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.

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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.

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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

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    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.

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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.

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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.   

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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.