More rewarding work

This morning I had a visit from a welfare person and one of her clients; Sky.  Sky has three children and is working from home and needed a computer and printer for printing fliers and seeking work.  

Tania and her partner welfare officers have brought other needy gals to my place for computers.  They are all young mums under a bit of financial pressure to get by.  Giving needy people nice machines is most rewarding work for me.

Each computer (Mac) undergoes a clean install of the operating system, a new PRAM battery, extra RAM if needed and upload of essential software and some games.  They are tested over a period to ensure they have no faults and I give my phone number and email address for any follow-up help which may be needed.  Very rarely does that happen.

                                    Nice young lady

Qatar

Friday evening I was invited to dinner at Helen and James’ house to catch up with Linda who flew in from Qatar, en-route to Queensland.  Linda is a friend of our daughter Helen and husband James. She is a lawyer working for a foreign company operating in Qatar.  She intends living there for the full 3 year contract....very good money!

Her husband Pete and daughter have rented out their house here and moved back to Queensland to finish off the year before they too move to Doha the capital, to be with Linda.

Qatar, in the Persian Gulf, has a population of almost 2M people and 94% of the labour market is filled by expatriates of which a very small percentage are female.  This, as can be imagined, causes some social problems.  Linda told us that when at the supermarket, a stranger will present a slip of paper with his phone number on it to any female.  It seems the custom is either to  accept, or toss the paper amongst the carrots.

Linda is having a few days with family before heading back to work. Lovely lady.

                           Daughter Helen and Linda

PS.  Linda was late arriving at Perth airport because of torrential rain and slow traffic and missed her flight. She caught a later flight @ $700.00

No real news about MK17

All sorts of unpleasant things are emerging about the crashed (downed) Malaysian jet. I suspect that the missile launcher and the operators are somewhere in Russia now.

The almost immediate cleanup suggests that they did not want any trace of the missile found.  Some bodies are missing and I cannot think why police tracker dogs were not used to find the bodies/parts.

I suspect that the perpetrators are long gone and nobody is going to admit it was just a horrible mistake.  The Russians and their rebels in Ukraine are feeding the chickens (leaking to the media)  all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories, none of which include Russia or the rebels.

MH17

Goodies

I have recently collected another six computers from David, who over the years has given my project dozens of Macs either from his home collection or from his workplace.  David’s house is like a Mac museum and he has collected an example of almost every Apple computer made.  One room has a wall of the early Macs and other rooms have nice examples of the brand.

                     

When I arrived at his house to collect the latest lot he gave me a camera tripod.  I was most grateful as I have a poor model and this one is of professional standard.  When I arrived home I had a closer look at it, I decided I should give him $50. as it was as new and obviously worth far more than a fifty.  There, we are both happy.

Coincidentally

Another coincidence.

Yesterday I mentioned a quote supposedly made by Samuel Johnson regarding his suggestion to overcome sea sickness.    Last night I watched Blackadder on TV and Baldrick, Blackadder’s manservant, fed a fire with Johnson’s dictionary....the only copy.

Read up on Samuel Johnson’s (not the athlete) dictionary.

Boat People

Refugees arriving in Australia have slowed down considerably since the federal government put measures in place to stop boats actually reaching Australia and transferring the passengers to detainment camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea.  

Most of the boats heading for Australia carrying refugees departing from Indonesia where their passengers have flown from various middle-east war-torn countries.   Most of these people are Muslims and that does stir up some resentment.  I, and people I know, would probably be happier with Asian immigration as most Asians do not practise a confronting religion.  That being said, there are many Australians who don’t want any refugees to come to Australia.  

Recent boats sailing direct from Sri Lanka carried people who are treated badly after the long drawn out insurgency of the Tamil Tigers.  The Sri Lankan government isn’t going to forget the Tamil Tigers and those who were with them any time soon.  Tamils who tried to escape persecution by boat have been jailed on their forced return to Sri Lanka

Australia’s refugee ‘flood’ is minuscule compared to Europe and the U.S..    For example, since last October some 52,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the southern border of the U.S. from places such as Ecuador hoping for a better life.  The U.S. government has had to house these children as it is deemed too dangerous to merely push them back over the border.  Major problem worldwide.

On a major road near my house is a ‘shrine’ to a road accident victim.  It looks very ugly, but I guess if the local government council took it down there would be an outcry from some members of the public.  It has been on the roadside for about three years now.

In the 18th century Samuel Johnson devised a cure for seasickness....hug an Oak tree. Check out Sam here.

Ralph OBE

Yesterday, my long-time friend Dennis and I drove down to Mandurah to visit Ralph OBE (over bloody eighty).  Ralph is in respite care whilst his wife Wendy is in England preparing to cross the channel to Fromelles where her uncle who was killed in WW1 has been reburied in a military cemetery.  250 bodies of Australian and British servicemen were discovered in a mass grave and over some years DNA identified the remains of 20 Australian soldiers.   Wendy’s uncle Adolf Knable was one of them.   See the story here.

Dennis and I took Ralph for a drive around Mandurah and some of the canals.  Mandurah is a large retirement town; not much industry there, but the amount of building since I last visited, is amazing.       We had fish and chips for an early lunch and we headed back to Fremantle as I had to be home for a computer delivery.

Ralph is being well looked after and he seems to like it there. 

A few days ago I received a phone call from a fellow I had met at a recent gathering of Papua New Guinea expatriates from times before Independence.  He told me of a fellow teacher I had gone through college with, dying.  It seems that he didn’t talk much of his time in PNG and the eulogy at the funeral taking place today needed some link to his teaching years up there.  I knew Tom and caught up with him over a couple of visits to Queensland, but couldn’t recall significant details about his PNG service, so I emailed a good friend who was also at the college and fortunately Jim was able to supply some good stories about Tom which will slot nicely into his eulogy at the funeral.   Farewell Tom.

Kernel Panics

For a couple of years now I have had two Apple laptops which present with the dreaded Kernel Panic.    Kernel Panics show a black rectangle with instructions for restarting.

There are a few reasons for Kernel Panics and most of them would be a problem with the main board.  I have never replaced a main board but have tried all sorts of key stroke startups which have given temporary results.    One of the laptops is a MacBook Pro and I took a punt and bought a new hard drive and inserted it.   It worked well for a couple of hours but KP came  back again, so I pulled the new hard drive out and put the MB Pro in a spare parts cupboard.

The other laptop was telling me that only one RAM slot was working, so I removed the RAM (memory sticks) and tried one at a time in the good slot.  Voila; success.  That machine has been running well for a couple of weeks now so it is ready to go to a good home.

Psoriasis

I attended a dermatologist today for some answers about an annual problem I have with my skin.  I have been to him three times over the past 15 years apparently for the same problem.  He pointed out that each visit was in June/July and I was seeing him for a skin problem.   Psoriasis was his diagnosis and he put it down to lack of sun in the winter months which, with a genetic predisposition, I am to get annually until the game is over.

He also suggested that itching of my skin in general is because of the use of soap and hot water showers.  One minute showers recommended.  Nah...I’ll put up with the itches.

I was given two nice MacBook laptops for my project.  The couple who donated them, Mike and Lesley, run a business called ‘Time Trackers’ which is a genealogical research company.  Looks interesting.....details on their card.

I have had a DVD of a local film production for some time, but each time I start to watch it I have shut it down as it made me feel decidedly bad.   Last night I watched it through to the end and the surprise ending where....no; I’m not going to spill the beans and spoil what was a satisfying end to what seemed like a very violent movie.

Last train to Freo is a movie about the last train from a suburb named Midland all the way to the end of the line at Fremantle (Western Australia).   Lots of harrowing abusive yelling and confrontation by two bad lads to three other passengers in the carriage.  I was most impressed especially by the ‘extras’ on the disk.    Well worth a look.

Pencils and palm trees

The suburb I live in has more than a smattering of Pencil Pines and palm trees.   I have one Pencil Pine (Pinus 2H-HB) and it is soon to go.  It is too close to the house roof.  

I am unsure who determined that pencils and pines should be planted in front yards, but there are not many houses that don’t have one or the other.  My daughter has one and hates it with a passion.

Brother Graham turned 65 on Saturday and yesterday I collected him and we had a good evening with a few beers and lots of laughs.  I had thought that he was now eligible to get state government discounts on most government charges, but unfortunately eligibility relies on working less that 25 hours a week.  Bad luck Gray.

Had a call from a welfare person who through my sister-in-law Dorothy, was after a computer and printer for a disabled woman who recently lost her home to a house fire.  Both of them arrived and decided on a Windows PC I had refurbished.  They also looked at an elderly Mac laptop and the welfare person took that to give her disabled daughter.  The client had a small car packed with all the belongings she had left after the fire was extinguished.  She is hoping that she had paid her annual house insurance.  I also gave her a few kitchen items such as a toaster and electric jug.

Here is a link to the news story which may not work outside Australia.

Back into homebrewing

This morning I drove North of Perth city to buy a homebrew kit.  Its previous owner constructed a very clever brew station with the fermenter contained in a timber box with a thermostat controlling a heating light to keep the brew at a constant temperature.  It also came with a bottle capper, all the chemicals (apart from the actual wort) and 10.5 kilograms of bottle caps; very ambitious!  I paid $50 for the whole lot and after sterilising it will ‘put down’ a brew tomorrow.

Click photos to enlarge.

I have brewed plenty of beer over the years without much success, but I will give it another run brewing stout.  If not successful, or I get tired of the brewing business, I can on-sell it again.  Other secondhand brew kits in Gumtree sold for much more and were just basic kits.

Sean McKibben is 50

Saturday evening I attended a 50th birthday party for an ex-student of mine.  Sean and his two kids came home to Western Australia from NSW for the birthday bash at his mother’s home.    It was a big show and I met a few other students who claimed that I had taught them back in the 1980s.  I have to believe them, but admit that I don’t remember them specifically.  Not really surprising as I reckon I have taught a few thousand students over the 36 years I was in the education business.  

I was the first to leave the party as I had consumed two stubbies of lite (2.6% alcohol) beers and I tested myself on my breathalyser and I was .02 and right to drive.  In Western Australia .05 is driving under the influence and .08 is drink driving.  In this state Booze Buses operate randomly day and night.  The bus blocks off roads and there are lots of blue lights flashing, cops cars and motorcycles to catch drivers who think they can drive off when the see the trap.    Fortunately the times I have had to blow in the bag I  had not been drinking.

Sean is staying over at my place tonight and I imagine we will have a few beers and lots to talk about.

Daughter Helen and husband James have almost finished their backyard ‘installation’.  Their elevated platform and spa is surrounded by low limestone walls and lots of new plants.  Looks great!

Click photos to enlarge them

A friend, Joy gave a nice present in the form of a centenary edition of the state Civil Service Journal.  A centenary issue of the Association celebrating 100 years in July 1929.  Some wonderful stuff inside 113 pages of W.A. history....from history.  I will read some of the articles and post any interesting stuff on this blog.

Daylight Robbery

Daughter Helen bought a set of printer cartridges for her Canon all-in-one.  I was shocked when she told me the set cost A$124.00.  I had already ordered a full set for her printer from Hong Kong through eBay for a total cost of A$18.80 postage paid and delivered to the front door.  They should arrive next week.

The manufacturers of printers warn buyers that using non original cartridges voids any warranty.   I have been using after-market cartridges and never had any problems with them over 10 years and probably a hundred cartridges.   

The general public is bombarded by false claims for thousands of products.  At the moment there is an investigation into over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.   Various claims are made that certain pain killers can target head, back or muscle pain but when one reads the packet both contain exactly the same ingredients. I won’t start on vitamins, hair restoration etc etc.

I seem to have a series of coincidences happen to me. Mid week I watched a repeat of The Big Bang Theory where Howard (Wolowitz) was in the space station on a mission.  (How did they film him floating around the cabin????)    Early the next morning I woke around 5am and turned the bedside radio on and the announcer told us that if we went outside right now we could see the space station pass overhead....and there it was!  

'Free' TV

Today I had a visit today from a young welfare gal with her client to collect a computer.  They had arranged to be here around 4.15pm but obviously not considered the 3.30-5.30pm traffic chaos on the freeway.  They arrived around 4.45 and I showed them a selection of two computers, a Windows PC  and a Mac.  I was hoping she would want the PC as the welfare gal is a PC person and could assist her if necessary.

She was impressed with the PC which is reasonably fast and I had loaded Windows 7 on it.    But when she saw the Mac she decided that that was what she wanted.  The visit was pleasant and we had tea and coffee and I did a quick operating course on the Mac and we loaded it into the car and they were off.    I felt good about this one.  The recipient is a young lady from Liberia.

Watched a bit of TV this evening.  It is called Free TV which aint quite true as one has to watch inane advertising which really gives me the  sh**Ts.  I am not going to go for cable TV, but I wish that TV ads weren’t so repetitive.   Why can they not make several versions of the same ad?    I guess it must be just me but I don’t remember what the ads are selling.  They certainly don’t make me want to buy the product.

The other promotional ads for upcoming TV programs like Australia’s/ Egypt’s/ South Africa’s/Britain’s etc etc ‘most talented’ make me flip channels when they appear.

Rotary Bowelscan

I have just completed the Rotary Australia bowel scan.  It is a nation-wide yearly project which costs just A$12.  My father died of bowel cancer and my dear wife Joan also died  from metastatic cancer from a bowel cancer. Joan’s father also had a bowel cancer, so our family; me, Helen and Martin are in a risk zone.

The test has strict guidelines for self collection of faecal samples.   Helen and I have already done the test and Martin is starting it today.

A negative result does not necessarily mean one is free of bowel cancer as not all bowel cancers bleed.  Still worth doing though.

This year's test kit is a refined one with no dietary restrictions.

The restoration of Adolf Knable

I have spent a couple hours restoring a photograph of our friend Wendy’s uncle.  

I recently wrote about the discovery of a number of WW1 Australian soldiers buried in a mass grave in Fromelles in France.   

The original photo of her uncle was somewhat scratched and it took a bit of fiddling for me to use my not too great Photoshop skills to bring it back to original for the memorial in July.  Wendy is going to Britain and on to Fromelles for the dedication ceremony and placing of a headstone.

A before and after.......

Getting too old for computer problems

The young physically disabled woman I had helped by giving her a computer, printer etc is still on my case.  She has called me another four times since I thought we had everything running smoothly.   One of the items she asked me for was a powered USB hub.  I found one set it up and had hoped that that would be the last call out I would get from her....no such luck!  

  

She has made several phone calls over recent days telling me that things don’t work.  Some of the things she is trying to do require a later model Mac than I have given her, so there is no easy fix.  One is to delete songs on her iPad which apparently requires iTunes 11.2 which her Mac cannot load because it doesn’t have an Intel processor.  I suggested if she just wants to delete some songs she could seek out one of her friends to visit with his/her laptop and use that machine.

Today’s call was a complaint that she could not shut down the Mac and when I arrived I could see that she connected a number of things to the old USB hub.....iPhone, iPad, iPod, keyboard and a USB memory stick with all her work on it.  I removed the USB memory stick and everything is OK.  Must be something on the stick that the Mac doesn’t like.  I didn’t want to look into the flash drive as that may create more work for me.

She lives in very smart government housing.  Usually these arrangements by this state government are in group housing, but somehow she has a modern house all to herself.  Her house is only about 4 kilometres from mine, but I am hoping she won’t call again.

Tom Waits

This afternoon I was playing some Tom Waits in my car.  I went to a Tom Waits concert in Perth some  25  years ago.

 It was  great and fully booked.  The stage featured the front end of a white Cadillac and a New York style lamp post, a microphone stand and a heavy smoking Tom with a tumbler of whiskey.  The audience loved him.

I haven’t heard much of him on radio of recent years and the rumour-mill has it that he has lost his voice.  It could be argued that is natural progression as he was a  chain smoking drinker....probably helped by other substances for many years.

Driving today I listened to several Wait’s (Tom’s) tracks and realised that my favourite track is Kentucky Avenue.  As I understand it, it is perhaps a moving eulogy to a friend...quite likely imagined, who is crippled.

Listen to Kentucky avenue here on YouTube.

Alfa vs Delorian

I have just been watching a TV programme trumpeting British engineering achievements.  One of them was the Delorian car, a beautiful car which in the end didn’t make it in the marketplace.

  Made me think of the current advertising for Alfa Romeo cars here in Australia which has a line ‘it’s not  a car, it’s an Alfa Romeo’.    The Alfa depicted in the ads has all the beauty of a pregnant Wombat.  I guess it sells to the 'elite' because it is ‘different’.