW  Gumtree list.     4,000+ kilometres is a little too far away to collect from my home.

I have rewritten an advert for Western Australians.

Click images to enlarge them.

All aluminium case

Stripped down showing the liquid cooling radiator

Australia's new Prime Minister

Australia has a new Prime Minister.  That makes five PMs in the last 5 years.

PM (sorry ex PM) Tony Abbott was gently deposed by Malcolm Turnbull.  I always thought Malcolm should be the PM.  Seems to be a nice guy; intelligent and not too belligerent in parliament or out of parliament. Unlike Tony, he doesn’t have any distinctive facial features for political cartoonists to latch on to.

I am unsure of the facts, but it has been said that Tony was just three days short of being eligible for ex PMs’ lifetime free travel etc etc on the public purse. 

Clive Palmer, the senator for Fairfax, Queensland is sometimes the only entertainment parliament experiences.  A couple of days ago from the rear seat of his Rolls Royce, he made a short video telling the then PM to go.  See it here.

He does a goodbye video to any politician who is in a bit of trouble.

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung.  The birds are building nests; willy wagtails harassing the crows, white cabbage moths are getting into my meagre vegetable garden and a few flies are hatching out.  Who told all the birds that it is mating time?

Fathers Day yesterday saw me enjoying a lavish lunch at my daughter Helen and her husband James’ house.  My brother Graham joined us there.  Great food and company. 

Bye Bye sitemeter

I have been using a piece of software called sitemeter to see where on earth people are who visit this blog.

Please understand that sitemeter only tells me how many visits per hour/day, the location of the visitor, what computer/pad they are using and the country and location within that country they are visiting from. No personal details, names or email addresses are shown. In the third image, the duration of the visit shows as 10 seconds.  The initial visit is not timed and that 10 second notification shows the time looked at a previous posting.

I have been using sitemeter for 8 years and over the last few years it has started to go offline for weeks at a time. It was started in 1999 by a single man. I guess he may have onsold sitemeter and the new owner(s) may be struggling to keep it running. I think I will close my account and try another counter.

Some screenshots of sitemeter.  Click images to enlarge.

It is a pity sitemeter is not functioning well. It is the only way I know if anyone is actually reading what I write.

Phishing?

I get regular Phishing messages asking me to test a product and for my assessment keep that product.   Dishwashers, juicers, BBQs, electric toothbrushes, coffee machines, Kenwood products and many voucher offers for retailers in Western Australia.

All the messages come from Wilmington Delaware in the good ole U.S.A..  There is a click here if I no longer want to receive these offers, but I’m guessing that that will just confirm that it is a real email address.

                       click to enlarge images

Tinpis Papua New Guinea style

Doing some grocery shopping at a Fremantle Woolworths store, I saw  a familiar can of Mackerel 777.  Last time I saw this brand of tinned fish was 40 years ago when we worked in Papua New Guinea.  I bought a can and when I got home made a typical PNG meal of tinpis rais; tinned fish and rice.  It was as I remembered all those years ago.  Nice!

I am a member of an online group called I used to live in Papua New Guinea, so I thought I would take a photo of the can and post it on the list.  Within a few hours it got dozens of comments relating to the edibility of said mackerel.   Many expatriates claimed that they only fed it to their dogs and never tasted it. Others told where 777 tinpis could be bought in Australia.  I figured that as 777 Mackerel was the basic fare of PNG nationals, some expatriates looked down on it.  Others were familiar with it being used to feed almost every expatriate's dog and figured it was below human consumption.  Others told of  recipes using 777Mackerel.

click to enlarge

Cross with Red Cross

A few years ago I signed up for monthly donations of $20 to the Australian Red Cross. I assumed that I was agreeing to a one year arrangement.   I cannot recall if it was a door-knock or a phone call to which I agreed to join.   A couple of weeks ago I received a donation receipt for the 2014-15  financial year.  It seems that once signed up, the donations continue to be sucked out of my bank until the arrangement is cancelled.

I rang Red Cross and they confirmed that I had to cancel to stop further payments.  I remonstrated that many oldies like me don’t often look closely at bank statements and that their bank account may be drained for years.

I am getting a little forgetful of late, but I cannot remember receiving a tax statement from Red Cross before. 

My friend Dennis is home and well after his major surgery.  I find it quite amazing that after such complex surgery he was well enough to come home after just 12 days post op. 

Billy Cart finals

Friday’s Billy Cart race off went well.  I took some pics of the Lower Primary groups. It was well attended by parents and grans and I think it turned out a highly successful day.

There were a few policemen attending and they provided a bit of entertainment when they breathalised and booked a couple of staff who knocked over some witches hats due to erratic driving.

I am sorry that photos of students are not allowed on 

public accessed sites and so my pics of the Billy Cart finals cannot be shown.

Dennis 'on the mend'.

I have been to visit Dennis who is in recovery after major surgery for oesophageal cancer.  He was moved from Intensive Care to a general ward a couple of days ago.  He is in remarkably good condition, but will not be allowed home until perhaps Monday.   

His blood pressure has dropped somewhat and his kidneys are not functioning fully, but he is looking good and has been up for a shower etc.  He has a room to himself and constant minders dropping in to add or remove the numerous hoses draining fluids and monitoring other bodily functions...if you know what I mean.

I was most impressed by the hospital which was fully commissioned earlier this year.  It is a world class facility with wifi controlled meal delivery to patients.  See here.

Dennis and Carole

Click to enlarge

               
    When I get ‘crook’ this is where I want to be.

Billy Cart Derby

Daughter Helen brought home her class project of the ‘billy cart’ for final touch-ups and  a ‘service’ before the big race day on Friday.

Each class in her primary school has constructed a billy cart with help from dads and mums.   I will attend the big event and take some pics.  

Today a team of two; driver and pusher, is to be selected with trial runs around the short course (the staff carpark).    

The ‘race’ is to be a time trial and Helen’s class is one of two Pre-Primary classes.  Should be fun.

Click to enlarge

The patient is getting better

My friend Dennis has had the big operation and has come through OK at this stage. Carole, his wife, has told me he is looking better and it would seem that they feel he is ready to shift to a general ward in the hospital.  Good news.

I have a Hewlett Packard printer I am configuring to give away with a computer.  It ran out of ink and I purchased two new sets of cartridges from China.  When I replaced one of the original cartridges with a new one it told me that the cartridge was not compatible.  I tried a few tricks to get it going, but no luck.   I was about to take it to a recycling depot when I thought of a possible solution and carefully prized off the chip from the original and fitted to the after-market ink tank and it is working beautifully.

Click to enlarge

Post-0p

I haven’t heard any news from Carole about my friend Dennis.  He was due for his major surgery some time yesterday.  I rang Carole just after 9am this morning, but she hadn’t heard from the hospital.  She promised to ring as soon as she heard from the hospital.

He was to be in the Intensive Care ward for a week or more; then a longer time in a general ward before being discharged.  The surgery is risky. One in ten patients don’t make it.

Hope to hear some good news soon.

I have prepared five Macs and printers for some welfare clients. Must start to get a bit tidier and not clutter up several rooms.

My fruit trees are doing well with all the winter rain. I have started to give away as many lemons as I can, but most people with a yard already have lemons. 

Tahitian Limes turn yellow when ripe

The Tahitian Lime tree is bearing well and a locquat tree is loaded with fruit.  I will make sure I spray for fruit fly this week.

I love Locquats!

A crafty makeover

A few weeks ago I had an email from Veronica who had known my late wife Joan.  She was asking if I still had the overhead projector she gave Joan a number of years ago.  I searched the house but couldn’t find it.  I explained that it probably went in the garage sale of Joan’s huge collection of fabrics etc. Veronica told me of her ideas for a crafty makeover of a large cupboard which she planned to project an image onto the repainted cupboard and paint in the projected image.  I thought I could borrow an overhead from my old workplace Willetton Senior High School and without any problems I went to the school and was loaned one of the dozens of projectors residing in places where outdated technology is stored.

Today I went to collect the projector from Veronica and hubby Garry and was shown the finished job.  Fantastic!

Click photos to enlarge.

before

and after

PS: Carole has had her colonoscopy and the results are negative; no evidence of a bowel cancer.

Dennis and Carole

Tomorrow, Carole, a friend is to have a colonoscopy at Fremantle Hospital.  Both Carole and her husband Dennis got positive results from a faecal blood test a few weeks back.  Dennis has had his colonoscopy and the results were OK.  Carole and Dennis have been friends of ours for around 50 years.   I hope Carole gets a good result tomorrow.

Dennis is to have major surgery on the 5th of August at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital.  He has had a number of assessments by a team who will be doing the surgery and at last they feel that he is in good enough condition to survive the rather complex 8 hour surgery.

He was diagnosed as having Oesophagel cancer.  The plan is to remove most of his oesophagus and 2/3 of his stomach and re-attach it together up near his lungs.  The main problem will be with a blood vessel to the stomach which may be too short and there may be a breakdown of the sutures if that blood vessel is stretched excessively. All this using Keyhole surgery.  I don’t pray, but I am hoping with everything else for a good result.

This is how Den wrote to me about the operation....

I saw the Surgeon on Friday, and after a long discussion re the possible complications and probable side-effects and my chances of surviving the 8 hour procedure and subsequent recovery , he agreed to proceed . A multi discipline team having discussed my case last Thursday and reached a consensus that my present level of fitness should handle the rigours of the Op.

Shock absorbers

A couple of months ago I bought our son a small car; a Nissan Pulsar wagon.  It was built in 1996 and is a pretty good ‘runner’.   Last time I was in it I noticed a rear shock absorber was not working and the backside of the car was bouncing around.   I priced a replacement shocky @ $165 + fitting for around $80.   I rang around some wrecking yards and got a price for a good secondhand shocky for $75 plus $25. to fit it.  All done.

Next is some new tyres.   

The Peppered Moth

Way back in 1989, I taught at a suburban high school in Western Australia.  I had a mixed bag of classes because I was a late transfer to the school from a country school which was downgraded from a  Junior High School to a Primary School due to student numbers.

One class I had was a year 10 science class.  One of the units to be taught was natural selection.  If anything being taught was deemed unsuitable for Plymouth Bretheren students they got up and left the classroom.   

An example of natural selection was the Peppered Moth which because of its ‘peppery’ livery camouflaged it on trees in forests.  Predatory birds could not easily see them and white moths were eaten.    There were other examples of natural selection but I was reminded of the Peppered Moth when I read an article in an online magazine The Conversation.  If you are slightly interested, you can find the article here.     The Conversation is a free subscription and well worth a look.  Always a few articles by Australian academics to enjoy.

After teaching at that school for a year my wife and I took paid long service leave; something quite foreign to teachers in many countries.  

After leave I taught Plymouth Bretheren students at Willetton Senior High School.  At recess and lunch their parents took them away from the school because it was deemed not proper to mix with other students. One female PB had heard that my father had died of liver cancer and perhaps naively, told me he must have been evil. 

The intermittent windscreen wiper

I recently watched an interesting movie called Flash of Genius.  It is a true story about a man, Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper and his fight for recognition and compensation for the ‘theft’ of his invention by Ford and Chrysler.   He patented his invention and tried to get the ‘big three’ U.S. automakers interested in it, but they all rejected his proposal, but went ahead and installed his design in their cars.

He eventually fought the case by himself and won against Ford and Chrysler, but due to late submissions he lost the cases against General Motors, Mercedes and Japanese companies. Ford and Chrysler paid out to the tune of US$28m.

Good courtroom drama movie.

RAC Insurance

Things are going well with my minor car crash.  

My insurance company, RAC Insurance (Royal Automobile Club of W.A.) was established as a motoring club in Perth, Western Australia in 1905. It is no longer a club, but an insurance company which also has an extensive roadside assist role.  The claims against me from the other two cars I sideswiped are being fully covered by RAC. 

I am getting very tired of the plethora of reality shows on TV.  Cooking competitions, renovation shows, stage performance shows, the Undercover Boss, even the chatty news commentary shows are starting to bore me. Are they ever going to run out of guests on their shows???

Sooo, I have started to flip channels and end up with the longest re-runner; MASH.  From MASH, I can get a laugh and even tear-up occasionally.  At the age of 75 years it is easy to tear-up.  I am starting to lose names.  Yesterday I made a nice Minestrone soup and it took me some time to remember its name.  A cousin once called it Mine-Strone soup and even after many years I am still unsure if he was joking or not.

Primary Science Project

I am building a Billy Cart (Australian term) for my daughter’s Pre-Primary class.  The  Billy Carts are a full school project to foster physics at different levels.   It is about wheels.  The pupils are supposed to build their cart (one per class) with supervision of parents.  One dad works at TAFE and had his students built one for Helen’s class.  It was massive and very heavy and the Principal told Helen that it could not be entered because her pupils had no input to either design or production.    Helen asked if I could help and I am building a simple cart which can be disassembled and her Pre-Primary kids can assemble it and add decorations as their part of the project.

Billy Carts used to be around when I was a kid.  There was a BC season and major downhill races were run.  Sophisticated carts had a brake which was usually a stick loosely nailed to the seat box which when pulled, dug into the road slowing the cart.

This is not my Billy Cart, but a similar design.

I suspect there are going to be some sophisticated designs from Dads and the Principal may be ruling some of them out.

I did see some of the physics part of Helen’s project with her class investigating wheels, rollers and inclined planes.

RAC Insurance. Nice guys!

After being a forgetful old fella and not transferring my insurance on my previous car to my new car I could not claim for damages I incurred in a recent minor ‘prang’. 

I went ahead and had my car repaired and it cost me almost $3,000.   The other two cars I sideswiped have not yet been repaired and I have had no claims for their damage from their insurers.

I thought I would write to the CEO of RAC Insurance and ask for some consideration due to almost 40 years with them and the dwellings, vehicles and household contents we have had insured over those years.   Just had a phone call from a young lady who told me that RAC would backdate my cover and all is good.  Whew!

Kudos to RAC.

Annual Health Assessment

Yesterday I attended my GP’s medical centre for my first  Annual Health Assessment.  It is funded for Australians over 75 by Medicare.  It took about one hour with a clinical nurse and then a followup with the GP.     I was tested for mental, physical and other functions which at 75 start to slow down.  She told me that I perhaps should drink less, or no wine and get some regular exercise.  I countered that I walk a lot especially as I usually forget what I went out to my workshop for and have to return inside to remember what it was.

Generally I measured up pretty well.  The doc gave me my free flu shot, had a bit of a chat and it was done.

In the evening my daughter Helen went to the Perth Crown Casino with a couple of her friends to see ‘Wicked’.   I got the job of looking after my grandkids; her two Staffies.  Helen and friends had booked a room and were making a night of it and I had the girls overnight.  I drove around to their house to collect Rosie and Ruby and strangely Ruby was spooked by me and went and hid.  I rang Helen and she suggested food was the answer, so I returned with some dog food and Ruby decided that it was OK to get into my car and we were home.  Helen had brought their sleeping mat around and we had a good night.  I took them home this morning.  They are both very loving dogs and it reminded me of this cartoon.

Kia repaired

My car has been repaired and I am happy with the result @ $2,683.80.   The panel shop is very efficient and the car is as new.   

click to enlarge

Next comes the bill to repair the other two cars I sideswiped.    Haven’t heard much from their insurance companies and I assume they are very happy that I am going to have to pay for their repairs.    

My brother Graham suggested that I should think of the money I will lose as owning a wooden boat moored in the Swan River requiring lots of maintenance. Been there; done that and it was quite an expensive hobby.

A better day

It hadn’t been a good week so far.  My car is in a panel shop and I should have it back on Friday.    The quote was better than I thought it would be @ a total of $2,452.74.    It was a very detailed quote and I noticed that the most expensive item was a single headlamp assembly at a whopping $1,037.80 plus GST.

Today I had a pleasant experience which cheered me up somewhat.  I was uprooting a large area of onion grass which has germinated in my rear lawn.  Whilst I was on my knees pulling the grass out a Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) flew onto my back and then settled on my head.    This lovely little fantail bird has made my backyard its home and I  expect that we will get to be close friends over time.  A look at Willie Wagtails can be found here.

Klutz

Am I a Klutz?  I/we have been with one insurance company for 39 years....vehicles and property insurance.    Last December I bought a new car, trading my previous car in at a dealer.  Somehow, Klutzlike, I neglected to transfer my vehicle insurance to my new car and now; after a road accident, the company, RAC, informs me that I haven’t got cover for the new car.   I fronted the company’s HQs in Perth to no avail.  They refunded my cover on the previous car, but wouldn’t think about being nice to me. 

So I am up for repairs on my car and two cars that I sideswiped.  RAC has been good to us over the 39 years and I had hoped for some leniency.  I understand their position....don’t like it, but I understand it.

p.s. You don’t have to answer the question.

Sculptor Sam Jinks

Some years ago we visited the old Parliament House building in Canberra which is now called MoAD (Museum of Australian Democracy).  One of the artistic installations there was a large sculpture of a very lifelike newborn baby by the sculptor Sam Jinks.  

More sculpture from Jinks can be found here.

Bob's Surgery

A friend has had surgery to repair both ankles. The original diagnosis was osteo arthritis Sub Talar and lower femur collapse and wear.    Two operations on each ankle were required and as the X-ray shows, a fair bit of hardware was used to support the worn bits.  Bob is chair bound for some weeks yet which makes his work as a leadlighter slow right down.  Should make a lot of noise going through airport security.

Click to enlarge

A bad day for Kev

Yesterday was a bad day.    It started when I drove the 15 kilometres to Orelia where our son lives in a unit I own.    The unit is one of 18 in a ‘secure’ block which has for several years been the target of a gang of young indigenes.  They regularly kick in panels of the steel rear fence and break into cars.  I have repaired it twice but this time the Strata company had a handyman repair it.   Our son, Martin, told me that it was a poor repair job and we decided to see if we could repair the repair.

I loaded up the car boot (trunk) with all the tools necessary and drove down to the units.  The car boot was a handy work bench for all my tools laid out in easy reach.    We looked at the job and realised that there was not much we could do to make it more secure and so I decided to go home and closed the car boot with my car keys and house keys well and truly secured inside the boot.  What to do?     Martin said he would drive me home and I could try and break in to the house doing as little damage as possible.   Unfortunately Martin didn’t have enough fuel to get me home and didn’t have a single dollar and my wallet was sitting on the passenger’s seat.   OK, lets ring roadside assistance.  Somehow the number given to me by the car dealer connected me to Roadside Assistance in Sydney town some 3,954 kilometres away.  Damn!  I could not think of anyone else who could come to my rescue so we decided to break the rear quarter window and get entry to the car and boot.  Tough piece of glass that was; but it eventually broke and we opened the doors to the tune of a loud alarm.  Once the alarm stopped, I pressed the boot opener, but it didn’t open.   OK, fold down the back seats and crawl into the boot and get my keys.   No go.  The seats are folded down by opening the boot and pulling on knobs inside the boot.

We now had money to buy fuel, but I was hesitant to break house glass, so rang our daughter at work and asked if I could drive to her workplace and borrow her house keys and find the spare set of keys for my place in their key receptacle.   Helen is a teacher in the nearby town of Rockingham and it was fortunate that she was not teaching at the time and could answer her phone.  So, we drove to Rockingham, got Helens house keys, drove to her place, got my house keys, got into my house and grabbed the spare car keys and drove back to the units.  Easy eh?   Nah!

I have sourced a new quarter window glass and will try and get instructions on fitting it.  It costs $88. and a quote for installation was around $300.

That evening Helen came to my place with my grandkids (two staffies) and she cooked a wonderful meal and we had a few soothing drinks.  Helen’s husband James is week on at a gold mine.

Internet Scams

There are many scams in internet world.   The earliest included romantic scams emanating from Nigeria.  Millions of dollars flowed into Nigeria from  lonely-hearters all around the world.    Even today the word Nigeria doesn’t seem to spook the LHers.  

Lottery scams are still around.....I regularly get excited when I receive an email telling me that I have won 250,000 British Pounds in an international lottery which I had forgotten that I had purchased a ticket in.

eBay scams; PayPal scams, bank scams (Due to misuse of your account, it has been shut down), ISP scams (your email account has been suspended). Computer repair scams (Your Microsoft computer is corrupted)

Yesterday my son-in-law, at work on a mine site, received an email on his phone supposedly from the Australian Federal Police advising him that he must pay $195. for a traffic infringement.  The Aus Federal Police are pretty busy with drug busts, terrorist threats etc etc, but not state traffic infringements.     The AFP have posted a warning about this scam on their web page.  See here.

Alzheimers research study

After carefully reading the 22 page information document about the Alzheimers research study, I decided I would not agree to participate in the 5 year study and have those years tied down to dates throughout each year.   There were a couple of other considerations as well.  One medical condition I have which may be affected by the drug (assuming that I would get the drug and not a placebo).   

 At 75, there is a good chance that the next 5 years might be my last and I want to be able to travel etc whenever I want. 

Oesophageal Cancer update

My friend Dennis has, it seems, dodged the bullet.   Yesterday he underwent the endoscopic ultrasound to determine whether the cancer had penetrated the wall of his oesophagus.  The surgeon told Dennis that if it had not penetrated the wall he would go ahead and remove it.   Fortunately for Den it had not and the surgeon went ahead and removed the nodule and  stopped the bleeding with an application of diluted adrenaline and the application of two clips.  There is to be a follow-up at the same hospital in about a week.

Unbeknown to Dennis he had a complaint named Barrett's Syndrome which is a scarring of the oesophagus due to acid from gastric reflux.  It seems that the body tries to repair the affected area by covering it with tissue from the lower gastrointestinal tract.  Problem there is that that tissue is prone to carcinoma.  So if you have had persistent gastric reflux over some period, ask your GP if an endoscopy is a good idea. It certainly was a good idea for Dennis.

The procedure was done at the newly commissioned  Fiona Stanley hospital.  

Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia....here.

Oesophageal Cancer

A good friend, Dennis, has just been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.  We have know each other for around 60 years.

He had a persistent and uncomfortable pain for some weeks before getting the bad news.   Dennis had a CT scan a few days ago and is about to have an endoscopic ultrasound which more accurately determines how far the cancer has grown into the oesophagus.  This test can also show if the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

With these results the oncologist/surgeon can decide on the treatment.

He is facing this threat with good humour and all his friends are hoping for a good outcome.

Bastard disease!

The Bali 9

Following the execution of two Australian citizens in Indonesia, there has been an outpouring of grief and anger by many Australians.  Our Prime Minister has recalled our ambassador to Indonesia and made some veiled threats about aid and cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.  

Through the online forums, calls have been made for Australians to boycott Bali as a holiday destination.  Understandably, Indonesians have called for a boycott of Australia.

One of my friends has just booked a flight to Bali in July.  She may well be rattled going through immigration and customs at Denpassar airport.  

Australia’s beef cattle exports may well be terminated and cooperation on people smuggling through Indonesia to Australia may be over.  

The two Australians executed were drug traffickers, not into Indonesia, but out of Indonesia to Australia. The Australian Federal Police tipped off Indonesian customs officials in Bali and 9 Australians including the two ring leaders, were caught with 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies.  An investigation is currently looking into how the AFP caused the Bali 9 to be arrested in a country which has the death penalty for drug smuggling.  Had they been arrested upon arrival in Australia they would have been jailed, but not executed.  The rest of the traffickers are still in prison after 10 years of life sentences.

Executions are carried out in many countries still.  Click here for info on other countries still practising capital punishment.

Cheap printer inks

Yesterday I ordered a pack of 5 ink cartridges for a HP deskjet all-in-one printer.  They are now on their way from Sydney to me in Western Australia, freight free, costing only $15.90 AUD.  In  an Australia-wide company, OfficeWorks, the price is $112.00.  The OfficeWorks package is a genuine HP product in a nice cardboard box.  Mine will come in a plastic bag wrapped in bubblewrap, delivered to my door.

The printer manufacturers caution printer owners not to buy cheap inks as that is where their profits really come from.  Most genuine inks cost more than a new printer.  Another bit of trickery is the fact that most new printers have half filled cartridges in them.

A language problem?

I, at 75 years of age, can get by in four languages.  English of course, is my own language, but my time in Papua New Guinea taught me the basics of conversation of the two Lingua Franca of PNG, Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin.

I learnt the basic 50 words of German when I was an apprentice at a large government engineering works in the 1950s.  I was befriended by a German workmate who was a Luftwaffe pilot during WW2.  Somehow I felt that a pilot was not part of the atrocities that were part of  the German war machine and I became friends with a German group who had settled in Western Australia and were ‘fitting in’.  They built houses for each other in a group project and I followed along listening to their conversations and learning their 50 words of German.

Later I read more about the atrocities and the propaganda that sucked in the population of Germany to despise Jews and the acceptance of the Final Solution.

What is strange is that when I now read something on-line which demands a comment I immediately think of adding my comment in my 50 word Deutsche. What is happening?

In the 1990s my wife Joan and I spent a pleasant 4 weeks in the south of France.  Joan had been a French teacher and spoke the language well.  When we were about to return home to Australia we had to drive to Frankfurt to fly out.  Joan told me it was my turn to book a hotel in Frankfurt.  I rang a hotel and started to bumble my way through my simple German and the receptionist interrupted me saying...'excuse me sir, do you speak English?'   Whew!

Australia's National Broadband Network

Yesterday I helped my brother Graham set up his National Broadband Network connection.  The internal box had been installed about a week ago and what should have been a simple connection stumped me, so I called the Telstra support people and with quite a bit of fiddling around was guided through the resetting of the modem and a change of password and everything is running well.   

NBN requires its own phone and Graham’s nice phones would not work with the new setup.   He was pleasantly surprised at the download speed of 24mbps (Megabits per second).    My download from my wireless provider just a few minutes ago was 9.24mbps which I feel is a reasonable speed.  However my speed may vary depending on the time of the day  and how many people are using the service at that time.  Around 4pm when kids are home from school, mine will slow down considerably.

South Korea boasts the fastest connection speed @ 21.9mbps.

Alzheimer's Research

About a month ago I had a phone call from the McCusker Alzheimer’s Research Foundation of Western Australia.  The caller asked if I was interested in joining a clinical trial of a drug which is used to delay the clinical symptoms of Alzheimers Disease.  The study will run for a minimum of 4 years. I agreed to talking about the trial at a later date and had a follow-up phone call from  the McClusker Foundation yesterday.

After a detailed explanation, I agreed to participate.    The trial goes something like this... an initial interview with a blood test and a couple of memory tests.  Sign the documents and start.    The name of the trial is long.

A Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Parallel Group Study to Simultaneously Qualify a Biomarker Algorithm for Prognosis of Risk of Developing Mild Cognative Impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (MCE due to AD) and to Test the Safety and Efficacy of Pioglitazone to Delay the Onset of MCI due to AD in Cognitively Normal Subjects

Or as I read it, there are two groups, one taking a placebo and the other taking Pioglitazone. We are testing the safety and efficacy of the drug.   I already have symptoms of MCI (mild cognative impairment) I am losing names and my car keys.

I’ll let everyone know how things work out, if I remember.

Papua New Guinea expatriates gathering

last Friday I attended a gathering of Papua New Guinea expatriates.  There were about 50 of us and there was lots of reminiscing of our times there.  We had a nice lunch and a listened to a visiting speaker named Eric McCrum.  Eric features regularly on ABC radio as The Bird Man and is very knowledgeable about Australian birds.   

He was invited to do a presentation about his time in Papua New Guinea.  His presentation was an old fashioned slide show with his commentary.  I thought that it was a well practised package he had used many times before, probably at senior citizens’ gatherings or schools.    It was like preaching to the converted as all of us had spent time in PNG.  I noticed a few people turning off and a couple of oldies having a bit of shuteye.  Never-the-less, it was worthwhile as there were some familiar scenes in the 100+ slides that just about everyone would have remembered.  All in all, a good day where I met and talked with a few people I had not met before. 

Goodbye Pencil Pine

All gone

Some time ago I mentioned a pencil pine in my front garden which had to go.   It has gone.   It was felled in no time by a Samoan couple whilst I went to an ATM to withdraw some cash. When I returned, they were doing a poor cleanup and then moved next door to remove 4 small branches of my neighbours’ tree hanging over the fence of their next door neighbours.  

They conned my neighbour suggesting that her neighbours were unhappy with the branches hanging over their fence.  Her neighbours weren’t home, and their displeasure was supposedly told to the tree people by their neighbour, in the next house along.  Sounds like BS to me.

I was a bit offside with their price and the fact that they left a stump protruding about 6” above ground level.  They offered to return with a stump grinder to remove the stump at an extra fee, but I told them to be off with their tax-free cash.

I spent an hour digging a little deeper around the stump and cut it below ground level with my blunt chain saw.   Must buy a new chain.

Domestic solar power

I have solar panels on my roof, feeding electricity into the power grid @ 40 cents a unit.  I buy power from the grid @ 7.135 cents a unit to do my night time washing etc and most power bills either give me a credit or a very small bill.  I like it!    For the last 6 weeks my solar system has been down and I have not sold any power to the power company.  

The problem was a faulty inverter which converts DC power from the panels into AC 240v.  The company which installed the system no longer services my system and the warranty etc has been taken over by a German company.  It has been over a month without a replacement inverter and only yesterday did I receive a phone call telling me that a replacement inverter would be installed today.   A young man installed it in about 10 minutes and even with heavy cloud cover I can see power being produced.

The entire system is a Chinese-made setup and many customers have had up to 4 replacement inverters within the 5 year warranty period.   I asked the installer whether other brands were any better and he told me that it seems like the German brand also has problems.  A new inverter cost around $400 installed, so if this one fails again, I will buy a new inverter with a new 5 year warranty.

The state government is the owner of the power grid and power stations and is hinting that owners of solar setups will be charged a higher fee over regular users to maintain the power lines and infrastructure.  I guess that's reasonable.

Esperance, Western Australia

Our road trip to Esperance was somewhat tiring; over 7 hours of driving with little of interest en route.  I was great catching up with sister Shirl and her kids  and Esperance town is a beautiful place with fine beaches and scenery.

I renamed Esperance 4Wheel Drive City as it seems obligatory to have at least 3, 4WD vehicles parked in the driveway.  There are a few car yards selling new and SH cars, but they don’t have the sales of the 4W drives.

In the business area of the town the pedestrian crosswalks are the opposite of crosswalks in Perth or Fremantle city.  People crossing have to give way to vehicles.  At first I thought that was a bit silly, but there is a lot of  traffic and also lots of people (especially during Easter) and the constant pedestrian crossings would certainly cause traffic chaos.

downtown Esperance

the town foreshore is grassed, with a nice white beach and lots of meeting places and facilities like these toilets/showers

Driving back to Fremantle took a little longer as the main roads were feeding cars, caravans and 4WDrives from various Easter holiday sites around the coast.  We left at 7.30am and arrived at my house around 4.30pm.

I have an air compressor which has been unserviceable for some time.  It is invaluable for blowing out dust in the many computers I restore for needy people.  The regulator died and air leaked out all around it and none went into the air tank.  The price for a replacement regulator in Australia was almost as much as I paid for the whole thing; so I went on eBay, found one in China for A$11.70 post free and delivered to my door today.  It was exactly the same as the original and the compressor is back on deck, working well.

old bits

new regulator fitted

Road trip to Esperance

My sister Shirley turns 70 on Sunday.  Brother Graham and I are driving down south to Esperance for the celebration.  Leaving early Friday; returning Monday.  It is over 700 kilometres and we will be sharing the driving.  Not a lot to see en route...just farms and a few small towns.

Esperance is a nice seaside town but I would rather it a bit closer to the city. 

  Easter  is the time when people from Kalgoorlie head down to take a look at the ocean and even take a dip in the cool waters.   Sister Shirl has lived down there for many years to be near her daughter Karen.   When she needs to head up to Perth for something important the return airfare is around $800.  That’s about three return trips to Bali.