A room for visitors

Our son Martin is finally in to my unit at Orelia.  He has found that getting to work by bus is relatively easy, but costs him around $60 per week.   I had to remind him the fuel and associated expenses of running a car would be far more than $60 per week.

I had a full-on clean up of what was Martin’s side of my house and it is now ready for visitors.....if I had any... sniff sniff.  Sister Shirley can come stay with me next time she travels up from Esperance to hit the big smoke.

I recently lost my car in a large shopping centre car park.  Easy enough when most cars are silver and similar size.  I then thought that I would design an App for iPhone and name it ‘find my car’.    I did a search for iPhone Apps and there are dozens already available.  Too late Locky!

Bad Boys

My unit in the non-salubrious suburb of Orelia is ready for occupation by our son Martin.  We; friends and family, have helped shift Martin’s gear in and he will probably move in later this week.  It is a two bedroom second story unit and getting some of the heavy gear up two flights of stairs was a bit of a struggle.  Daughter Helen’s husband James did most of the heavy lifting on the final load this morning.  Thanks James, Graham and Dennis.

Previously it was rented and the last tenants were an Indian family.  They were good tenants, but family comes first and Martin was keen to have his own place.  Their lease ended and I didn’t offer them a new term.

The Strata company which looks after the whole block of units sent me a letter following a complaint by another tenant that my tenants were hanging their washing on a balcony and as that contravened a local by-law they must be instructed to stop the practice.  By the time I received the letter the tenants had vacated the property.  Yesterday brother Graham and I checked out the outdoor clothesline area which has not been used for months, maybe years, as marauding groups of indigenous youths kick down sections of the steel fence and steal all manner of property.   Yesterday as we approached the hanging area, a group of about 10 youths had kicked in the fence and climbed a wall to go swimming in the pool.  We were threatened with death and I am ashamed to admit that a single incident like that caused prejudices that I didn’t think I had.

              I expect most readers know of suburbs like this one no matter where they live.

Stranger danger??

Over the last few days I have had a number of people come to collect refurbished Apple Mac computers.   I had placed notices on boards at Murdoch University and local shopping centres.  Most of the Macs have now gone to people who will make good use of them.  Almost all of them at first expressed  concern that it may not be as I had advertised...free to needy folk.  I also noted that I would rather they be saved from landfill.

I guess it is a sign of the times that people are cautious when offered something of value for free.  In each case the person coming to collect a computer was accompanied by at least one other person.    Fortunately, face-to-face that changed and all of them were most grateful and even excited at getting a nice machine.   

I would have advised my daughter to take a friend along when going to a stranger’s house.

Moses Hailai Jr/Sr

51 years ago I taught a young lad in Papua New Guinea.  Yesterday I had a comment on this blog by his son of the same name, Moses Hailai.   He left his email address and we exchanged greetings and a little about his father who, like me, has retired from teaching.  Moses Jr will pass on my contact details and I am hoping that this will be another reunion.

Here’s a pic from 1962 showing Moses outside my SOQ in the Gulf of Papua, tasting ice for the first time.

Moses Hailai holding the ice block tray.

Our son is soon to be moving back to the unit we purchased some years ago to house him.  It will make it difficult to get to work as he won’t get his drivers licence back for quite some time.  At the moment he gets up at 4.45am to start work at 7am catching two buses from here.  Where the unit is will mean getting up much earlier.  A work colleague who lives near the unit has offered to take him to work, as she starts and finishes around the same time.  Hope they don’t get sick of each other.

Mazda 929

I have had a number of Mazda cars.  All were well built and reliable.  But I feel the need to buy another 929 before they are all gone.  I have had three 929s.  When new, 1991-95, they were very expensive for a Japanese car....somewhere around A$70,000.  My three cost on average, $4,500.    I loved them!

I now drive a Hyundai i45.  Nice car, but I recently saw a 929 advertised for $3,600 negotiable.  Yesterday I went and looked at it.  One owner from new with 100,000 kilometres on the clock.  It looked very nice.  The owner started it and I heard a tappet noise.  $$$$$$   It also had not had the timing belt changed since new.    

Today I visited a local mechanic and he gave me estimates for both jobs.  $800+ to fit a new belt and $1800+ to replace a hydraulic tappet.  I might give it a miss.  Pity! 

The 929 has 4 wheel steering and a host of other electronic stuff which at 20 years of age might start to give trouble.

As Willy Wonka said..’stop that, reverse it’.   If negotiations were to go well, I might yet do it.

A curry dinner party

I am very proud of our daughter Helen.  She was born on the 28th of November and so, was always younger than the rest of her classmates.  She once asked me why she got my brains and brother Martin got Joan’s brains.  ‘Luck of the draw’ I replied.   I suggested that people like us...not so gifted, had to work harder at it and she has since made a successful career as a teacher.  I suspect they both got Joan’s brains.  Hey, I was born on the 29th of November..maybe I wasn't so dumb after all?

Here is an article about delaying starting school for a year which even though we, Joan and I, were teachers didn’t consider at the time.  In the U.S. the term is Redshirting.

She is also  a great cook, experimenting with new cuisine...no sausages and three veg for her and James!  Last Saturday she had a dinner party for eight.  It was a curry night of four different curries; goat, beef, lamb and chicken with dahl and naan bread.  For starters we had spiced potato, samosas and sambals and finished the meal with a desert brought by her friend Maria, a cassata  made with biscuits, fruit, yoghurt and cream...delicious!

Maria is also an accomplished guitarist and we all joined in with her in a good old fashioned sing-a-long.  Sort of like a 1950s stand around the piano evening.

A pretty poor pic of part of the dinner table.  Should have taken a camera rather that a phone.

Talking Turkey at the Panel Shop

Yesterday I dropped off my car at a panel shop for a bit of plastic surgery on a number of scratches and small dents on its body.

Panel shops often like you to claim on your insurance policy and some naughty ones offer to mark down all the dents as one minor accident. The cost is then elevated and if you have been a reasonable member to the insurance company it is approved and everyone is happy.   

In my case I have had a couple of minor prangs over the last 10 years and to keep my no-claim bonus, decided to talk turkey with a panel shop known to do ‘cashies’.  I also didn’t want them to know that at 73 years of age I was losing the plot.  The panel man came up with a figure of $900. which is far below other quotes I had.    $900. seems a lot to touch up minor bits, but if the job is to be done properly, entire panels must be painted to ensure colour matching.  I will collect the car tomorrow.

I thought I would catch a bus to the local shopping centre, withdraw the required cash from a teller and catch a cab home.    No bus, so I walked the 4 kilometres to the shopping centre.  Next I found that the ATM which services my account was down.  Not enough cash for a taxi so I walked the other 4 kilometres home.  I then rode a bicycle to daughter Helen’s place to service the large fish tank and two fish ponds in the backyard.  I started to think that exercise might be good for me.  

In the afternoon I had a visit from a teaching colleague of many years ago; Brendan.  He is back from Texas for two weddings.  Both are of his kids and they decided to coordinate them within a two week period so dad would be able to attend them both.   We had a very pleasant afternoon in the sun primed with a few beers.  Brendan is in Texas with his wife who was transferred there by a mining company which is operating here in Western Australia.   

Texas, if one doesn’t know it, is basically Republican heartland and most people think that it is OK to shut down the nation when the Pres. tries to introduce some fairness to the medicare system.   Nuff said! 

Recycling win

A few weeks ago I visited a recycling centre in the city of Fremantle.  I don’t live within the city’s boundaries, but still manage to dispose of some of my irreparable computer gear there.

I noticed a smart looking laptop in the computer section.  I got it home and found the hard drive had been removed which is standard practice if one is to dump a computer.  No problemo, I had a spare.  It also didn’t have a power supply and the battery was dead.  I took a punt and bought a secondhand power supply for $50. and after a lot of mucking about got it started.   

                             It was the eye candy that sucked me in.

Loading an operating  system and all the drivers for that particular machine (17” Dell XPS M1730) took some time.  It also gave me a bit of a headache getting it to recognise my wireless modem.  After many test starts and restarts I figured I would purchase a new battery for it @ $55.

So there it is up and running.  It is a fast machine, but I am not very familiar with PCs and find getting around in XP a bit clumsy compared to a Mac.   Now I don’t know what I am going to do with it.  

Halong Bay

This morning I drove our daughter Helen and her husband James to Perth International Airport for their flight to Singapore.  They should be touching down about now.  They are spending a few days in ‘Singers’ and then on to Vietnam where they will visit Hanoi and then a few days on a luxury small boat cruising Halong Bay, a popular tourist destination.

Meantime I have done a short course (I think I passed) in maintaining their very complicated and expensive fish tank. Hope I don’t lose any fish over the time they are away.

I have to test water quality; top up the reserve tank, prepare special food for the fish and keep the tank clean.   Fortunately the lighting is programmed.  Mid week I have to get the water tested and purchase new top up water....reverse osmosis water treated to remove any parasites etc.  

                            Fortunately their dogs are in a boarding kennel.

A 70th birthday celebration

last night our daughter Helen and brother Graham joined me and we drove North of the River to my sister-in-law’s place for her 70th birthday party.  I drove my car there and Helen was the nominated skipper and she drove us home.  A good party with lots of familiar old faces and much animated conversation brought on by Dorothy’s cocktails.

                                     Princess Dorothy dispensing cocktails

                                            Johnny Howard also turned up

                     We bought her two fine Australian bubblies and attached this card....

Our son Martin is ready to return to work if they haven't already decided they can find someone else to take his job.  His painful problem with a gallstone and enlarged Pancreas has calmed down.  I hope he can easily get back into work and not have the problem recur.

Enlarged Pancreas

Our son Martin is having a bad time.  He returned home from work with pains just below his sternum.  I figured it was gastric reflux, but none of the proprietary medicines we have here calmed it down.  The next day he attended his GP and later in the day had a blood test and an ultrasound.  Results showed a 12mm stone in his Gall Bladder and an enlarged Pancreas.

The GP told him that many people exist comfortably with such a stone and removing the Gall Bladder would only be necessary if an infection arose.  The GP suggested that Martin ‘watch’ the enlarged Pancreas. No dietary suggestions??   I have urged Martin to ask her exactly what she meant by ‘watch’.

I have just consulted Dr Google in the form of Web MD.  It seems that the most probable reason for enlarged Pancreas is Gallstones.  So there!

This morning he is feeling a bit better.  His employer is not too happy about the number of sick days Martin has had.  We, Martin and I,  both feel that he needs time to get better and if that doesn’t suit his boss then he should perhaps quit and seek work when he is better.

Arehava Village, Papua

My first posting as Teacher-in-Charge of a school in Papua New Guinea in 1962 was at a village named Arehava. 

Arehava was on the beach on the western end of Orokolo Bay.   The school and my aluminium SOQ (single officers quarters) was only 80-100 metres from the beach and on the other side about 100 metres from a tidal creek.  

A woman washing a pot in the creek.   Nearby another woman was taken by a crocodile.  I was told that it wasn't a croc, it was a sorcerer from another village who had turned himself into a croc.  Payback time!

I was the first and last European teacher at that school and the SOQ was built specifically to house me.  I spent almost three years there and at the ripe old age of 25 transferred to Madang to teach at Madang Technical College.

Arehava was a pressure-cooked growing up period for me, dealing with village politics, sorcerers and some teachers who resented the young Australian teacher in charge of the school.    I look back on that period of my 73 years as formative years.

Click the  photos to enlarge them

Arehava Primary School Std V..  much older than regular Std V kids should have been

At the school garden some miles from the coast.

Maisevese, my cooky who guided me through the village politics

Arehava warrior 1962. What is he doing now?

Arehava Village and the school were demolished by a sunami and the village is now some kilometres inland.

Blue Jasmine

Yesterday, we, Joy, Margaret and I went to the cinema to see Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, a tale of self-destruction. 

  Cate Blanchett must be up for an Oscar for her tortured performance.  Alec Baldwin and the other cast members were also great, but Cate looks to me like the new Meryl Streep.

This movie was a little different to the usual Woody movie, but has the same mix of characters as most of his other movies.   Woody has made many wonderful, funny, crazy movies and some serious movies which could be called tragedies without catharsis....no happy ending.  The Purple Rose of Cairo is one which comes to mind.

Being a Woody fan from way back I took a while to fully appreciate this very good movie.  Go see it.

More info about the movie here.

Bindii grass

This morning I spent some  time in the sun weeding my front lawn of Bindii grass/weed.   Bindii is hard to find until you walk on the very sharp prickles.  Bindii comes to my lawn courtesy of Australia Post delivery motorcycles.  The postman takes the shortest route to the next letterbox over front yard lawns spreading Bindii seeds to all and sundry.  Thanks Mr Postman!  OK, I guess if I were a Postman, I too would take the shortest route to the next letterbox.  A Wikipedia file pic of bindii is below

                                                         click to enlarge

This week is, or was, Perth Fashion Festival and until I saw this photo in the newspaper I never knew why models never smiled.  She obviously isn’t happy parading clothes she most probably wouldn't normally wear.    Sexy indeed!

                      Photo from the West Australian our only daily newspaper.

Cunderdin Agriculture College

Yesterday cousin Val and I drove to Cunderdin Agricultural College 158 kilometres from Perth city for its Open Day.  Val’s grandson Mitchell is a boarding student at the college.

   This year’s student population is a mix of boys and girls numbering approx. 150.   Most come from farming situations, but entry is not restricted to just them.

These students are studying year 11 and 12 in a selection of three pathways...Further Education leading to tertiary admittance, Agriculture and Agri Trades.  Mitch is in the latter stream and hopes to gain an apprenticeship as a diesel fitter after Year 12.

The College of some 2,114 hectares is operated as a commercial farming enterprise.

All students regardless of which pathway they have selected, do a rotation of the agriculture Animal and Plant Production Systems which involves breeding, cropping, butchery and driving monstrous machinery.  Great fun!  Most of the students with a farming background would have already been driving farm machinery from a very young age.

Later in the day there was a parade of their large agriculture machinery...mainly driven by girls beaming with pride.

                                                 Vintage Commer 30cwt

                                                        Metalwork projects

                                             Meeting place, Hall and Gym

Beaming gal

                      

I was most impressed by the whole setup.    Great facilities and care for students, tours of mine sites and stations in the North-West of the state, certification in a number of fields such as PADI scuba diving, the state government’s boat Skipper’s Certificate, and various industrial tickets such as first aid etc. 

It is well that all students work hard as they get Breakfast, Morning tea, Lunch, Dinner and Supper.  Didn’t see any overweight students.

All visitors, probably several hundred, were treated to a very nice lunch.

The college fee for a full time boarder is around $11,000 which includes uniforms. formal dress wear, major excursions and transport to events.

tips for single males

Single men; divorced, widowed, jilted or just unmarried have problems with fitted sheets. I did until I created Lock’s law.....mark the tops of both sheets for easy bed making.

Another tip guys....make sure that the printed sides of both sheets face inward.  Could be embarrassing if a female visitor checked out the bed.

   

If you have an induction hotplate in your kitchen (as I do) don’t put a pot on the hotplate on high and turn around to scratch yourself (as I did) because inevitably (and instantly) it will boil over and cause you to have a big cleanup.

Regularly clean light switches and sink taps to remove cooking detritus.

Sharpen up blokes!   

It's all over

Well, it is all over, bar the shouting and I reckon there will be a bit of that.  The liberalNational coalition have won the federal election.  Yesterday was poll day and I fronted up to a local primary school to cast my vote.  There was a long queue with the party hopefuls handing out how to vote slips.  I was offered one from an aspirant for the seat of Fremantle, Teresa van Lieshout....thanks but no thanks.  Then I heard her raising her voice in front of the assembled mob telling another couple of opposing party faithfulls....’You are both corrupt and you and your people will go to hell’,  Oh dear!?

Another voter fell into line behind me after refusing a how-to-vote slip from a LiberalNational touter.  I heard her tell him ‘I wouldn’t accept that for a million dollars’.  I turned to her and told her that that was a lot of money and I would eat a bucket full of horse poo for a million.   No reply.  Not a time for hilarity.

The suburb where I voted is a strong working class Labor stronghold.  There will be words, some shouting and probably some tears there today.

Year 10 Science Cecil Andrews High School

I had a FaceBook contact with an ex-student of mine, Dynese.  I taught her in 1989 at Cecil Andrews Senior High School.    She was in a couple of my classes at that school and made my time there tolerable.   I was only at the school for a year before I took Long Service Leave at half pay for 12 months.

The school was not like a previous school I had worked at, it had a different clientele, not generally happy about education and prone to a bit of classroom disruption.  This was offset by some students who were interested in what was being taught.  Sort of like Welcome Back Kotter with a few of the niceties.   After a year and a fair bit of innovative teaching I think we all came out of it OK.

Here is a photo I took of my Year 10 science class.  Dynese is there....not a great shot of her, and I won’t point her out in the photo.  There are a lot of stories about that group which would be 

movie material.  Love to have a class reunion before I croak it.

                                                    Click the photo to enlarge

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Yesterday I drove Margaret and Joy to visit Araluen Botanical Gardens in the Hills above Perth.  Araluen is a wonderful spot and it is very popular with locals and visitors to this state.   The reason for our visit was to see the Tulip festival.  

                           A few pics here.....Click on the pics to enlarge them.

Take a look at its site here.

I have to admit that I am not really a flower person, but the extensive gardens, waterfalls and indeed the Tulips and other flowering plants and trees are impressive.  A couple of mother wild ducks shepherded their flock amongst the visitors.  A park warden told us that they will probably not survive too long with the wildlife in and around the park,  Sad!

Bad Parking

Just returned from a service station where I filled up with fuel.  In front of my car I watched a young Chinese guy having lots of problems getting fuel into his wagon.  A few litres had spilled onto the ground.  He hadn’t noticed the fuel hand piece didn’t fit into his filler....he was trying to put diesel into his petrol tank.  I yelled out to warn him and he slowly got the message and stopped.   Inside the servo he paid for 8 litres of diesel and I estimate 5 litres had managed to get in and mix with the petrol.  Big trouble now.

Yesterday at my local shopping centre I watched a woman park her 4WD over two parking bays.  She got out of the car, had a look at her parking, but didn’t think it was worthwhile backing out and having another go.  I took a photo with my phone. Not going to post it on this Bad Parking site.