Aussies! Check in here!

[missswannie]

Blue sky in the west, 26-27 through mid week so will do an afternoon working from the beach here and there. You have to enjoy it. A dry winter this year, odes of 2010 apparently, so am a bit concerned for the farmers. Very hard for them to get a look in politically over here. Mining and resources are a $115b industry, agriculture $9b, so A vs B arguments never go in their favour. Interestingly, the iron ore mines are all cropping on their unused land now, so are producing hay and sending it east to help out.
So we now have a spirit from Archie Rose distilleries which tastes of Sourdough, butter, and vegemite (ArchieMite). I quite like all the innovative spirits makers popping up all over the country. Good enterprise. I have ordered a bottle from them just because they are local and doing something different. But crazy products aside, these distilleries are winning some big awards internationally for their standards, so they are right up there.
I am getting dragged off to the A League final on sunday. I might need it as a distraction from all the election stuff. The ArchieMite spirit may help a little too.

 

[missswannie]

A phone call to a guy down the road who has a hipster bar and he had some of the vegemite on toast spirits. So in the interest of research it had to be tried. Buttery sourdough with vegemite is definitely the taste.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

Arse.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the clusterfucks are back in power even to their great surprise. Given all their moderates have left we can expect the far right to take over control. The country just voted in a far right party so in that way we are no different to Europe. Plus fear wins the day which is sad, but it works so don't expect the next election to be contested on ideas only fear.

For a so called smart country we keep making dumb decisions. The message is we covet personal wealth above all else. So we don't have any moral high ground to point fingers to other countries for not doing the right thing. The country has become a petulant child sacred the bogeyman is going to steal all his sweets. I say "his" because obviously if you're female you have less sweets to steal. When we covet money above all else then we are willing to sacrifice our morals and our humanity to our fellow citizens. We won't be a progressive society till the baby boomer generation dies off or gets dementia. Until then we'll continue to invest in dead end skills. About the only thing we are good at is digging stuff out of the ground. No vision in that thinking.

I had no idea about franking credits but as a retiree who is still paying tax, I reckon since my taxes are going to pay for their lifestyle then I should get a key to their homes and be able to drink their scotch and get a ticket to their next OS holiday. We give the younger generation grief but I don't blame them for being angry. They are on the other side of the glass watching people consume their future.

There is a certain part of the country that likes to give the middle finger to other parts but then expect that same part of the country to open their wallets when climate change disasters hit them. Well I'll be following the lead of my fellow baby boomers and keep my wallet shut.

The Aussie larrikin who would help out his mates is fading away replaced by Gollum who only covets his golden ring not realising he is burning to death and in the end not only loses his life but also the thing he covets the most.

If you get angry at anything I've posted above well then perhaps its a reflection of who you are. The truth does hurt when you see it in the mirror. We can all pretend to be concerned about climate change and racism the next time we see a story about that on the news, but we are unwilling to do anything about those issues cause it will impact our personal circumstances. When the generation who is yet to vote gets to voting age they will ask the current voting generations..."WTF were you guys thinking"...how do we answer them with honesty.

It was sad to read the comments of one elder aboriginal woman who has now given up hope of seeing equality in her lifetime.

The only positive I took out of the election is that the Onion Eater is finally gone from govt, but we will still be paying his tax funded pension. Unfortunately Mr Potato Head survived so he will salivating at the prospect of deporting that refugee family. We did that folks.

As for me well nothing that happens in govt will impact my personal circumstances, but I didn't vote this time for me, I voted for what I thought would be best for the less well off and the young. Seems my vote didn't count.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

Afternoon all,

Well the clusterfucks are back in power even to their great surprise.

Thanks for taking the time to set out my thoughts in detail darkelf. I could only bring myself to express one word...
Hope will well up again in time.

 

[darkelf9]

Thanks for taking the time to set out my thoughts in detail darkelf. I could only bring myself to express one word...
Hope will well up again in time.

Hey Zach,

Not a problem. I'm usually easy going but there are some things that really piss me off.

Hope you are doing well.

 

[scumbag]

Afternoon all,

Well the clusterfucks are back in power even to their great surprise. Given all their moderates have left we can expect the far right to take over control. The country just voted in a far right party so in that way we are no different to Europe. Plus fear wins the day which is sad, but it works so don't expect the next election to be contested on ideas only fear.

For a so called smart country we keep making dumb decisions. The message is we covet personal wealth above all else. So we don't have any moral high ground to point fingers to other countries for not doing the right thing. The country has become a petulant child sacred the bogeyman is going to steal all his sweets. I say "his" because obviously if you're female you have less sweets to steal. When we covet money above all else then we are willing to sacrifice our morals and our humanity to our fellow citizens. We won't be a progressive society till the baby boomer generation dies off or gets dementia. Until then we'll continue to invest in dead end skills. About the only thing we are good at is digging stuff out of the ground. No vision in that thinking.

I had no idea about franking credits but as a retiree who is still paying tax, I reckon since my taxes are going to pay for their lifestyle then I should get a key to their homes and be able to drink their scotch and get a ticket to their next OS holiday. We give the younger generation grief but I don't blame them for being angry. They are on the other side of the glass watching people consume their future.

There is a certain part of the country that likes to give the middle finger to other parts but then expect that same part of the country to open their wallets when climate change disasters hit them. Well I'll be following the lead of my fellow baby boomers and keep my wallet shut.

The Aussie larrikin who would help out his mates is fading away replaced by Gollum who only covets his golden ring not realising he is burning to death and in the end not only loses his life but also the thing he covets the most.

If you get angry at anything I've posted above well then perhaps its a reflection of who you are. The truth does hurt when you see it in the mirror. We can all pretend to be concerned about climate change and racism the next time we see a story about that on the news, but we are unwilling to do anything about those issues cause it will impact our personal circumstances. When the generation who is yet to vote gets to voting age they will ask the current voting generations..."WTF were you guys thinking"...how do we answer them with honesty.

It was sad to read the comments of one elder aboriginal woman who has now given up hope of seeing equality in her lifetime.

The only positive I took out of the election is that the Onion Eater is finally gone from govt, but we will still be paying his tax funded pension. Unfortunately Mr Potato Head survived so he will salivating at the prospect of deporting that refugee family. We did that folks.

As for me well nothing that happens in govt will impact my personal circumstances, but I didn't vote this time for me, I voted for what I thought would be best for the less well off and the young. Seems my vote didn't count.

I'm with ya mate, think they just took too many policies in and confused a lot. Talked to one guy about the election and he said I hate them all so going to vote UAP.... Seriously? It is very sad that people have no idea about good reform, or maybe more the point don't try and understand. I don't mind if others have a different opinion to me, as long as they are informed and know what the hell they are talking about. Climate change is huge for me (what were you thinking QLD), as I want my kids and grand kids to have a planet. As you said though wealth seems more important. /sigh

 

[warrior queen]

Honestly? I am beyond the point of believing in, or caring about, who is in power in Australia.
All of them have completely failed to reinvigorate our economy, redistribute wealth more equitably, or care for our most vulnerable more compassionately.
My beautiful country has been mismanaged for so long that I have become badly disillusioned and will simply get on with my own life to the best of my ability and disregard this latest (in a long line of) useless promises by entitled, out of touch, and seemingly uncaring politicians.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

Hey Zach,

Not a problem. I'm usually easy going but there are some things that really piss me off.

Hope you are doing well.

I get angry when liars and charlatans are not held to account by those paid (ostensibly) to do so, the news media.

I’m alright, generally speaking. I’ll keep fighting on.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it's raining here in Melbourne town, this time it happened when they predicted it would. Just wish I remembered to do the washing earlier in the week, but not a major issue since my clothes line is under the car port. The previous owner was a smart cookie. I would never of thought of doing that but will in my future retirement house down the coast.

Got a Youtube link from an ex-colleague but then saw other stuff on Youtube. One in particular of a mother with two small kids who needed to sell some jewellery to buy food cause she had run out of money that month. The jewellery store owner calculated the dollar value of the jewellery, gave the mum the money then gave her back her jewellery. Wow! Our pollies could take a lesson from that.

Sounds like my microwave is going to die at some point soon, but I've had it for over 20 yrs so it was a good value for money purchase. Better make sure I buy a white microwave otherwise Mr Potato Head might try and deport it.
Underling: "Mien..I mean sir, here are the latest reports"
PH: "Thanks..oh by the way Alan told me we now have more recruits wanting to join, don't forget to order more black shirts. Thankyou Liebling"
Underling: "Zig..I mean yes sir"
PH: "Protect the borders"

After the weekend I felt like going and playing with puppies, that's the animal not the boobies, although that's fun as well...."whose a good boob, yes you are" wobble wobble

Purchased a new video game last week not realising it was done by the same people behind Dark Souls. I'm not young enough to play that game, I don't have the time to spare repeating things over and over and over. Traded that in for my second choice Days Gone. At least this one gives you a chance. Get to ride bikes instead of horses although it's a rather thirsty bike. If it gave you that type of mileage on the road you'd sell it. Bad enough you have to keep feeding your horse in Red Dead II every five minutes. I don't remember doing that in the first game. I mean if they want to build reality games then do it properly. Still reckon the best game I've played is Wicther 3 then comes Elder Scrolls.

Hope your weekend goes well. We need more rain obviously. Our catchments here in Melbourne town are down to 50%. Been rather warm the last few days for this time of year.

 

[darkelf9]

I'm with ya mate, think they just took too many policies in and confused a lot. Talked to one guy about the election and he said I hate them all so going to vote UAP.... Seriously? It is very sad that people have no idea about good reform, or maybe more the point don't try and understand. I don't mind if others have a different opinion to me, as long as they are informed and know what the hell they are talking about. Climate change is huge for me (what were you thinking QLD), as I want my kids and grand kids to have a planet. As you said though wealth seems more important. /sigh

Yep I never thought I would see blue collar workers voting for the rich. The same dude that ripped off other blue collar workers.

It's a different Australia to the one I grew up in, at times I don't recognise it. Just hoping things are going to get better doesn't work. Needs people to mobilise and take back the narrative we now see play out by the lies in certain parts of the media. This was our Trump moment. Lies and fear won the day.

 

[scumbag]

Yep I never thought I would see blue collar workers voting for the rich. The same dude that ripped off other blue collar workers.

It's a different Australia to the one I grew up in, at times I don't recognise it. Just hoping things are going to get better doesn't work. Needs people to mobilise and take back the narrative we now see play out by the lies in certain parts of the media. This was our Trump moment. Lies and fear won the day.

A bit sad really, What I am finding is a lot are really uninformed. The system needs to change, and I think that starts with ruling out false advertising on all mediums. Then I hate to say it but do we need to look at making voting NOT compulsory? Social media has a huge influence, a guy spent 60m to support the liberal party, and Fraser Anning used RW social media to influence their vote.
Not sure how you change all of it but I think it starts with my first comment and putting massive fines if caught. Not as if they are in Parliment and can get away with it, mind you maybe that needs to change too. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jstar2081]

A bit sad really, What I am finding is a lot are really uninformed. The system needs to change, and I think that starts with ruling out false advertising on all mediums. Then I hate to say it but do we need to look at making voting NOT compulsory? Social media has a huge influence, a guy spent 60m to support the liberal party, and Fraser Anning used RW social media to influence their vote.
Not sure how you change all of it but I think it starts with my first comment and putting massive fines if caught. Not as if they are in Parliment and can get away with it, mind you maybe that needs to change too. Just my 2 cents.

I don't usually comment, I found the amount of miss-information from both sides was horrible.

I believe that it should be a criminal offence to lie or mislead on political advertising, with banning from parliament and gaol time.

Compulsory Voting is one of the things that sets us apart from the rest of the world. I think you should be able to unregister from the voting commission if you want to. There are lots of examples around of where not having compulsory voting can get you into trouble.....UK, Usa,

My 5c

 

[darkelf9]

I don't usually comment, I found the amount of miss-information from both sides was horrible.

I believe that it should be a criminal offence to lie or mislead on political advertising, with banning from parliament and gaol time.

Compulsory Voting is one of the things that sets us apart from the rest of the world. I think you should be able to unregister from the voting commission if you want to. There are lots of examples around of where not having compulsory voting can get you into trouble.....UK, Usa,

My 5c

Yep whilst not a fan of waiting in a long queue to vote, compulsory voting forces people to get involved which is a good thing. Plus I like the early voting system which I've used twice now although the AEC should shorten (no pun intended) the time period to possibly two weeks.

 

[darkelf9]

A bit sad really, What I am finding is a lot are really uninformed. The system needs to change, and I think that starts with ruling out false advertising on all mediums. Then I hate to say it but do we need to look at making voting NOT compulsory? Social media has a huge influence, a guy spent 60m to support the liberal party, and Fraser Anning used RW social media to influence their vote.
Not sure how you change all of it but I think it starts with my first comment and putting massive fines if caught. Not as if they are in Parliment and can get away with it, mind you maybe that needs to change too. Just my 2 cents.

Just shows how old you are, we got rid of 2c a long time ago. Then again I'm old now as well so I remember when I first started working, 1981, I could get a cup of coffee from the machine for 2c. Wasn't the best coffee but heck at least it was coffee. I still miss the tea ladies.

I also remember in high school when a can of coke was 18c and you could get a decent bag of lollies for 2c. Now that was a proper 2c worth.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

You know when I said we needed more rain? Well now we have buckets of the stuff and a bit of hail. The only day that looks likely rain free is Saturday here in Melbourne town, then more heavy rain most of next week.

Had to go out in it yesterday for a specialist appointment. So not only was it costly but also rather wet. You could say I got rained on twice. The Medicare rebate actually worked in my favour which was good considering the cost involved. Not sure how the not so well off cope with the out of pocket expenses. I now know why doctors want to be specialists, the Ka Ching factor. Don't believe the " I care about people" mantra. Even the medical fraternity doesn't believe that one. Which is why you'll never see specialists working in the country. Still it could be worse, we could have the US medical system.

Have to now go for another round of tests. Same ones as I did a while ago, and that is the reason given. They were a while ago. New medication as well. Seems my body isn't responding as it used to. Why? Well they don't know. This age thing keeps getting the tick when they can't explain what is going on. I really think at times doctors don't realise life doesn't go on. There is a point where medical advice smacks up against quality of life.

You have to be a hardy footy fan to be sitting out in the open this round. I like the comfort of my lounge room these days. I don't want to one of those old dudes saying stuff like..."you young folk these days have it good, back in my day we had wooden seats to sit on which hurt your back and your arse plus it was cold and wet. Had to get a pie just to keep your hands warm and that also burnt the roof of your mouth. So your arse hurt, your back hurt you were soaked and had burnt off half your mouth. No fucking OH&S back then. Be thankfull for your plastic flip seat that's curved to fit back and arse. And stop wearing those skinny jeans, you like a girl with no arse."

Will be watching the One Day World Cup but also Le Tour will clash with some dates. Oh well I guess it's beer then wine and cheese.

Hope your weekend isn't too wet where you are.

 

[missswannie]

Sunny over in the states, well where I am anyway, the rest is tornados and floods.
WA is about to close the month with the driest on record. All the farmers have dry seeded and hoping for some rain now. Sunny and 24-26 is the way it is heading into the first week of winter though. The Indian Ocean Dipolar really rules the roost for Aussie weather in the west and southern states.
Politically we are probably in for a round of religious freedoms and other short term common distractors as the interest rate drops over two three or four rounds will cook things for a while. No one said any of them would be passed on though.... Already murmurings of discontent about the agreement on GST as the iron ore price is about the only thing holding up the Australian peso. Interest rate of 0.75-0.50 and underemployment and watch all the imported goods prices go flying up. And fuel costs. I think they are hoping for a stoush to not pass the tax cuts as it is not affordable after iron ore drops. Or open the doors to mass migration to get a short term injection of cash and push down wage rise expectations.
Biggest laugh would be if they made Adani list on the ASX in exchange for all the benefits. Guarantee not a dollar of super funds would be in that one. 10mta what a joke, the water rights are more profitable than the mine. Even ChinaStone just shelved. Clive Palmer is a genius though. $60m to influence politics and scare them into funding a rail line and port for a never make a profit mine who will cop the blame while his holdings in the region can then build a mine and then lease rail capacity without dropping a cent. The next smart money would be for regions or Tasmania to bid for the automated truck and train control center. Must look into that when I get back.

Anyway, enough delving into politics and economy. I'm going to enjoy a few easy days in Nevada.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

Sunny over in the states, well where I am anyway, the rest is tornados and floods.
WA is about to close the month with the driest on record. All the farmers have dry seeded and hoping for some rain now. Sunny and 24-26 is the way it is heading into the first week of winter though. The Indian Ocean Dipolar really rules the roost for Aussie weather in the west and southern states.
Politically we are probably in for a round of religious freedoms and other short term common distractors as the interest rate drops over two three or four rounds will cook things for a while. No one said any of them would be passed on though.... Already murmurings of discontent about the agreement on GST as the iron ore price is about the only thing holding up the Australian peso. Interest rate of 0.75-0.50 and underemployment and watch all the imported goods prices go flying up. And fuel costs. I think they are hoping for a stoush to not pass the tax cuts as it is not affordable after iron ore drops. Or open the doors to mass migration to get a short term injection of cash and push down wage rise expectations.
Biggest laugh would be if they made Adani list on the ASX in exchange for all the benefits. Guarantee not a dollar of super funds would be in that one. 10mta what a joke, the water rights are more profitable than the mine. Even ChinaStone just shelved. Clive Palmer is a genius though. $60m to influence politics and scare them into funding a rail line and port for a never make a profit mine who will cop the blame while his holdings in the region can then build a mine and then lease rail capacity without dropping a cent. The next smart money would be for regions or Tasmania to bid for the automated truck and train control center. Must look into that when I get back.

Anyway, enough delving into politics and economy. I'm going to enjoy a few easy days in Nevada.

That’s about the size of it...

Have fun, don’t distract too many airline pilots on your way back

 

[scumbag]

Just shows how old you are, we got rid of 2c a long time ago. Then again I'm old now as well so I remember when I first started working, 1981, I could get a cup of coffee from the machine for 2c. Wasn't the best coffee but heck at least it was coffee. I still miss the tea ladies.

I also remember in high school when a can of coke was 18c and you could get a decent bag of lollies for 2c. Now that was a proper 2c worth.

Crap I may be older than you unless you started working life late, left school after 11th year in 77. At least we still love our computers lol.
I should add chips with salt and vinegar wrapped in newspaper for 10c!

 

[scumbag]

Will be watching the One Day World Cup but also Le Tour will clash with some dates. Oh well I guess it's beer then wine and cheese.

What about the Matildas? They might overlap as well.

 

[darkelf9]

Crap I may be older than you unless you started working life late, left school after 11th year in 77. At least we still love our computers lol.
I should add chips with salt and vinegar wrapped in newspaper for 10c!

Yep I was 15yrs old in '77 so that would make you only 1 yr older. I started working at 19. By contrast my eldest brother was being shipped off to Vietnam when he was 19.

We hated being called 'year...' we thought that was like being in primary school we always referred to our year in high school as 'form...'. I still have my Form VI badge. And yep vinegar on hot chips wrapped in butchers paper where you rip off the top and see the steam coming out the top on a cold day. That brings back memories. I still put vinegar on my hot chips from the local fish and chip shop. These days it comes in a cardboard container. Now that we've mentioned fish and chips I'll have to get some tomorrow after going shopping.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well a new month and officially Winter although we got there a week early here in Melbourne town. The rain has eased off and won't be back till Monday.

Turning out to be an expensive month with more medical stuff to do and also an unexpected plumbing issue, well two actually. I have two toilets so what are the odds that both toilets would have issues one day apart. So annoying. Managed to fix one issue myself after looking on the internet, but had to get a plumber for the second issue. I didn't have enough knowledge about toilets to fix the second issue myself. So learned something new over the past week and now have new technology in an old cistern. They don't use ballcocks anymore, so could say they've been de-balled and de-cocked. A eunuch solution.

Just heard that the ABC and some journalists have been raided by the AFP. They are actually amending and deleting files on the ABC's computer systems. Wow, never seen that before. Thought this stuff only happened OS, guess it now happens here. Similar to the boat turn backs, we are being fed selective information. We value journalistic freedoms, kinda?

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[scumbag]

Just heard that the ABC and some journalists have been raided by the AFP. They are actually amending and deleting files on the ABC's computer systems. Wow, never seen that before. Thought this stuff only happened OS, guess it now happens here. Similar to the boat turn backs, we are being fed selective information. We value journalistic freedoms, kinda?

Never thought Australia would be like China or Russia, going through a journos underware drawer and the next day being able to edit or delete various emails from the ABC. In my view disgusting and very un Australian.

 

[warrior queen]

Well, this is it.
I will be officially homeless in early Sept.
I have a lot to get done between now and then.....pack up and store my personal stuff somewhere, build the interior of my van, get the 2nd Perth delivery trip done in between....
Might have been procrastinating hoping for a miracle
Hasn't happened of course.
Life sure does move in strange ways!

 

[scumbag]

Well, this is it.
I will be officially homeless in early Sept.
I have a lot to get done between now and then.....pack up and store my personal stuff somewhere, build the interior of my van, get the 2nd Perth delivery trip done in between....
Might have been procrastinating hoping for a miracle
Hasn't happened of course.
Life sure does move in strange ways!

Been there doing that. When my two sons left home, I could no longer afford it and after my divorce because of health I couldn't use my money to buy a house.
So all my gear is in storage and living in a cabin. Not an easy transition but you get there. The problem is finding somewhere to live that you can afford as a single.
Mind you if you find the right park you will make heaps of friends.