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[darkelf9]

Evening all,

Well the cool change here in Melbourne town finally arrived a couple of hours ago. Took a little while to get over to my side in the east. But no rain with it so the house will stay warm after several days of temps in the 30's. Need rain to really cool things off. Seems we are repeating the pattern of the last few years. No rain with a cool change.

Had my last medical appointment for the year today. Also paid the last of the main bills for the year. So now it's food and drink time. Don't have to worry about being good for any up coming tests or medical stuff. Went to the dentist yesterday and of course given the year we've had something had to go wrong. One stuck tram meant the so called social distancing at the tram stop wasn't working. So had to walk up the hill. My knee didn't like that. Then when at the dentist they said I didn't have a booking on their system. So yet another fuck up for 2020. Did manage to get my appointment when I handed over the card they previously gave me, with the appointment day and time on it. The only reason I keep going back is that they care about their patients. Since I was a good boy and got a good report card at the dentist, decided to go and get my normal chocolate shopping fix. This was my second chocolate shopping event in the past two weeks as I did that two weeks ago when I was in the city for the appointment with the lawyer's for the estate. I just happened to walk past the chocolate shop as I didn't really want to get back on the tram and wear that damn mask again. So now I have two bags of hand made chocolates costing about $120 in total. Well why not. At least they are made in Australia. Can't say that about much these days.

Decided to go and do some Christmas shopping after the medical appointment today and was rather disappointed on what was on offer. There wasn't the same variety as a normal year. Very limited range of Christmas stuff. One of the items I was after was only available on the click and collect system even though it was advertised as an in-store item. But then was told that even if I used the click and collect it would come up as out of stock. It only went on sale a couple of days ago. I was not impressed. So had to buy something else for my nephew.

Wearing the mask in the shopping centre was rather oppressive. They don't cool those places enough in Summer so I didn't have any inclination to walk to the other side of the shopping centre doing the normal store visits. Couldn't wait to walk out of the shopping centre doors and take that damn mask off walking back to the car. This is only going to get worse the further we get into Summer. We are going to be wearing masks here in Melbourne town for the entire Summer unlike other parts of the country. The confusion on when to wear a mask and when not to in the smaller stores continues. Some request it, others don't.

Purchased a new video game late last week and should have realised that I should update it on-line before I play it. I purchased the game on the day it was out and it was already out of date. The company that makes these games is known for issues with the game on the disk which are fixed when you download the updates but the upside is that you do get free stuff from them which a lot of video game makers don't do. Thus far I'm enjoying it. Has so much stuff in it which is customizable. I like those open world games with lots of options that make you think. Given that we are now that TV crap season, the video games are a good option.

Have to laugh today at people being shocked that their cheap clothing is made by slave labour in those poorer countries. No kidding! "Another soy latte please and make sure it's made by a casual, I'm not paying extra for permanent staff making my coffee or I'll use my iPhone 12 made in a third world country to give you a crap rating".

Given the increasing tension with China, it might have the govt rethinking it's stance on coal and hopefully they will have a plan for those in that industry. The lack of planning of govt's when there is a need for new industry means people suddenly find themselves out of work. Seen a lot of good people in despair when told their line of work is no longer relevant. Hopefully that doesn't happen again.

By this time next week people will be winding up the working year and Christmas carols will be everywhere.

Seems the EU is not interested in having Smoko over for any Christmas drinks. Not a smart idea to give the middle finger to the rest of the world on climate change. Given the change in the US govt. Smoko is going to be under the pump to change his stance of climate change and start planning for renewables. If not we will be left behind and won't find any trading partners as we will be seen as backward. We now have 7 years not 12 yrs as was reported earlier in the year. You can bet once a vaccine is available in Australia, Smoko will pull the trigger on another election. No chance Labor will win that one since people are more interested in their wallets than the environment in this country. So then we are down to 4yrs to make a change until we're fucked. After that we'll all need to buy more air cons for our homes since Summer will last for half the year. Forget having seasons. It will be like up north. Wet season, dry season. Over the last three Summers here in Melbourne the warm humid weather has hung around till mid April which is not normal and certainly wasn't normal even 5yrs ago. I'm usually doing painting over the Summer and have noticed the painting weather timeframe has got longer.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. I'll be spending the end of the week watching the cricket and doing fuck all else, which will make a nice change.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

So spent the morning reading and responding to more legal docs. Nearly at the end of that stuff and more dollars to pay out before Christmas.

So thoughts for contemplating one's navel to wrap up the year that was, well let's face it we've had a collective shit year as opposed to only some individuals havng a year they would rather forget.

So things to contemplate while sipping on the egg nogg:

1. Do fairies call fairy lights human lights?

2. If fairies live at the bottom of the garden, is that the arse end of the world for them?

3. Why aren't there any reindeer at the North Pole? Did the Polar Bears eat them all?

4. Is it just a coincidence that Santa and my dad liked wine and fruit cake?

5. Why isn't almond milk called Nut Juice since almonds don't have teats? We don't crush cows to get milk

6. Why does a gold digger not require a mining license?

7. Given we are in daylight savings time, why is midday still called midday when in fact it's 11am?

8. Why are things written in "black and white" only written in black? Is that racist?

 

[missswannie]

Last day of anything productive and then will be winding down for a bit. Just in time for a string of 37-38 days. The early morning beach will be nice.
NSW seems to have copped it right before Christmas. Until they lock it and find the source it is still an unknown quantity, so I can't see why they are getting their noses out of joint at other states locking them out. Murdoch press and the usual Sky news crew giving their sage advice on how to run things, right on cue.
The vast majority of people do the right thing. My mind is actually more towards any families that haven't finished the Christmas shopping for the kids but are now locked down. That's a tough one to explain away.
To be honest, most of the shopping centres over here don't seem to be incredibly crowded, bar a few. Stock is a bit limited in variety this year anyway and the online model is still getting a workout, despite no restrictions here. I have made an effort this year to try and get as much from small retailers and prioritise domestic and local goods. I had found a couple of really good things for the kids and then it turned out to an Aussie business but the goods would be sent directly from their supply base in China. I'd like to try and support the entire supply chain in Aust, so gave it a pass this time.
The fish are running here. So was the 5.2m Great White that came in close to the beaches chasing the fish. The bloke was put to work weeks ago, forcing his lazy arse to go out on the boat day after day to fill my freezer. His favourite spots offshore have done well and he has quite inventively swapped catches with other guys down so that we really have a big variety. I will still do meats for xmas but there will be no shortage of fish to throw on the bbq or wood oven over the break.
Pommy land is right in the pickle. Europe has shut them off now to keep the new one in there. I had a board meeting today for a company there and there were a quarter absent through being sick with it. The EU might have chosen their own version of Brexit and cut them off for the medium term, which would be a laugh because old Boris wouldn't quarantine an island nation at the beginning because the EU needed them to keep trading.
No last minute rush for anything here now so it is going to be a long slow break.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the business community might be winding down but the shopping is going into overdrive. Been out to the shops two days in a row and never seen so many people grocery shopping on a Monday and it's just as busy today and they are buying seafood already. Normally doesn't happen till Christmas Eve morning.

Found a charity outlet to take the numerous bags of clothes. Went there yesterday to check it out and they were full by lunch time. They weren't taking anymore that day which was fine by me as I was just there to look. The normal letterbox charity pickups aren't happening due to COVID. They apparently can't find enough drivers. Normally I would get several of those charity bags in my letterbox at this time of year.

I'm still very busy with estate stuff. Off again across the city tomorrow to finalise more stuff. Then will be glad for a rest. Managed to get an eye test next week amongst all the COVID chaos. Not sure how that happened. Thought they would still be dealing with the back log, considering we were in lock down in Melbourne for nearly 4 months. But I'll take what I can get this late in the year.

As for the issue in Sydney, it amazes me why masks are not mandatory there. It worked for us in Melbourne and we still have to wear them in large community settings like shopping centres, on the PT and in supermarkets. Although the mask on, mask off thing has caught me off guard a couple of times. Was so used to putting on the mask every time I got out of the car, now it depends on which shop you walk into. Some post offices. Depends who is running those. Mandatory in Chemists here as well. Can't blame any of the other states closing their borders considering Gladys was the first to condemn all Victorians as living in a hot spot when it was only what Sydney now has, i.e. only in a few suburbs. So she can't now complain when her tactic is being used against her. She set the precedent.

Do feel for those in Sydney and now the border towns facing a Christmas without their family. Plans have all turned to crap due to a failure in the system in Sydney. As to why aircrew have liberties that other returning passengers don't have is a farce. They have the same potential to spread the virus, yet they can roam around with no checks. As for bus drivers policing the wearing of masks in Sydney, well that is just bullshit and a political decision not based on health advice. Our bus drivers have to been doing that since our lockdown started and it's still happening now as the wearing of masks on the PT in enforceable. The cops are checking. I've seen them at tram stops in the city and even wander onto trains just to check. So there is no reason to not make masks mandatory in Sydney, but everyone has to do it otherwise it's not effective. So if you're in Sydney as you want to give during the festive season, wear a mask. It's that simple.

Just got an email from my pension fund telling me that the CPI did fuck all this second half of the year so no pension increase for the first half of next year. Scrooge wins this one. Guess I'll have to wait till the second half of next year to buy the other half of the CD. This also means that anyone on an old aged pension won't get an increase either.

Since I'm not in the mood to do the normal Christmas lunch running around, I've stocked the fridge. Now can't fit anything else in there. Hopefully the Boxing Day test will have some life in it.

Hope people find a way to get some happiness for Christmas given the potential chaos about to happen. It probably won't sink in till Christmas Day. It's ok to scrap it this year as there are lots of families who have a loved one missing this Christmas. And for some it's the first Christmas with neither parent still living. As I've mentioned to my siblings, do things for your loved ones whilst they are alive to appreciate it. No point trying to make up for it after they are gone.

Hopefully the second quarter of 2021 will be a more positive time. Wishing for things doesn't make stuff happen. Requires everyone to play their part.

 

[missswannie]

Christmas done, time to relax without the people around now. A hot one at 41C, today is cooler at 34C.
Fish on the bbq was the main order of the day, with a couple of sides of beef in the pizza oven to slow cook all morning. Everyone was in and out of the pool for top up feeds so I think it was a good day for all.

A few fresh pineapple slices that had been soaking in Bundy all day for the bbq at night, with a bit of ice cream. Still so much booze in them that Mrs Claus may have been a little legless afterwards....

 

[darkelf9]

Evening all,

So 2020 just keeps on giving even at it's final days. Had to dash over to the other side of the city to attend to a task at my mum's place then organised a service call. I found out that AGL doesn't do service calls anymore so not sure why they still have an emergency service. Trying to get a tradie in the Christmas/ NYE period is normally difficult. So that sorted I was off shopping back on my side of the city to avoid the rush I'm expecting tomorrow for those wanting more seafood for NYE lunch/dinner. As with Christmas nothing planned for me. Still have food from Christmas but didn't buy the normal champagne so will just have make do with the scotch, rum and rye whiskey.

Got one of those Johnny Walker samplers from my nephew. Each one was a normal shot for me but would make two for other people. My sister must be feeling odd cause she gave my brother a bottle of blended whiskey. Now you might think that is generous but she opened it and had some, so not really a Christmas gift. I'm sure it was a re-gift. Reminds me of a guy I used to work with who never bought a drink for anyone, then on his last day he bought me a drink, however he demanded a drink in return. Just have to shake your head at these types of people.

So that gold standard in Sydney is looking more like cheap gold paint. Gladys is now playing politics with people's lives. The listening to the experts has gone out the window in favour of economic needs. The Sydney test going ahead is all about the dollars nothing more. Now thanks to the lack of rules in Sydney that Northern Beaches infection has made it's way to Melbourne. We had a couple of months of no local cases now we have 3 which will no doubt grow. Don't blame people in Melbourne being angry at the people in Sydney for not caring enough about others. If the reverse was happening you can bet Smoko and his mates in Newscorp would on the TV lobbing bombs at Danny Boy. They have been very quiet about what is happening in Sydney and the lack of leadership.

Have had a week off from anything to do with my mum's estate. All that starts again next week. Will be making my first visit to Bunnings in over 8 months to look at paint swatches. Need to do some painting tasks at my mum's property which will save some dollars.

Had already decided to shave off the beard in the new year. It was confirmed as the right decision when a random elderly woman approached me and as asked where the rest of my uniform was. Took me a couple of seconds to realise what she meant. Then she made more comments about my beard saying that I must wash it. Obviously she meets a lot of men with unkept, unwashed beards. The only thing stopping me telling her to fuck off is my upbringing plus she'll be dead soon so one should be kind to the soon to be dead. Plus it is the season to be kind to your fellow man, even if she is an annoying old white lady who thinks she can say anything to anyone. If she was a bloke and I was 30yrs younger the dude would be flat on the ground. But I'm a lot calmer these days.

Hope everyone finds a safe way to bring in the new year and stay safely away from any virus. We don't know the long term medical impacts of this virus, so lets not lose anymore people. Stay safe everyone...even those people in Sydney.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well here we are back to COVID watch here in Melbourne thanks to the clusterfuck in Sydney. So thanks to those idiots in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, thousands of people have had their holidays plans ruined and my birthday plans are now also in the toilet. So well done you lot, your stupidity is boundless. You reckon I'm pissed off, you bet. We now have over 50 contact sites that the infected people visited and some of those are where I would of been but decided to take this last week off and rest up.

So Sydney is now the Wuhan of Australia. That would panic the house prices in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. A bunch of effluent white people don't follow the rules and there is no backlash either in the media or by politicians. If this outbreak happened in the western suburbs of Sydney then the LNP would be on TV talking about migrants, Pauline would be on radio and TV talking about drug taking illiterate migrants and that fossil Alan Jones would on the radio carrying on. Even Gladys buggering off on holidays in the middle of a crisis hasn't raised any eyebrows in the media. Amazing the double standards!

Every cross I've seen on the TV to those hotspots in Sydney, not one person has been wearing a mask. The report from the beaches in Sydney, not one person in the background was wearing a mask. A bit too late now to make masks mandatory on PT and in shopping areas. Not only has the horse bolted but it's kicked you in the balls on the way out. Masks should be mandatory even outdoors in Sydney considering how fast the latest outbreak spread. The general apathy in Sydney to the virus is dumbfounding. The difference between Melbourne and Sydney in relation to the virus is the difference between people who survived a plane crash and those who just read about. So if the virus is going to get a foot hold anywhere in Australia its going to be Sydney given the attitude. They have not learnt anything from what happened in Melbourne. Expect more outbreaks and more border closures in the future.

The knock on impact to this clusterfuck in Sydney is that now over 1500 Victorians are now stuck in NSW and people in both Sydney and Melbourne now can't visit their loved ones in aged care facilities. Welcome to 2021!

Hope the week becomes more positive for thousands of people on the east coast.

 

[missswannie]

新武汉 to replace 悉尼 as the characters on the airline maps? Gladys and co might not like that humour...

Pretty simple over in the west. The tyranny of (and sanctuary of) distance. Close the border and isolate anyone who may be transmissable until tested. That's a mongrel for anyone who popped over on holidays from NSW or Vic but it is effective. The Australian vaccine rollout is over a year. Internationally longer. 70% or greater to get to a herd immunity status and then an effort to wipe it out of circulation. After vaccination you can still pass it on to someone else, just fight it off in your own system. It's a long haul yet...

At the end of the day you have political shingles that have been hung on not eliminating in one place, and eliminating in the others. If I hear another dickhead go on about "Gold Standard"... Every other place around the world that thought they could control it isn't so happy at the moment. It is in the best human nature to stuff up procedures or get complacent. As for quarantine exemptions... Only one place doing that.

Very important legal test coming up. Can employers mandate vaccination for their employees and contractors? Is it permissible to stand down workers that refuse vaccination when provided? The whole duty of care to fellow employees is a big one. We are not talking about people who for medical reasons only may not be able to be vaccinated. There is a proactive discussion between peak industry bodies, govt, unions starting up, but it will be an important standard so that refusers can be worked out of businesses and services. They can still work for themselves but it would be a diminishing customer base if say a plumber couldn't certify that they are vaccinated and still wanted to come into a house, or retirement village...

Anyway, shit aside, there is a bucket of crayfish and another big one of crabs that turned up my doorstep this morning. 37-39 for the rest of the week so we were going to jump on the boat and head over to Rotto for a bit then disappear to the farm down south. Now I will just have to find some people to come over and eat this haul and delay heading off until tomorrow.

 

[PertPerth]

Happy New Year everyone. Thank fuck we're done with 2020...though to be honest, it doesn't really seem like that much has changed. Trump is still making life extra difficult for all the US folks and even with a vaccine in sight, it still looks like it'll be ages until we can actually move between states freely.

Anyway, luckily for me, after my life completely imploding, Jupiter and Saturn aligned and things are back to better than normal. So I'm just going to quietly take this as a win, say fuck off to 2020 and enjoy 2021 while the good stuff lasts.

As for the hoverflies - gosh I love lose little guys! They're so noisy, but super cute. We've got lots of them around, plus bees and wasps too. Mostly the bees as I live where there's lots of hives in the old peppermint tree trunks. It's been so dry lately I've put a few bowls of water out for the birds/insects.

I hope everyone in the eastern states are COVID staying safe.

 

[Rollinbones]

Wow! MissS, your Christmas fare looked sensational. We kept things pretty simple here this year as it was only the four of us. Prawns, ham, chicken, salads and plenty of fizzy drinks.

On the Covid front, rural Queensland has been really enjoying the geographic isolation. Recently though with the hotel infections in Brisbane with the UK variant, anyone locally who has travelled to Brissy sinice new year is in lockdown to hellp prevent community transmission on the off chance they contacted the virus.

We are the perfect plague rats though. So full of our own trickiness and selfish beyond our own good. There will be hundreds of people thinking, 'i don't feel sick, i'm not isolating.'

My sister is a nurse in Ireland and she talks about a five to ten year pathway. Five to control, Ten to pseudo-elimination.

Sorry to hear about personal implosions, Pert. Sometimes though we need those big blow ups to clear things out for better stuff to come. Hope your 2021 is headed in a good direction.

We've had almost five inches of rain over the last week courtesy of a tropical low that moved down from the gulf and met a southern weather pattern. I can almost hear the grass growing.

2021 is looking to be a year of change for me. My mental health has improved to a point where i feel lazy and underutilised doing my casual work. I've started applying for full time positions. Still looking at manual, simple work. I need the activity and as much outside time as i can get. Paperwork still triggers me so i'm avoiding anything to intellectual. It feels good to feel well enough to contribute more financially.

Anyway. "Boomshanka." As Neil from the Young Ones would say, "May the seed of your loins be fruitful in the belly of your woman." Thank god for vasectomies...

Stay freaky.

 

[Rollinbones]

Hahaha. I had to google translate your chinese MissS. New Wuhan indeed.


Just a little self promotion.

I recently published another story with a bit of an Aussie flavour. It is more story that smut and follows a woman's rise from domestic violence.

https://www.literotica.com/s/bdvfree

If you have some time to yourself and like reading then please have a look. It was really difficult to write as i purged a whole lot of personal demons in the process.

Despite the violence there is an undercurrent of romance. It's sitting around 4.84 rating, so it mustn't be too hard to read.

Cheers.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well I'm another year older but it's not one of those major milestone birthdays so not much to celebrate. Didn't take the chance of going anywhere so stayed home watching the cricket and looking at new cars on-line. Think I've decided what I want. Had to measure the width of the driveway to see if it would fit down it mainly cause I have an old house and still have a chimney which just so happens to be in the driveway. Now that the weather has cooled off here in Melbourne town I'll be out there hacking at stuff in the driveway so that the wing mirrors don't get caught on the bushes.

This Summer was supposed to be wetter than normal. Thus far not much of that. Even the cool change today hasn't come with any of the wet stuff. So it seems the pattern over the last 3-4yrs is continuing of not having any rain with the cool change. Was 37 here yesterday and I had to go out to get stuff from Bunnings so that meant another shower when I got back home. I was out for less than 90 mins. Had the fans going all night. Have the doors and windows open at the moment to let the cool breeze travel thru the house.

Had a chat with a friend from Canada and things there are worse than here but not as bad as in the US. Very sad to think that the US govt has essentially allowed it's own citizens to die by taking no action to stem the virus. Rump is finally being recognized for the physco he truly is. He hasn't lost the plot, more that people are finally seeing the real Rump. He will be out by mid next week so that should be an interesting time to watch what happens from his looney cult followers. What people have failed to realise is that Rump hasn't changed, he was given licence to act out by his enablers in the Republican party which needs a good clean out. Extreme prune juice required.

Quite interesting the comments from the Deputy PM. More privileged white fella speak. Came very close to replicating Rumps comments about good people on both sides. May be the dude should spend more time out in the bush, where nobody can hear him.

As for the person of colour comments I keep hearing. Not sure what the fuck that means. Last time I looked at a colour paint chart "white" is on there. Would be quite funny trying to buy white paint( which is the most paint colour purchased), if it wasn't on the chart:
Customer: " I'd like 1L of semi-gloss white"

Paint dude: "Sorry sir that colour isn't on the chart. I'll just ask Harry, he's worked here for 20yrs, he knows everything about paint."

Paint dude: "Hey Harry ever heard of white paint"

Harry: "Yep, but they changed that colour as not being a colour years ago. Now called 'anglo privilege'.

Paint dude: "Ah right found it. Thanks Harry. Told you Harry knows his paint."

Customer: "OK I'll take a can of 'anglo privilege'."

Paint dude:"Oh yes I forgot to add as an added bonus, you get to say what you want to whom ever you want with each can purchased."

Customer: "You people are just weird"

Hope the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

End of a busy week and a nice cool one here in Melbourne town after a rather warm week. Don't mind the rain mainly because I don't have to be in it. Really needed the rain to cool the house down. Those cool changes with none of the wet stuff doesn't do much.

Watching the cricket today. The top order failed again. India still on top. Aussies have to win this one.

Brought home some of my mum's bakeware and other odds. Lots of memories in some of that stuff. Need to go back to Bunnings to try and match paint and also get some items I couldn't get at the one I went to on Monday. Not as many people in Bunnings as I expected.

The return to work here in Melbourne was pushed back one week thanks to the latest virus outbreak. Just means I have to wait longer to get stuff done by organizations.

Well Rump really likes peaches. Has them two at a time. Well I guess that only stands to reason since he was focused on Georgia so much. And he has created history which any future President would be hard pressed to beat. Georgia has also made history for electing their first African American Senator...says a lot. Those old gentlemen of the south might just have to pick their own cotton.

So all eyes will be on Washington mid next week. People are already arriving and so are the army, national guard and all levels govt security. Bet they don't put that in the tourist brochure.

Will be interesting to see how the govt does the vaccine rollout. No doubt they and their families and hangers on will near the top of the list. They could always do another colour coded spreadsheet. Went well the last time. Put Barnaby in charge. What could possibly go wrong?

Hope the weekend is good for you and stay away from people if you want to live life without a lock down.

 

[missswannie]

Its been on the hot side over here. You can normally set your watch with the Fremantle Doctor blowing in but we have had a couple of weeks without it. Easterlies and low tides have also meant no waves, which makes the beach happy if you like flat but some of us like a few waves to be coming through.

The bloke has been too efficient on the fish. He will not need to bring any home for the time being. Talking about the opposite, a steak, there has been a bit of a competition on cooking styles here lately. Sear and throw into the wood fired oven to finish has been the secret here, or do it South African braai style over the coals. One of the friends has upped the ante and perfected reverse searing. Slow cooked from raw to 45C, left to rest, then fast seared to finish them off. Have to say, he is the new champion at present.

We have been a bit spoilt over the bbqs with wine lately. Many years ago it was done thing when Japanese companies visited down here for them to bring visiting gifts for executives they would be with. That's a bit unfashionable now, although in fairness, visiting offices in Japan always requires an appropriate gift so its gone a bit one sided. Digressing, a bottle of Grange was often one of the gifts. Minus the taxes they are cheaper overseas, and higher values here. So, ahem, the boys between them all seem to have these very extensive stashes of high end wines that are just going on the peak 20-25 years. Bbq and grange on a summer night. It is a nice drop.

My dad, now passed away a few years, did tours of Vietnam. He never talked about what happened on the ground, but in the years that passed by, much preferred open country and quiet. Some of his mates call around from time to time and have started bringing stories of what happened, documents and other bits and pieces that they have had stashed away. Letters he wrote them. They are not entirely surprising but almost the last piece of info needed to be able to glue a few things together.

I just spent a couple of days up north in the Pilbara. Bloody hot, 47 on the ground, although thankfully was a fine weather week and not raining. Fortunately for the country, iron ore is still going ahead and no problems with imports into China. Everything else is backing up a bit. Twiggy is signing up ground left right and centre to eventually put solar farms into and power the hydrogen electrolysis process.

The cricket deservedly went to the Indians. Played for the win and not the draw and got the chocolates. I went to a T20 match over here for the last of the Scorchers matches in Perth before they had to go east again. Not a bad evening, for a one off for the year.

No international travel until 2022 is a bit of a hard one. I rely on international business a lot, so it might be time to start making some hard choices on staff numbers if we start losing things along the way. Mining camps, Learmonth AFB, even Christmas Island to increase the ability to do larger numbers of quarantine in remote and safer places has to come on the agenda soon. Nt managed to get theirs through. WA had it at the beginning for the Wuhan returnees, but then Feds said only hotels. Perhaps with Queensland joining the call for it now the pressure might be on. Far safer than a city environment for the more virulant origins. Quite rightly, some of the international airlines that we have been relying on to bring in people and freight have said enough is enough on costs and numbers, so we are at a risk of losing some supply chains.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well starting to warm up here in Melbourne town leading into a very hot weekend. Will need to use the external canvas shade on the kitchen window for a few days. It's very old but still does the job. Might even need to fire up the air con on the weekend. Haven't used it yet this Summer.

So Rump has made his final spiteful speech and is more than determined to keep rallying his cult. He now knows he has an "army" of idiots willing to do whatever he wants and you can bet he will use them. Don't expect the next 4 yrs in the US to go smoothly. Rump will disrupt at will unless the DOJ is allowed to do it's job and put him where he can't do any more damage to the US democracy.

So the masks on, mask off rules here in Melbourne keep confusing people. Went to a post office yesterday and didn't need a mask, then went to a retail store not in a shopping centre but needed a mask to enter. Nearly thru the box of masks I purchased last year so need to get another box. Didn't think I would need to do that, but it feels like we will be wearing masks here in Melbourne for most of the year. Will take that long before the vaccine jabs make it to most of the populous. Not sure where I fit on the list of who gets it when, so that's yet to come. It will be like when I retired, not old enough to claim anything but still classified as a pensioner but paying full price for everything and still paying tax.

The whinging from the tennis players here in Melbourne for the tennis is matched by the whinging from Gladys complaining about the rules for keeping out infected people from Sydney entering Melbourne. They both are not living in the real world. Whilst Sydney continues to not take the virus seriously, you can't blame other Premiers for keeping people from Sydney out of their respective states.

Good to hear that more people are finally warming to the idea of moving returning OS travellers away from major cities. Question is how many more lockdowns in big cities will it take before the govt takes action. They continue to worry more about putting dollars in the pockets of private industry than the health of the population.

People in Melbourne more than any other part of the country are fed up of these continual outbreaks causing things to go backwards. We were told that if we followed the rules we would have a close to normal festive season but thanks to those people in Sydney, it didn't happen. Things had to be cancelled at the last moment. We don't need more of that. So not surprised that those tennis players complaining on social media have been slammed by people in Melbourne. Frankly if those tennis players, which is a minority, don't like the rules well they can fuck off back to their respective countries in Europe where the virus is running rampant. They don't realise they are safer here in Australia. As for The Joker well his arrogant nature keeps popping up. He never was a humble person. Probably needs to change his nickname to Jackass as it reflects his true nature better and how he is perceived, even though people aren't willing to come out and say it.

Had a major failure of the oven late last week. Won't get it fixed till later next week. Apparently it takes a week to order that particular part, not sure why. So was out yesterday looking for a benchtop oven and didn't want to spend too much. Found one and used it last night. It worked ok but need to get to know it better. Doesn't work like a conventional oven so cooking times are different. Will try pies tonight, see how that goes. Lots of trial and error to come till the actual oven is fixed. It seems ironic that I brought back several pieces of bakeware from my mum's place, cleaned them up then the very next day the oven stops working. You gotta laugh about that stuff, the alternative doesn't help.

The year continues as the last one left off. Fixed the hot water system at my mum's property, now the central heating doesn't work. Seriously!. As if I didn't haven't enough stuff to do there already. Thankfully it's Summer so no need to spend that money just yet. Lots of painting to do there so lots of trips across the city over the next few months. Stuff to do at my place is on hold for now.

As for the cricket well the Aussies were simply out played by a team that didn't give up. The Aussies need to improve their batting if they want to win matches. Can't leave it all up to the bowlers. They should of won the series given the Indian team had to essentially change an entire squad and use rookies. Now a famous win for them and the Aussies have a lot to think about and start building depth. Can't keep trundling out the same failed players hoping for a different result.

Well I'm off to hack stuff in the driveway before the weather turns too hot. Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Stay safe out there and mask up if in doubt.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Watched parts of the inauguration and the celebration of the new Pres. The US has taken a big sigh of relief and refreshing to see a person in their 70's showing concern about people other than themselves. JoeB sounded like grandpa telling of his offspring that if they didn't stop their shit, they wouldn't get their inheritance, whilst the grand kids watched on thinking, yep listen to grandpa. Now the real civil war will erupt in the Republican party to see if it gets back to it's values or continue to attempt to demolish the American constitution. Will be interesting to watch if they have learnt their lesson.

As a last act of pettiness Rump refused Biden the use of an Air Force jet, hence why the Bidens had to arrive on a private chartered jet. I was wondering why the incoming Pres was arriving on a private jet and not an Air Force jet as per normal custom. Rump had to take a final dump on the office of the President of the US. They guy couldn't help himself. They new administration should do an audit and see what is missing. Then again Rump is that dump he'll probably try to sell the stuff on ebay to pay for his upcoming legal costs.

Has cooled off a bit here in Melbourne town after a warm day. Just bracing for the ramp up in heat on the weekend. Was a warm night. Went shopping yesterday and was surprised there weren't more people out doing grocery shopping for the long weekend. Was pleasantly surprised that a box of masks has halved in price. Can now get a box of 50 for $25. The previous box cost me $50 and at the height of the pandemic some small businesses were charging $100 for a box trying to take advantage of desperate people.

Hope the long weekend is good for you and people stay cool in the SE of the country.

 

[missswannie]

Australia Day weekend kind of. Hopefully business give Monday off for a few people and let it become that.
Cooler weather over here, only 30. It has been the first time in recent history that the Fremantle Doctor has been absent for two lots of weeks, which led to hot temps and calm seas for a bit. We now have a whale shark offshore hoovering up all the balls of bait fish which is about a 1000km difference in their usual waters up past Carnarvon. Fireworks are cancelled this year, replaced with concerts so you can walk the 10km bridge to bridge and see all the different bands that take your interest.
The OA gong show is back in the news. Margaret Court getting an upgraded gong is a bit foul. It is a nomination system but the 19 people on the committee are a bit directionless. Shane Stone, ex NT leader is the Chair, one rep from each state and territory, 2 emeritus, and the rest are community reps appointed by PM suggestion. The department looks at the nominations, does a bit of research and then makes recommendations to the committee, who can approve, delay, or reject. Even the GG is making statements saying the system is out of date.
I met an interesting woman out in the waves at Scarborough on Saturday. Distinctive black striped tattoos from neck to wrist to foot. We bumped into each other trying to catch a wave so after apologies started chatting. Turns out she is a professional dominatrix over here to see her clients for a fortnight. Quite an interesting chat. Not my particular fetish but I could see how the whole visual would assist in creating something for her clients. Lots of work with couples apparently, so not the solo clients I had imagined. Made for an interesting half hour out there.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

So now it's Perth's turn for the virus which would be a shock for the locals since they have been living a relatively normal life with no restrictions compared to the east coast. Wearing masks in that heat will be challenging as it has been this Summer for us in Melbourne. I just keep sweating thru masks. If I still had the beard it would needs it's own drip tray.

Just when the AFL thought it had got thru the worst of the virus to have a grand final, now it's the turn of the AFLW season and hopefully it leads to a final game unlike last year.

Spent yesterday moving furniture for a few hours then doing other tasks over the other side of the city. One thing that hasn't changed is the amount of roadworks I face every time I have to travel across the city. Doesn't matter whether it's a work week or weekend. The only addition was the annoying cyclists who think they are cars. Cycling up the wrong side of the road, thru red lights. They don't obey any rules.

Was supposed to be raining today but we've missed out on that again. Warming up again later in the week with hopefully more rain after that to cool things down. The temp yesterday was in the low 20's here in Melbourne but I managed to work up a sweat then hopped into a warm car for the trip home. Humidity still on the high side which just reminds you that's it's Summer.

So JoeB isn't wasting any time reversing all of Rump's stupidity. Thing is if Smoko is now feeling nervous his party has to do something on climate change. Rump was good for the LNP cause they didn't have to do anything. JoeB isn't going to be a push over on climate change policy. Barnaby will go off his nut.

Gladys will be getting more stuff for NSW from Smoko. She is now the face of keeping the economy going. Josh can take a rest. They don't have to say anything about managing the virus. The people of Sydney will just have to put up more virus lock downs and other states blocking them from travelling to their respective states and territories. Even with the vaccine, outbreaks are going to still keep happening. This is from the medical experts. The BS that Smoko was peddling last year about once we had the vaccine we can get back to normal, was yet more marketing. We are a long way from getting back to normal so everyone needs to be aware of that when they are out and about. Things can change very quickly.

Hope the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Yep, lock down over here, 37C, and a big fire in the north east of the city now. Very orange skies. Might even have a cyclone come all the way down here next week if this one stays on its track and comes down past Carnarvon and Geraldton.

Not terribly upset that we are in lockdown, other than not going to the beach on this hot week. At least we know who patient zero is here, and not still looking for a mystery like NSW. However, given the movements of this bloke who seems to have more of a social life in 3 days than most people have in half a year (who fills their car up three times in three days?) and the fact that he has the UK variant, best to flush it out and keep it under wraps. We still have a long two years ahead so no room for letting anything get established. 150 odd close contacts in mandatory isolation so maybe just maybe its enough to take out the likely routes and mop up the rest.

That said, while supportive of the government, the health department seems to have dropped the ball majorly. You'd think that the words of we have learnt from others mistakes to making the same mistakes and then continuing with a flawed system is a recipe for a career change. If they announce that they are moving to daily testing then that means that week, not wait for the team to get back from holidays and then run a 2 week test trial at one hotel to see if they can do it. The usual stuff though, sub-contracted security guard on cash wages, ignored PPE, ignored procedures.

Very likely we will have federal election in October. I don't think Morrison will risk going to term. He will time it with the end of the vaccination program, do the election, and then afterwards announce that we still can't do anything and that the vaccine only prevents a severe infection, not immunity from it, so still vectors. Dropping that one on the populace is best done when you have a fresh term.

Anyway, have a pool so am able to keep cool. Dog will get his walks at 10pm after the paths cool down for his paws, and noone else out in the neighbourhood.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well woke up yesterday had a coffee and watched the news as per a normal day, only to discover that we have a new virus case in the community in Melbourne and there are a number of contact sights. So had to look to see if I had been to any of those sights, which I haven't so not a problem for me. Although for all those venues it means days of lost revenue. The small business owners on that list would be so pissed off. We went for nearly a month without any new cases. Now it's masks back on when indoors. So if I went shopping yesterday rather than Wednesday I'd have to mask up in all stores. What a difference a day makes.

Someone needs to tell the NT govt that one of those suburbs on their banned list is incorrect. Moorabbin Airport isn't in the suburb of Moorabbin. Have been to that DFO location so I know it's closer to Mentone or Dingley which are three suburbs away from Moorabbin. Anyone who has travelled down the Nepean Hwy knows where Moorabbin is located. Can't miss it cause there is fucking big sign for it. So banning people from the wrong suburb makes no sense. It's like saying Melbourne Airport is in the suburb of Melbourne when in fact it's in Tullamarine. They need to get their facts right if they want to manage who comes in the NT.

Weather here in Melbourne has been rather humid all week. Waiting on heavy rain and thunderstorms, although at the moment there is lots of blue sky. Mowed the weeds yesterday and built up a sweat in no time. Found a dumped chair on the nature strip outside my house. Seems the new transients in my street are into just dumping their shit in the street in front of anyone's house. More reasons for me leave the area. As the old guard have sold up and left, the newbies just do as they like and fuck anyone else. The Me generation is alive an well.

More discussion about hotel quarantine not working properly. Well there is a solution to move it outside highly populated areas but the Fed govt doesn't want to entertain that cause it means moving the economic advantage to regional areas. The upside would be the Fed govt would have to invest in regional health care, but there aren't any votes in that so we in the cities will have to put up with a flawed system for the next two years. People are going to keep returning from OS for the next 18 months given the low numbers we are allowing into the country. Every time there is an outbreak in a city the numbers are reduced or halted. You want to invest in jobs in regional areas then build the facilities we need for the current and future pandemics which will come. This virus stuff isn't over by a long shot.

Have been looking at the bushfires north of Perth. Find it curious that due to the lockdown in Perth that people were not informed that it was ok to leave their homes if threatened by fires. Can't believe that cops would be dumb enough to fine people who are escaping a bush fire. Clearly some people were confused since they haven't had to do a lockdown before. Hopefully everyone in those areas continues to remain safe.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Very cool week over here. Bushfires, lockdown and 38C last week, blanket on the bed this week. Fortunately back up to 32 on friday and looking forward to a run on the beach.
Its been funny seeing all the kids going to school with their masks on. Technically primary school kids don't have to but the majority are. Their teachers have to. It's an interesting change of position from previous where kids and schools were exempt for them and lockdowns. This time the schools were closed for a week.
The cyclone turned into a tropical low by the time it hit here. Dropped a ton of rain on Carnarvon and the mid west. The main highway is washed away so the detour around it is 800km now. We will see if the bananas will be impacted as the water was up to leaf height. Most of the wheatbelt got at least 15mm at worst so quite welcome to top up dams and get a bit of green shoots happening.
The USAF/US Space Force new mapping telescope and radar unit up at Exmouth had a few teething issues in the rain. The big power station they built to power it suffered a bit of downtime so they drained the local electricity grid to keep whatever needs to be supercooled cooled, which pissed off the people with freezers full of food up there.
Glad to see they closed the research early on asthma inhalers and covid. 90% proved that reducing the lung inflammation with steroid inhalers reduced the severity. They are over the counter in Australia, so imagine people will go out and grab one if they don't already have one.
Back to the Exmouth area, it still is logical to use Learmonth AFB as the entry point for return citizens in the light of the continued hotel quarantine issues. Have all the European Asia India and African departure people Q at Learmonth and the surrounds in camps in the fresh air, have the US ones do it in outback Queensland and take the pressure off small business and people in the main cities. They still have the immigration centre buildings at Curtin AFB up near Derby, and the now closed Argyle Diamond Mine with its giant accommodation units, long runway and refueling facilities has been put forward as well. I have spent lots of time up at Argyle and there wouldn't be any hardship staying at ADM. Yes I know we rely on airfreight carried by the overseas carriers into Australia via the main cities but time to wise up.
Fish... I am just about out and need to send the bloke out for some serious fishing to replenish. He can then complain that he is forced to go on day and two day long fishing expeditions. He may not have to go out, the big schools of fish have been hugging the shore for the last few weeks. The shore fishers have been filling up buckets in an hour or two.
Noted that the funtime gatherings in the southwest might not be going ahead this weekend. Most years there are a week or two of gatherings in a bunch of towns down south, after the schools go back in. Generally farm camping, a few bands, CO beaches. We've come across them a few times when going to the beach while on the farm down there. Head down the dirt road for a quick skinny dip and all of a sudden there are a hundred extra folk sunning about. They might be clear after the 14th when movement and mask restrictions end.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well we are now back in a statewide lock down here in Melbourne thanks to the UK strain of the virus getting out from hotel quarantine. Once again it has happened around a major social calendar event, this time Valentine's Day. Lots of small businesses have got in stock for Valentines day only to find out that they will be closed till midnight Wed. Once again criticism from some small businesses that the VIC govt should of got the tick from private industry before the lockdown. That just isn't how this works. The Fed Cabinet only met this morning so earlier notification couldn't happen to anyone. The fact that private industry believe they should be part of the decision making process during a public health crisis is just stupid. What next, private industry gets a say on who gets the vaccine? I'm sure they would love that.

I've had to cancel my plans to do work on my mum's place, since I can't travel more than 5km from my house. So we are back to that. It was 3 months before I was allowed to travel across the city, the last time this happened. I would rather do 5 days than a couple of months. With the new UK strain and the South African strain, it's clear that hotel quarantine is not effective. The air con is spreading the virus. You don't need person to person contact. The 1.5m distance thing is not effective against these new strains. That guard that was infected was sitting at his post in the corridor when he was infected by simply the door being opened for the food to be delivered to the room. Nobody did anything wrong. If this issue is not addressed well our cities will continue to go thru lock downs, small business in these cities will continue to lose money and people will continue to lose jobs and internal borders will continue to close without notice. We need to be smarter about this. Continually doing the same thing expecting a different outcome is the definition of madness. And that's what we have now. If we don't scrap hotel quarantine in our big cities then don't blame the local govt's for trying to safeguard their people, since the Feds don't care about much except the bottom line.

Of course Smoko was beating the band wagon of keeping everything open. He cares more about business than he does about people's health. Fuckwit! No doubt Sky News and Josh and the far right will once again call Danny Boy a dictator. That was popular for those newspapers up north. You can expect more of that. No doubt newspapers in FNQ will make fun of Mexicans having the virus. Yep lets do that again after all it's a southern virus right?

So now that I can't travel I have time to do a few tasks at my place. Haven't had a chance thus far as I've had other priorities. The rain didn't hang around long. We were supposed to get more of that. Might get some more tonight and Saturday then warming up again early next week for most of the week. Will be good for the tennis even without the crowds for most of the week due to the lock down.

If anyone is wondering where Terminal 4 is at Melbourne Airport, it's where the budget airlines operate from also any flights to regional areas of Australia operate from that terminal. It's the newer part of the airport. Caught a flight from there to Toowoomba. The more common flights to Sydney on QANTAS leave from T2 so it's not all of Melbourne Airport. The real issue would be when the people leave T4 to go to the car park and the Skybus pickups at the airport. Once it gets to those areas well then it's out to all of Melbourne.

Hope your weekend is good for you. I've got enough coffee and booze to last for the lock down.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well goodish news today in Melbourne about the new virus numbers. Only 1 new case so hopefully that gets better by Wednesday. Looks like the week is just going to get warmer and humid till the end of the week. We normally get one week in Summer like this, but it usually comes in Jan not Feb.

Danny Boy just finished his news conference and he seems upbeat about the latest virus info. Didn't understand why regional VIC was also lockdown. Didn't make a lot of sense but it seems the local govt was worried about people from Melbourne escaping to their holiday homes. That happened in our first lockdown so it seems they were keen to not let that happen again. Basically the local govt couldn't trust people to do the right thing.

So since I'm stuck on my side of the city, doing one small painting task today. Just waiting for paint to dry. Has been a rather gloomy low light morning. Was going to do a painting task at mum's property on the other side of the city. So I'm doing painting, just not in the location I planned.

So the Republican party is still held hostage by Rump. Doesn't make any sense that the Republicans voted not to impeach Rump but yet their leader in the Senate stated Rump was guilty of what he was charged with. Once again people are enabling Rump which only emboldens him to keep doing what he has done. No matter what he does nobody wants to convict him of a crime. As he stated when he first became Pres, he could shoot someone and get away with it. Well he has got away with a coup, 7 people dead and promotion of fascism. They have started wars for the same thing. Shows how screwed up the American democracy has been allowed to become. Thankfully we don't live there.

Will see what the week brings for us here in Melbourne. Hopefully it's good news.

 

[Rollinbones]

A little self promotion.

Life has been gentle enough lately for me to finish another story. It follows the life of a young Australian man who flew in the second world war and tells of his great loves.

It's sappy as fuck and there is only a little bit of the horizontal.

If you like to read and have a little time to yourself, it's HERE.

 

[missswannie]

One of those weeks with nothing particular on work wise, so decided to spend it on the water over at Rottnest. The 18km swim from the mainland to the island is on tomorrow so it was easy to get moorings mid-week.
A family of dolphins were doing a roaring trade taking herring from around the boats in the mornings and evenings. They and a couple of small sharks were also responsible for nicking a couple of snapper off the hook when reeling them in a pointless exercise.
Have to laugh at the whole news source and facebook stoush this week. I am not a huge fan of FB but am on it to catch what various friends around the place are up to. I quite like it being free of stupidity and conspiracy stories. You wouldn't think people would rely on that platform for their news but there are all types.
With an election on over here, it wasn't such a flash thing for the opposition leader and his people to suddenly lose their FB pages, but credit to the premier and people that did in pausing to use it as a platform until that was sorted out. There is a bit of decent thought about democracy it seems.
Watching how the alleged rape case pans out in federal parliament house. With a fair mind there seems to be some rules lacking on mandatory reporting that would be the course in private business. We will see how it pans out but at the least there needs to be new governing legislation put through on standards and independent adjudication. Ministers may or may not have been trained on how to handle situations which will need to be looked at and people "remedied". You have an entire class of politicians and staffers running the country that have no experience in the real world or even managing. Clearly a weakness.