Aussies! Check in here!

[darkelf9]

We interupt your scheduled broadcast with the following important announcement...

PLAY NIGHT

I am off to play with a cpl of fwb's....


P.S. Politics is nowhere near as much fun aa this

Hey WQ,

You should read the news

Only difference between your fun and politics is that with politics you never know when you're gong to get fucked.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just finished doing the prep work for the first painting job. Waiting for things to cure. The weekend has been warmer than previously predicted. No rain yet.

On Friday I purchased the next 3 seasons of Game of Thrones, that means I've got DVD's up to season 6. Only reason I purchased them was because of the deal JB Hi Fi has. Buy 2 get one free. Who doesn't like free stuff! I'm also watching The Walking Dead so switching between those depending on what's on TV, which is rather crap still.

Saw today that the govt has to now put more dollars towards tourism since the numbers of tourists that have cancelled their holidays is around the 40% mark. Cost to the economy is estimated at $4 billion. The holes keep coming and at some point the govt is going to run out of fingers to plug them. It's total chaos and they don't have a clue what to do or what else will happen next. If we're lucky they'll all fuck of to Hawaii, I'm sure Rump will be happy to see them.

Thought I'd change the pace with some pics from my trip to Warrnambool. Who doesn't like views of the ocean and a sunset. Sorry about the tourists in one of the pics. Believe it or not apart from them there wasn't anyone else in that spot.

Hope the coming week is good for you. If not well, there are other weeks.

 

[Bitesback]

Yes ma'am you can mix drinks, just don't switch them with water. The trick is keep dinking the booze put pace it out. Binge drinking doesn't work if you want to last the distant. I find the harder stuff like bourbon, etc is better. ...(edit)

Yep Bunnings is different depending on which side of town you live. Their website was actually useless in my case. I even asked the person on the desk and she looked up the same website and told me there was stock. So I asked her to help me find it, only to discover there wasn't any. The Bunnings close to where I live is pretty good at keeping up their stock levels. Given that we live in this land of smart tech, it's totally useless if the humans in charge don't keep things up to date. ...

Interesting advice, thank you. My mistake must be in keeping on drinking water, diluting the alcohol... I take from your advice that I should stick to the hard stuff, straight up. And hold the water. This Whisky Girl should be able to do that! Although I might have to try harder with G&Ts.

Technology should be helping us not hindering us. I remember from my school years being taught that technology would make our lives easier. Sometimes I wonder.

Always like seeing pics of The'Bool. I was there in December. Did you see the Backroads program on the ABC last night on nearby Koroit? It was a gem.

 

[missswannie]

The boys have started stocking up on crayfish again. They got a few dives in before the shark weather set in for today. They might be nice for the Australia Day fireworks on the Swan River. The air show is back on this year before it so they are expecting 500000 to set up around Perth, South Perth and Kings Park. I still miss the Triple J Top 100 on the day, we used to have a big pool party and then with the time difference head in to river for the rest of the day.
The Triple J fund raising around the Top 100 has switched from mental health this year to environment, so they are backing Greening Australia, who plant trees to offset carbon. That might annoy the the forestry industry's initiative to cut them all down to reduce bushfires.... As with all donations to charities, do look up their funds reaching target percentages before you make your decisions and donate wisely. Charity and NFP exec salaries are at record levels in Aust.

 

[darkelf9]

Interesting advice, thank you. My mistake must be in keeping on drinking water, diluting the alcohol... I take from your advice that I should stick to the hard stuff, straight up. And hold the water. This Whisky Girl should be able to do that! Although I might have to try harder with G&Ts.

Technology should be helping us not hindering us. I remember from my school years being taught that technology would make our lives easier. Sometimes I wonder.

Always like seeing pics of The'Bool. I was there in December. Did you see the Backroads program on the ABC last night on nearby Koroit? It was a gem.

Yep once you're on the booze don't alternate with water unless you only want to have a casual drink, but if you're not driving and want a proper drinking night then just stick with the booze. I tend to stick with the bourbon as these days my taste for scotch goes to the more expensive type and once you get a taste for that, you don't go back.

Yep they said a lot of things 30-40 yrs ago that haven't happened. What they didn't tell any of us was technology requires regular updates to both hardware and software. They didn't tell us we would need lots of money to keep up with things. I'm waiting for my automated flying car. Won't see that in my life. They can barely keep the phones on.

Nope I missed that episode of Back Roads. I was wondering what the Irish connection was in the area when driving down to Port Fairy. Next time I'm in the area I should go visit the town given I do have Irish heritage, not that you can tell from looking at me. I'm also not sure why glass sculpture is so prominent in the area, pottery not so much. I guess more to explore on future visits.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just waiting for paint to dry. Just about finished the first painting task for the Summer. A nice easy one to start things off. Decided to use up some of the paint I had left over from last year so that has added an extra day to the job doing two different colours.

The day has warmed up rather quickly. Was cool first thing this morning but the heat came thru around 10am. Expecting thunderstorms later but I'll be done with my task way before then. Have to keep the window and door open to help dry the paint so the warm breeze is currently moving thru the house.

The tennis seems to be going along without any issues. No bushfire smoke to impact that event since all the winds and weather is coming from the west.

Reckon Friday will be a good day to use a food voucher I got from the Christmas lunch. Half price meal and a free dink. I have a couple more of those so will see how genuine the offer is.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[LucianaGrace]

Just checking in...

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to check in and see if our Aussie lit-peeps are safe and accounted for from the fires.

Me? I’ve had a few warnings of alerts and possible evacuations, but escaped with no real threat.

I hope you’re all okay. Please update if/when you can. And most importantly, be safe.

 

[RustyIron]

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to check in and see if our Aussie lit-peeps are safe and accounted for from the fires.

Me? I’ve had a few warnings of alerts and possible evacuations, but escaped with no real threat.

I hope you’re all okay. Please update if/when you can. And most importantly, be safe.

All ok, here it's raining at present central Vic.

Glad to hear your safe and well, sounds like it was closer to you than me though.
Hope everyone else is safe and OK.

 

[LucianaGrace]

All ok, here it's raining at present central Vic.

Glad to hear your safe and well, sounds like it was closer to you than me though.
Hope everyone else is safe and OK.

I’m glad you’re safe RI.

 

[aus_explorer]

Not technically Aussie but feel like one

Hi all, expat Yank here recently moved from Brisbane to Melbourne o/

I hope everyone is safe and haven't been impacted too much by the fires, and any that have get all the support and help they need.

 

[missswannie]

Not affected over west, but loving the scrutiny and pressure on the charities to perform and account. A pet bug bear of mine after the cash grab from the Boxing Day tsunami years ago and seeing WV and a number of others in action in Africa. Pollies, policies, and the pulpit all hate the light being shone on them.

 

[darkelf9]

Hi all, expat Yank here recently moved from Brisbane to Melbourne o/

I hope everyone is safe and haven't been impacted too much by the fires, and any that have get all the support and help they need.

Welcome,

Will feel different to Brisbane as Melbourne actually has 4 seasons, sometimes in one day. Weather here is way more unpredictable than in Brisbane. Pays to look at the weather before you leave the house.

Lots to explore in the city. Plenty of coffee spots and foody places to see and taste. Public transport is rather good even though we complain about it.

Any questions just post them and a local from Melbourne may be able to help.

 

[darkelf9]

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to check in and see if our Aussie lit-peeps are safe and accounted for from the fires.

Me? I’ve had a few warnings of alerts and possible evacuations, but escaped with no real threat.

I hope you’re all okay. Please update if/when you can. And most importantly, be safe.

Good to hear that you stayed safe. Another month of the hot stuff to go so hopefully things stay safe for you.

I'm a city boy so no issues apart from a few days of smoke haze.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

It's that Aussie Day again. No doubt lots of BBQ's going on around the country for those who can have a get together. And worth mentioning the issue around Australia Day won't be sorted till we have an honest conversation about the history of it.

Just finished the prep work for the next painting task. Another relatively small task. No major painting tasks this Summer so not expecting any major issues.

Just watching the Santos race from SA. Will be watching the tennis later. Just having a relaxing day. These days I try to only do tasks on a week day which is the reverse of when I was working. This retirement stuff is busy. They don't tell you that in the glossies.

Hope the rest of the weekend sees you in a state of relaxation and partaking in at least one beer or drink of your choosing.

 

[aus_explorer]

Welcome,

Will feel different to Brisbane as Melbourne actually has 4 seasons, sometimes in one day. Weather here is way more unpredictable than in Brisbane. Pays to look at the weather before you leave the house.

Lots to explore in the city. Plenty of coffee spots and foody places to see and taste. Public transport is rather good even though we complain about it.

Any questions just post them and a local from Melbourne may be able to help.

Thanks I'm up to speed on the weather, got apps I refer to regularly. I've visited a number of times as well and always loved it, which contributed to the decision to finally make the move. I'm also a muso, so that part was an obvious choice Specific venues though I'll have to pick up as I go.

Hopefully we won't have too many more mud storms lol

 

[stepdog]

Aussie aussie aussie

Hey all, about to take the boat out on the river. The sun is shining on the Gold Coast beaches this morning.

Happy 2020 to all, I'm new here and trying to figure out how it works without offending anyone at the same time.

Stu

 

[darkelf9]

Thanks I'm up to speed on the weather, got apps I refer to regularly. I've visited a number of times as well and always loved it, which contributed to the decision to finally make the move. I'm also a muso, so that part was an obvious choice Specific venues though I'll have to pick up as I go.

Hopefully we won't have too many more mud storms lol

Never heard of mud storms but was surprised by all that brown/orange dust that now has paved my driveway. The next lot of rain should wash that away. So yes dust storms in Melbourne is not normal. We'll be saying lots of things are not normal from now on. Nothing about the weather is normal these days.

Having said that Melbourne city centre can flood in heavy downpours. The drainage is not that crash hot in some parts.

As for the weather apps just make sure they aren't those OS ones. The one on my mobile is always wrong. It's called Acc Weather, which is anything but accurate. Base on reporting from the US. BOM is the only one you need to check.

Have fun exploring.

 

[darkelf9]

I spent Australia Day at the Tennis. Watched the Aussie’s win the men’s doubles on Court 3 that atmosphere was electric. Close game, pretty much shot for shot. The Brazilian and Croatian boys cracked it when the Aus Day aerobatic display started and tried to have play stopped but the umpire wasn’t having it. The arena was full, the sun hot and the crowd pumped for an Australian win, and the boys delivered in the tie breaker. Stayed on and watched Ash Barty and then Fed who seemed to not be himself at the start of the match. A great day and if you’re in Melbourne I throughly recommend going. The AO has grown, there is a whole party vibe. Loads of drunk backpackers in the bar area. A whole area just for kids and families, you could go and spend the day and not even watch any tennis.

As for Australia Day... its time isn’t it? To change the date? It feels awful to be celebrating our beautiful home on a day that is so painful for the original owners of it. I for one can’t do it and our leaders are just so tone deaf to this and a whole host of other issues. These fires have only brought that deafness to the fore.

Yep that precinct around the tennis has really changed since it first started. Lots more stuff for people to do and like other sporting stuff some people who go never see any of the sport. It seems to be more a thing to do in recent times. Not a big fan of tennis but like to watch the final rounds on TV.

The only way we get to resolve the issue around Australia Day is more diversity in parliament. Still too many middle aged white dudes deciding on what is best for a multicultural country. That needs to change in the near future. But they won't go quietly. They love the power trip. Change is not something we humans do willingly is has to be imposed. Not a fucking meteor in sight.

 

[darkelf9]

Hey all, about to take the boat out on the river. The sun is shining on the Gold Coast beaches this morning.

Happy 2020 to all, I'm new here and trying to figure out how it works without offending anyone at the same time.

Stu

Mate, no matter what you post it's going to offend someone so just get stuck in within the moderator rules of course. Best way is just post stuff about your area, don't forget to put the beer in the fridge and none of that XXXX stuff. Don't mind the Great Northern though.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just finishing off the next painting task, waiting for paint to dry on this moderate weather day. Not enough of a breeze so the paint smell is lingering around the house a bit. And no I don't love the smell of paint in the morning. Although these water based paints are not as strong as the old oil based paints I used to use. Now there is a headache waiting to happen is you're not careful.

Anyone going to the tennis later in the week will get the long awaited heat that usually happens, although this year it has not been as hot as in previous years. Still waiting for the hot week we usually get in Summer. Haven't used the air con yet. Did clean the portable fans yesterday in anticipation of the Summer yet to come.

A relative easy week. Not sure why but people when they do have time off, fill up their days with doing lots of stuff. Time off means time to relax.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it's a hot one it seems everywhere. We usually get at least a couple of days in the 40's in Melbourne during Summer. Thankfully thus far nothing like several years ago when we got 5 days in a row of temps in the low 40's. Got as high as 45 during that week. Just so happens a friend came down for the tennis that year. First time she went and it was the last time she went. I did mention it gets very hot in Melbourne during Summer but she didn't believe me. Now she does.

Rather overcast at the moment in Melbourne so thankfully not much in the way of direct sunshine given the predicted high temp. No tennis till later in the afternoon at which point people going might get wet. Closed roof option will be used at some point.

Well tales from the Canberra bubble keep coming. Classics like..' A Bridget Too Far', 'What to do with a girl like Bridget', 'His Girl Bridget', A Smoko in Hawaii'. Tune in next time when the machine that goes ping, goes pong due to the lack of govt funding. Noting that the machine is in a safe Labor seat.

Now something I have seen over many years is people buying mangoes based the criteria for buying avocados. I've lost count of the number of people I've had to help in buying a good mango. So first thing is squeezing a mango will not help choose a sweet one.
The technique is quite simple:
a. Smell the mango and if it smells sweet buy it. If it doesn't smell sweet put it back.
b. If you buy the smaller Asian mangoes, i.e. the green ones, the way to ripen them is to get a cardboard box and put a layer of newspaper between each layer of mangoes and put the box in a cupboard. They will ripen in about 2 weeks depending on the weather. In Asian countries they use wicker baskets, but a cardboard box is fine so long as you get air flow. Don't use a plastic box as the fruit will sweat and rot.

So those taking up the govt option of being flown back from China, get a second Christmas. Not that they actually celebrate Christmas in China. Interesting option though. Stay in China and take your chances or spend at least 2 weeks in a detention centre and get traumatised. Certainly won't be an experience you will forget for as long as you live. The folks who live on Christmas Island are not impressed being virtually treated as a leper colony. Smoko has to justify spending all those millions of reopening that facility. The virus thing is a god send for him. "See I told you it was money well spent".

Hope those people having to deal with yet more bush fire alerts manage to stay safe. Hope everyone finds a cool spot then go out and stand in the rain when it arrives. Thinking that I might drive the car out from under the carport to give it a wash when the rain arrives, provided there isn't any hail.

 

[missswannie]

Miles away in Namibia. Spectacular at the moment as the first rain in the desert here in many years and water is flowing across the dunes. I saw it from the air on the way down the coast from the north which gives its scale.
Also miles away in Namibia were people who wanted to engage on the Australia Day date thing. Same people that had been subject to a German genocide campaign there so kind of aggrieved about anything colonial. They had picked up on a photo in the media from a protest which said "Fuck James Cook". Some of the kids had picked up on the same thing, so I reminded them that Jan 26 had two significant events attached to it, neither of which is related to James Cook. He rocked up in April. It was actually Arthur Phillips and his crew went around the corner from Botany Bay and put up camp in Sydney Cove on Jan 26. They pushed that line with the 1988 bicentennial but it's mostly a NSW history thing now. Every state has its own date.
Second one for the history buffs is the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into law on Jan 26. Up until then, Australians were British Subjects and had passports saying the same. That being the nationality and allegiance was to the UK. On Jan 26 with the new law, all Australians became Australians, including Indegenous people's, even though it took as a few more decades to extend the vote. All passports citizenships, and nationalities reflected that we were Australian. Previous to that it was affirmed under the Nationalities Act 1920 that all people born after Jan 1 1921, including Indegenous and Torres Straight Islanders, would be called British Subjects, travel on British passports, and could be called upon to fight in British wars.
So, grievances about general treatment and happenings over 230 years aside, Jan 26 actually does have a meaning in terms of Australian citizenship. Whether you want to celebrate that or not as anything significant is up to the individual.

 

[warrior queen]

I have finally moved to my new house
Now out of the crime-ridden city of Launceston, and in the sleepy little town of Wynyard.
It has been an epic couple of weeks, moving furniture with a just-healed ankle and wrist.... and I could not have done it without the help of a good friend who turned up to stay at just the right time!
Now I just need to unpack all my boxes and get settled.

The gardens are a bit tragic, and they are over-run by bunnies..... I can see lots of hours happily trimming and digging to whip them back into shape

On another positive note - my longtime fwb will soon be here for the next few weeks too. I am planning to put his superior strength to good use during the days.... and his stamina to better use during the nights

 

[darkelf9]

I have finally moved to my new house
Now out of the crime-ridden city of Launceston, and in the sleepy little town of Wynyard.
It has been an epic couple of weeks, moving furniture with a just-healed ankle and wrist.... and I could not have done it without the help of a good friend who turned up to stay at just the right time!
Now I just need to unpack all my boxes and get settled.

The gardens are a bit tragic, and they are over-run by bunnies..... I can see lots of hours happily trimming and digging to whip them back into shape

On another positive note - my longtime fwb will soon be here for the next few weeks too. I am planning to put his superior strength to good use during the days.... and his stamina to better use during the nights

Hey WQ,

Just looked up Wynyard, not far from Burnie. Hey if you have bunnies then rabbit stew seems an option. At least they can't climb so raised vegie beds would be an option.

Hope the new location brings better prospects.

 

[darkelf9]

Miles away in Namibia. Spectacular at the moment as the first rain in the desert here in many years and water is flowing across the dunes. I saw it from the air on the way down the coast from the north which gives its scale.
Also miles away in Namibia were people who wanted to engage on the Australia Day date thing. Same people that had been subject to a German genocide campaign there so kind of aggrieved about anything colonial. They had picked up on a photo in the media from a protest which said "Fuck James Cook". Some of the kids had picked up on the same thing, so I reminded them that Jan 26 had two significant events attached to it, neither of which is related to James Cook. He rocked up in April. It was actually Arthur Phillips and his crew went around the corner from Botany Bay and put up camp in Sydney Cove on Jan 26. They pushed that line with the 1988 bicentennial but it's mostly a NSW history thing now. Every state has its own date.
Second one for the history buffs is the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into law on Jan 26. Up until then, Australians were British Subjects and had passports saying the same. That being the nationality and allegiance was to the UK. On Jan 26 with the new law, all Australians became Australians, including Indegenous people's, even though it took as a few more decades to extend the vote. All passports citizenships, and nationalities reflected that we were Australian. Previous to that it was affirmed under the Nationalities Act 1920 that all people born after Jan 1 1921, including Indegenous and Torres Straight Islanders, would be called British Subjects, travel on British passports, and could be called upon to fight in British wars.
So, grievances about general treatment and happenings over 230 years aside, Jan 26 actually does have a meaning in terms of Australian citizenship. Whether you want to celebrate that or not as anything significant is up to the individual.

Yes well colonisation still elicits deep feelings in those cultures that were colonised many generations after the events. Had nothing to do with improvement of living stds for those who were colonised but that argument is still stated even today. Can't move forward till the past is addressed so this Australia Day debate/issue isn't going away based on a technicality. As for fighting British wars well we're still doing that but now they are USA wars. We still don't know where we fit in the world as we keep following the major players which means we still don't believe in ourselves unless someone else acknowledges our capabilities. We tried to join Asia till they told us to fuck off. We are still that teenager looking for acceptance.