Aussies! Check in here!

[Bitesback]

A very cold reminder this week down south that Spring is some time away. Hopefully the State of Disaster can be lifted in mid September for those of us in Victoria and we can get out and about and enjoy the delights of Spring. I still can't believe how willfully obnoxious some people can be in not adhering to simple measures to prevent the spread of the corona virus. So much for the supposed collective Aussie spirit. This latest surge in cases and fatalities here, while relatively minor compared to many parts of the world, is evidence of just how easily the virus spreads when people are in close contact. Yet, many close contacts of infected people are refusing to take a test for the virus. Many who have tested positive are refusing to isolate themselves. Perhaps if some of the many millions of dollars that have been suddenly found had been used to provide paid leave for those who are sick but do not have access to sick leave from their job or jobs, many millions of dollars in more recent expenses would have been unnecessary. Morrison was quick to provide money to renovate your bathroom or build an outdoor entertainment space but not for your neighbour struggling to pay rent and feed the family as a casual employee or working two or three jobs in what was left of the gig economy. Years of Federal budget cuts to the aged care sector and little oversight as to its service delivery and standards should haunt Morrison for the rest of his days.
I'm probably watching too many press conferences and reading articles and reports for my own good but I'm doing so to make sure my family are aware of the latest developments and keeping safe.
Be well. Stay safe. And this week, Keep Warm!

 

[missswannie]

Hopefully a week ahead without the Clive Palmer/Federal Libs border opening circus annoying the crap out of everyone here. Long memories for this one. Sadly, putting evidence up and then withdrawing while the trial goes ahead doesn't cut it, and for some of WA's own federal politicians to be the ring leaders and chief cheerleaders is piss poor. I'm not sure this virus is going to be repelled by the card carrying Lib Party members, Murdock/Sky press, and the odd peanut who can't use Zoom/Webex like the rest of us. There's only one way and that's to get it under control again. The constitution may have been draughted before the idea of fast transport and contagion over distance, but its real. Opening the borders just to prove a point and exposing other areas is a real consequence. The high approval rating on this side of the border for it is an approval of the reality of the consequences, not an approval rating for the countless businesses that are going down because of it. If you didn't believe in how it can spread from a weak point into community transmission, you do now.

Meetings and wet weather for this week. You can guarantee it will pour down in between them and not during them. People are driving their cars in and still avoiding public transport. There was free parking until a fortnight ago, but the councils are trying to reintroduce fees to try and scare some people off driving and parking. Not working to date, but you've never seen a squad of parking inspectors just waiting to pounce on people. I know the City of Perth derives 40% of revenue from parking, but starting to write a car up when I have had to walk up to the ticket machine and walked back with the ticket is a touch ambitious.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

So the ever changing rules of stage 4 have finally calmed down. Tried to get a haircut then listening to the news, I cancelled, then a day later all barbers and hairdressers were shutdown. So living with the COVID hair for a while longer. Decided to make it a matching set with the COVID beared as of today. Had to get passport photos done to renew the passport to sign some legal docs.

Well organizing a funeral during these times was a little more challenging. Stage 4 kicked in at the same time. Not being COVID related made it more normal. Some stories of funeral directors not wanting to deal with COVID cases. Anyway at least it didn't rain on the day of the funeral till later that night. Now with the 5km radius limit I can't visit the grave till stage 4 is lifted.

Driving backwards and forwards across the city was quicker. Not much traffic thru the city, more locally in the suburbs but even that is not usual. Lots of trucks and delivery vans on the roads and police cars patrolling the streets. They aren't checking cars, so provided you are driving you're ok. It's the stuff you do after you exit the car is what they are checking. Like people exercising or wandering the streets. Can't wear the mask with the glasses on cause they just keep fogging up, then I can't see, so the specs remain off when the mask is on.

As for the 5km radius, technically you can drive either side of that so 10km in total. This is were location becomes important. If you are in an outer suburb well there wouldn't be much in your 5km radius zone. Getting more used to wearing a mask but still not comfortable. If this goes on towards Summer well it's just going to be oppressive to breath. Rather cool in Melbourne now but your face still feels hot under the mask. It's a $1600 fine if you're caught without a mask and a $5000 fine if you're doing something you shouldn't. Like a few dudes who were sitting in their car after curfew. Each of them copped a fine for being out after 8pm. It's dumb stuff like that which angers people.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Stay safe out there.

 

[OzDave]

Hello Aussies. It's been quite sometime since I popped my head in here. I moved to Bangkok a few years ago and enjoyed work travels from here for almost 5 years. Thanks to Covid and international travel halting I lost my job in April. Anyway, there are many worse places than Thailand to be holed up in. There's been less than 4,000 infections and less than 60 deaths here. Tight controls including curfews, travel restrictions between provinces, international travel bans and compulsory mask wearing have all meant the virus has not had too great a toll on people's health. However, Thailand's economy has lost 80% due to the absence of tourism.

 

[missswannie]

Morning people.

Only covid line today is pre-securing vaccines for Australian citizens for a mass free immunization drive. You wouldn't expect anything less of an Australian government of course, but you have to put it in context of other countries where people might have to pay for it, or they are late to try an secure supply. Indonesia with bird flu probably to note, couldn't get a supply when even they were one of the badly affected. The news feed from today will all be about the opinions of anti-vaxxers.

Those that have been dealing with centrelink with all the various assistant packages have been pleasantly surprised the system has been working efficiently. As are most centrelink people. No surprises that it is because of outside agencies bringing on casual contractors to do most of the phone and interaction work. You are unlikely to be talking to a Govt worker. There are a few of these centers set up in various regions across the country, heavy on Perth and Brisbane for work continuity. As the centrelink managers comment, it's the first time they have met their performance targets in 20 years. Of course, Govt and contractors can't help but try and play games. The 2 month contracts keep getting rolled over, the security and information handling levels keep getting increased. The max work week was modeled on federal Govt employee standards, but some bright spark decided that as it was casual contractors continuing, that didn't have to be the case, and training and security increases could be done to fewer people if they would just commit to more hours. In order to keep training, "non-govt casuals" have now been informed that the contractor bosses would only look favourably upon people that would sign contract extensions that waived the hours and would be 7 days per week from September. They are still paid less than govt, have no allowances as they are casual contractors, no leave, and will keep the system running over longer hours each day and weekend. More for less, just hand the contracts, training and management to
Adecco.

Sun is out over this side for the first time in a fortnight. There is some decent rain going through. The grain forecast is likely to be increased upwards somewhat according to the regions.
The mines are anticipating a WA border quarantine breach. The iron ore mines relaxed things for a bit but are back on strict travel, fortnight on site, and home isolation during the week off. The gold mines are ramping up production even further so have the isolation requirements off shift but have also adopted the 2 and 3 week on model. A couple of them have been polling their staff to see if they can get the numbers for Africa residential type shifts. 7-9 weeks on, 3 weeks off. That's hard stuff mentally.
The gas explorers and producers are going crazy. WA Govt has ruled that all onshore gas production coming online can't be exported and can't be sold to the east coast. State capacity is already cheaper than elsewhere due to the 20% reserved policy from the NW shelf and the pipeline south. There is a big push for manufacturing coming up and if you are going to place a business that relies on energy, this side of the joint might be attractive now. If for nothing else, the do nothing and just import population policies might be changing for good to a have a go bias, which after 25 years might be the best thing for this country. If you are a quarry, farm, a beach and a couple of universities on the beach, with a bunch of people making coffee for each other, you probably do need to get your head of the sand because three of those five aren't firing.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Had a number of friends contact me concerned about how I'm doing with the lockdown in Melbourne. Not sure how it is being reported in other states but from their comments there seems to be some confusion. The trend of new cases is coming down but the local govt has indicated that unless the daily new cases gets below 100 then the lockdown of stage 4 will continue. Not sure what they mean by "well below 100" but given where we are at now it doesn't look like the lifting of the lockdown will happen on the nominated date of 13 Sept. I reckon it will continue into late Sept. One thing is for sure the Royal Melbourne Show won't be happening this year. It usually kicks of in Sept.

Dealing with family stuff means I'm out and about more. Even with all this technology, it's lack of security means the respective systems only work on hardcopies of documents which means having to be in physical contact with someone for extended periods. The systems also don't cater for the pandemic so that just adds another layer of complexity to getting stuff done.

Got a lovely card from Australia Post informing me that mail will now be delivered every second day till June 2021. The reason given is that parcel post has increased with people working from home so staff have been moved to deal with that surge. The real reason is that staff numbers have been drastically cut over the last few years. In times when people are looking for jobs you would think that the post office could employ more people in Victoria to cater for the surge in demand of their services. If Smoko is so intent on creating jobs then he should put the money into the services that are in high demand.

Expecting more rain today but so far the mass amount of predicted rain hasn't happened. Got most of the rain at night.

Had one mask break on me when I was out and about which shows their lack of quality. Thankfully I was near my car so grabbed another one from the stash I keep in the car. Even though masks are now mandatory in Melbourne I've still seen people not wearing them on the pretence of eating whilst walking. Carrying a sandwich in your hand apparently means you are except..well that's until a police car pulls up and gives you a fine. Mainly the dumb people are getting fined. The police continue to patrol the streets looking for people who are breaking the rules.

Had to get my passport renewed to sign some legal docs. The system on-line worked ok but the main issue was the dufus at the post office who told me that I couldn't renew a passport that had expired using the on-line system which is not only illogical but just fucking dumb. He seemed to confuse passport renewal with insurance renewal. I've had a passport before this dickhead was born so had to tell him how the system works. Another staff member came along and essentially pushed this fuckwit aside and processed my paperwork. Should be getting the new one next week which is only a couple of weeks after I submitted the paperwork. A much better system than the previous one.

Hope your weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Afternoon all,

Had a number of friends contact me concerned about how I'm doing with the lockdown in Melbourne. Not sure how it is being reported in other states but from their comments there seems to be some confusion. The trend of new cases is coming down but the local govt has indicated that unless the daily new cases gets below 100 then the lockdown of stage 4 will continue. Not sure what they mean by "well below 100" but given where we are at now it doesn't look like the lifting of the lockdown will happen on the nominated date of 13 Sept. I reckon it will continue into late Sept. One thing is for sure the Royal Melbourne Show won't be happening this year. It usually kicks of in Sept.

Dealing with family stuff means I'm out and about more. Even with all this technology, it's lack of security means the respective systems only work on hardcopies of documents which means having to be in physical contact with someone for extended periods. The systems also don't cater for the pandemic so that just adds another layer of complexity to getting stuff done.

Got a lovely card from Australia Post informing me that mail will now be delivered every second day till June 2021. The reason given is that parcel post has increased with people working from home so staff have been moved to deal with that surge. The real reason is that staff numbers have been drastically cut over the last few years. In times when people are looking for jobs you would think that the post office could employ more people in Victoria to cater for the surge in demand of their services. If Smoko is so intent on creating jobs then he should put the money into the services that are in high demand.

Expecting more rain today but so far the mass amount of predicted rain hasn't happened. Got most of the rain at night.

Had one mask break on me when I was out and about which shows their lack of quality. Thankfully I was near my car so grabbed another one from the stash I keep in the car. Even though masks are now mandatory in Melbourne I've still seen people not wearing them on the pretence of eating whilst walking. Carrying a sandwich in your hand apparently means you are except..well that's until a police car pulls up and gives you a fine. Mainly the dumb people are getting fined. The police continue to patrol the streets looking for people who are breaking the rules.

Had to get my passport renewed to sign some legal docs. The system on-line worked ok but the main issue was the dufus at the post office who told me that I couldn't renew a passport that had expired using the on-line system which is not only illogical but just fucking dumb. He seemed to confuse passport renewal with insurance renewal. I've had a passport before this dickhead was born so had to tell him how the system works. Another staff member came along and essentially pushed this fuckwit aside and processed my paperwork. Should be getting the new one next week which is only a couple of weeks after I submitted the paperwork. A much better system than the previous one.

Hope your weekend is good for you.

Media does little reporting interstate of the actual on the ground stuff. It is all about government press conferences and one side still saying open the borders, jobs/companies vs lives equation etc. Even the dickhead brigade is so continuous that they have now concentrated on border hoppers and some of the extremes for the news stories.

Passports are valid for online renewal up to 2 years after one has expired. I think the renewal process they have now is very efficient. Only gripe is having done away with the big 64 page passport. Chinese and African nation visas are stickers that take up one page so in a non-covid world you can blow through a passport in a couple of years with one of those.

Methamphetamine prices have gone sky high in the west with the border closure. Efforts to bring it in through illegal border runs is also on the increase. Girls decide to get on a plane in Adelaide, arrive in Perth without a clearance, get put into hotel quarantine until they can be put on a plane back. Their claim was coming in holiday to see family and friends, yet escaped from quarantine to go to party in a suburb where a local rapper was playing and laughed at police attempts to contact them. After being arrested they ask to be sent back to Adelaide right now because one has a baby that was left there... Judge gives a minimum fine and a suspended gaol sentence.
Because all the states only have entry restrictions they don't care about exits. I'm sure Qantas were quite happy to take their money to board a flight even though they were going to be arrested as soon as they stepped off the flight. Not their problem.

WA went onto the 3 day/ 2 day postal delivery schedule a year or two ago. Parcels get delivered by contractors up to 5 times a day though. Laughable.

Temp is back up over the daily 20c mark again, flowers are out, pink and grey cockies are rooting each other on top of lamp posts, kookaburras picking off the odd baby snake. I'll go for a run and get warm enough for a quick body surf this weekend.

 

[marriedpervs]

Hi fellow aussies. Living in Melbourne is pretty tough at the moment. I'm trying to stay positive, but at my age (early 50's now) this is the most challenging time of my life. Anyway - Sexyland delivery is great! Today I thought I'd try out their 1-2 hour home delivery, and hey presto - it worked! My new Lush 2 arrived exactly 1.05 after I ordered it on my phone. Amazing.
Looking forward to some fun with it and hubby tonight........just installing the app on his phone.

 

[warrior queen]

Good morning

Attempt no 14, and I have finally been successful in getting into a clinical trial for my Psoriatic Arthritis. There is a 30% chance I will end up on the placebo - but that's no worse than where I am right now because none of my doctors have given me any tools to control my disease for 18 mths now anyway.
And it leaves a 70% chance I will be on one of the 2 biologic meds involved in the trial
Unfortunately, it involves a 4 hour drive each way once a fortnight for the next year.... but I can cope with that if I end up either getting effective treatment, or helping find a new treatment for other sufferers down the track.

Winter was supposed to be almost over, wasn't it? We have been hit with another icy blast in Tassie. Snow and freezing temps again. Thank goodness for an efficient wood heater!!

Some of the groups I am part of have started up having swingers parties again.... not sure that's wise (even though we have zero community transmission in Tasmania atm). I have made the decision to abstain completely until I know what the new normal is going to look like - so no parties or events for at least the rest of this year....
Covid has definitely altered the dating landscape for some of us!

And I FINALLY got roof racks to fit my hi-top van! I have been looking for a year, but my van seems to be a rarity in Aus, and finding aftermarket add-on's has proven difficult. Managed to find a high enough set from a friend who had them on a panelvan, and they fit with about an inch of clearance! I've put them on, but will need to remove once the weather warms up as I have a bit of rust and will need to sort that.
Next thing I need to source are weather shields for the front doors - again, something that seems impossible in this country (and ordering from overseas means double the cost just in freight! )

And finally..... I am totally in love with Taylor Swift's new album 'Cardigan'!
What an amazing musical journey it is! I rarely go buy cd's any more - but this one has captured me and I now have the hard copy safely stored (just in case my computer etc decide to shit themselves like has happened before.... and I lost about 35G of my fave music )

Hope everyone is keeping sexy and warm x

 

[darkelf9]

Good morning

Attempt no 14, and I have finally been successful in getting into a clinical trial for my Psoriatic Arthritis. There is a 30% chance I will end up on the placebo - but that's no worse than where I am right now because none of my doctors have given me any tools to control my disease for 18 mths now anyway.
And it leaves a 70% chance I will be on one of the 2 biologic meds involved in the trial
Unfortunately, it involves a 4 hour drive each way once a fortnight for the next year.... but I can cope with that if I end up either getting effective treatment, or helping find a new treatment for other sufferers down the track.

Winter was supposed to be almost over, wasn't it? We have been hit with another icy blast in Tassie. Snow and freezing temps again. Thank goodness for an efficient wood heater!!

Some of the groups I am part of have started up having swingers parties again.... not sure that's wise (even though we have zero community transmission in Tasmania atm). I have made the decision to abstain completely until I know what the new normal is going to look like - so no parties or events for at least the rest of this year....
Covid has definitely altered the dating landscape for some of us!

And I FINALLY got roof racks to fit my hi-top van! I have been looking for a year, but my van seems to be a rarity in Aus, and finding aftermarket add-on's has proven difficult. Managed to find a high enough set from a friend who had them on a panelvan, and they fit with about an inch of clearance! I've put them on, but will need to remove once the weather warms up as I have a bit of rust and will need to sort that.
Next thing I need to source are weather shields for the front doors - again, something that seems impossible in this country (and ordering from overseas means double the cost just in freight! )

And finally..... I am totally in love with Taylor Swift's new album 'Cardigan'!
What an amazing musical journey it is! I rarely go buy cd's any more - but this one has captured me and I now have the hard copy safely stored (just in case my computer etc decide to shit themselves like has happened before.... and I lost about 35G of my fave music )

Hope everyone is keeping sexy and warm x

Hey WQ,

Nice to hear some good news from other parts of the country.

I think those swingers are thinking with other parts of their bodies than their brains. Now they say that people jogging are spreading the virus twice as far as a person just walking. We really don't know much about this virus and all the ways it can spread.

Ah the simple joy of browsing for music. Not the same if you buy it in on-line.

Get yourself a good backup hard drive. The one I have comes with it's own auto-backup so when you aren't using your PC it backs up your latest files and you don't notice it. It's a set and forget system.

Hope things keep looking up.

 

[darkelf9]

Evening all,

Well stage 4 here in Melbourne is providing yet more challenges. Went to my local police station to get certified copies of one of the docs for my mum's estate. However when I arrived to do what I thought was a simple task it turned in to an argument with the cop concerned. Apparently the cops here in Melbourne are only doing stuff if it's an emergency but they get to determine what is an emergency. In other words they are making up rules to suit themselves. Now I did phone the same police station when stage 4 kicked off here and I was told getting the necessary docs certified would not be a problem so I was rather surprised to be greeted in a rather aggressive manner when I arrived at the police station. Had to go to the post office to get the job done. The lady at the post office was rather shocked when I mentioned the incident. It seems the cops here in Melbourne are nothing more than glorified dog catchers looking for people to fine to raise revenue than actually doing their jobs. Apparently cops are now fining kids, WTF!

Given what we are going thru here in Melbourne you would expect the police to step up and be a positive influence on the community, not tell people to bugger off. Given the high death toll we are having here in Melbourne from COVID there are going to be a lot more people needing to do the same thing I was requesting. There aren't many options now to get certified copies of documents requested by govt agencies. If you have lost your job and can't get access to any govt payments, paying $2.50 per copy at the local post office builds up to an amount you might not be able to afford. If the military were to act like the cops are at the moment then we would all be in deep shit and we would be speaking a different language. If the cops are walking away from their responsibilities in these times of need then what is the point of having them. I haven't had many interactions with police over the years but the last few have left me with a rather low opinion of the police force so I'm not surprised when people say they don't respect the cops as they don't do much to portray a positive image in society.

It has been surprisingly easy to make changes with the respective utility companies. I guess from their perspective they don't really care who pays the bills so long as they get their money. Other organizations are much more difficult to deal with. The AEC was also quite easy to deal with.

Been a couple of weeks since I started on the COVID beard. Already have the hair so I'm growing the beard to have the matching set and since nobody can see your face with the mask on, I don't see the point in shaving. One issue that becomes apparent is that you can't see down with the mask on, have to keep adjusting it. Also found a way to wear specs so that they don't fog up with the mask on. I've seen a number of people who wear specs all the time, have issues with the mask. As for driving with a mask on, well that just sucks. You feel like you're suffocating. Not sure how we are going to cope when Summer comes along. I think we are going to be wearing masks in Melbourne even after stage 4 is lifted, so it's just something we are going to have to tolerate for a while yet.

 

[missswannie]

I have to laugh at the Recession announcement. Oh what a shock. Despite the fact that we have been running on the fumes of increased immigration and sales of property to new arrivals since 2016. I think wages stagnated in 2014. At least they have something to blame now, must be quite a relief.
Downturns, like sovereign debt, are not an absolute but a moving figure. -6% is only significant if everywhere else is positive. If everywhere else is down then is the differential between how far down. That said, Iron Ore and Gold aside, she's not pretty. SA is going to get a big leg up with the new iron ore mines starting.
Plum blossoms are out all over the suburbs here, So many ornamental plums have been planted that some suburbs look like Japan in February.
Warm weather for the weekend, so going to have to hit the beach. I should be lending a hand cleaning the bottom of the boat but maybe that's a boys and beer type thing.

 

[Zach_lost_in_Aus]

I have to laugh at the Recession announcement. Oh what a shock. Despite the fact that we have been running on the fumes of increased immigration and sales of property to new arrivals since 2016. I think wages stagnated in 2014. At least they have something to blame now, must be quite a relief.
Downturns, like sovereign debt, are not an absolute but a moving figure. -6% is only significant if everywhere else is positive. If everywhere else is down then is the differential between how far down. That said, Iron Ore and Gold aside, she's not pretty. SA is going to get a big leg up with the new iron ore mines starting.
Plum blossoms are out all over the suburbs here, So many ornamental plums have been planted that some suburbs look like Japan in February.
Warm weather for the weekend, so going to have to hit the beach. I should be lending a hand cleaning the bottom of the boat but maybe that's a boys and beer type thing.

Good point, well made.

It’ll be jacaranda time here very soon. A couple of weeks where Brisbane is dusted with colour.

Warm here too. No time for the beach sadly. Will have to wait a couple of weeks.

 

[PertPerth]

Hi All

Just popping in to say hello!

I've skimmed over the thread - sounds like everyone is coping remarkably well given how shit everything is with the recession and pandemic etc.

Yeah, I am one of those folks in WA that thinks we/folks are not social distancing enough. We did at the start - for about 2 weeks. But not now. We do still need to be very mindful that there are many folks still travelling within Australia (fifo and essential workers and government workers) and there are still risks. Yes, it's nice to be able to be a bit more social, but. I had to glare at a guy standing in the line at Bunnings yesterday. I was on my dedicated "waiting mark" and he was literally standing so close he was touching me. Fortunately I have one of those "bitchy resting faces" so he backed away pretty quickly. Plus I had a bit of an argument with a friend over kids with colds. If your kid is snotty, keep them home. Anyway....


Glad to see this thread is keeping active. I hope to be popping in more often again.

Oh - and fantastic delivery with Sexyland! Very impressive!!

 

[TeenLoveNow]

Any 18/19 y.o Aussie girls here?

Hey...older dirty daddy looking for Aussie Teen (+18) to chat with

 

[missswannie]

Not that I have seen. Mostly us bit older chooks and roosters here.

 

[Polarity]

Not that I have seen. Mostly us bit older chooks and roosters here.

And that's a great thing.

 

[darkelf9]

Hi All

Just popping in to say hello!

I've skimmed over the thread - sounds like everyone is coping remarkably well given how shit everything is with the recession and pandemic etc.

Yeah, I am one of those folks in WA that thinks we/folks are not social distancing enough. We did at the start - for about 2 weeks. But not now. We do still need to be very mindful that there are many folks still travelling within Australia (fifo and essential workers and government workers) and there are still risks. Yes, it's nice to be able to be a bit more social, but. I had to glare at a guy standing in the line at Bunnings yesterday. I was on my dedicated "waiting mark" and he was literally standing so close he was touching me. Fortunately I have one of those "bitchy resting faces" so he backed away pretty quickly. Plus I had a bit of an argument with a friend over kids with colds. If your kid is snotty, keep them home. Anyway....


Glad to see this thread is keeping active. I hope to be popping in more often again.

Oh - and fantastic delivery with Sexyland! Very impressive!!

Oh the joy of being able to stand in line at Bunnings. Can't do that here in Melbourne as they are only accepting tradies. Can't even go to my local Officeworks which is only a couple of minutes away. Would take longer to order the stuff on-line than actually go and get it from the shop. Silly right. But the booze places are open, essential service apparently. If you have " bitchy resting face" here in Melbourne it wouldn't make any difference since the mask covers up most of your face to the point you find it difficult to look down.

Stay safe and get a COVID cattle prod but paint it pink so it looks harmless.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well here we are in our extended lock down here in Melbourne town. Saw the news from the other states and the freedom of movement happening there like there isn't a virus in the country. Sydney looked just as busy as ever. Here in our city centre it is like a ghost town. The trams are running on time mainly because there isn't anyone on them most of the day. The local ANZ banks decided they would shut at 1:30pm each week day which is just ridiculous. It's like the half day Saturday shopping we used to have last century. And yet more bank branches have closed due to the lack of call centre staff. Now Telstra is using staff in Adelaide to man (person) their phones although the person I was talking to had an Indian accent so had a chuckle to myself about that. Got to get your fun where you can in these times.

Been watching Le Tour. Was a tough first week for the riders. Had one cheese and wine night thus far. Have to travel a bit further to get the wine these days due to the ongoing reno's at my local supermarket. Not sure why people keep posting pics of their cats asleep in front of the TV with Le Tour on the screen. Just goes to show that crazy cat people are projecting things on to their cats that isn't there. Only confirms that cats don't give a fuck about anything but themselves. They are the politicians of the animal world.

So the COVID beard is still happening. Been about a month since I started it. Mentioned this to a former work colleague she and wanted a pic. When she got the pic she mentioned I looked like a bouncer or enforcer then also mentioned a pirate. Considering pet shops aren't open, getting a parrot is virtually impossible so I guess the pirate option is out. Was actually going for the "homeless dude" look so that didn't work out.

Strange the stuff people are discussing on news bulletins these days. We get the daily death count here in Melbourne. It's like we are the middle of some OS war. Whilst the active case numbers are bouncing around here, we are all hoping it remains below 50 so we can move to the next step by the end of the month. As for plans well we can't make any. At this stage I'd be satisfied with the ability to have Christmas lunch with another member of the family from another household. Everyone here is going thru different stuff so to make generalisations doesn't make sense. However we would agree things are crap at the moment here in Melbourne town, but life goes on.

Just got my rates and was nicely surprised to see the land value go back up. Not quite to what it was two years ago but COVID hasn't had that much impact on house prices. Yes they are still not what they were but they are going in the right direction. Was also surprised to get a COVID refund in the form of a Support Package. Didn't apply for it, just got it so can add that to the next purchase of scotch. It would get me half a bottle.

Did the mowing of the nature strip earlier wearing a mask. Not impressed though it did keep the dust out of my mouth since it has been windy most of the day. Also hard rubbish time so the magpies are out in their vans picking thru the chattels. Even people walking their dogs are doing more picking thru stuff than walking their dogs. Had to laugh at reports of Vets complaining that dog owners are walking their dogs for too long resulting in injuries to the dogs. I mean when you have to be told by the Vet how you should walk your dog, may be you shouldn't own any pet.

With all this COVID I haven't put on any weight. Not really eating more than normal. I found a couple of bottles of wine in the car. Not sure how long I've been driving around with those in the car. Having to go to different places than your normal haunts you forget you did stuff.

Well that's it for this end of the working week for those still working. Stay safe and remember we are in this together, till you get a phone call from the PM telling you your state is no longer supported by the govt.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well hopefully our lockdown here in Melbourne will be eased from Monday. The latest numbers here are very good so everyone has their fingers crossed and Sunday will be a big viewing day for everyone here in Melbourne. However it is still up to the general public to follow the rules when things do open up and we have more freedom. If we have to go thru yet another lockdown here in Melbourne it's just going to break people even those who have remained resilient during the past 2 months. I'm still seeing people flaunting the rules by having a mask on but not wearing it properly so they can smoke as they are walking or eating and drinking. The mask is only there if the cops show up, not to follow the rules.

Lots been made about a particular ethnic group being singled out for a small outbreak here in Melbourne because of people holding family gatherings in several homes. This stuff is still going on. We have been under these rules for long enough for people from all ethnic backgrounds and their communities to know what is required so there are no excuses for not following the rules. If my family were carrying on like that well there would be rather terse words exchanged. So I don't have an issue with any group being called out for their bad behaviour in these times as these actions lead to people dying and we also don't know what are the long term medical impacts for those who survive COVID.

As for business well we have seen the large corporations still providing profits to their shareholders and using govt money to do it. Small businesses are created and fold all the time but once someone loses their life they don't get a second chance. I'm still not used to the daily death count we get everyday with the news bulletins. Looking forward to when that is not a part of the daily news.

Sent a parcel to a friend in Canada like I do every year for her birthday. She loves Tim Tams. I sent the parcel off earlier than normal due to the postal delays, so was surprised to hear that it only got there a couple of days ago. I sent that parcel about a month ago which is double the time it normally takes.

Been doing another repair task in the first bathroom all week. Most of that time is waiting for things to cure. We started off the week on the warm side so I thought the weather had turned but the week has ended on Winter type temps. We didn't get all that rain that was predicted.

Sad to hear about Dean Jones passing away. At least it was quick but must have been a shock for Brett Lee who was next to him when it happened. Jonesy was a very good cricketer but the fall out with Cricket Australia was not a good look for CA. He spoke his mind and they didn't like it. They dropped him when he was still making runs and it hurt the team at the time. Will be curious if CA comes out with a positive statement about him.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[PertPerth]

Not that I have seen. Mostly us bit older chooks and roosters here.

Speak for yourself! I might be in my 40's, but I was called a "young lady" at Bunnings today. hahahahaha

Actually, I have to admit, the older I get, the happier I am with it. Or maybe I'm just too tired to care? Either way, it seems to be working for me.

I'm glad the restrictions are starting to ease in Vic - I feel for everyone over there!! My aunt is in Rural Vic and has a son with mental health issues. She's also got liver disease (genetic) and it's been very difficult for her to get the regular treatments. She's also been too scared to go out given her health.

It's interesting looking at statistics, too. Apparently the suicide rate is similar to average - a credit to the government for paying folks to stay home. But then there are other issues with domestic violence, and what happens now once the payments are cut and there are still no jobs out there because no one wants to spend money - except for on toilet paper in case of anther wave.

It's going to be another interesting 12 months ahead. The big companies are still going through reorgs and are shedding more staff. Me included last week. I knew we'd have a turn down at some point, but I didn't think that there'd be a pandemic and I'd be stuck in WA. So, I'll be living off my redundancy payment for the next year, then out looking for work again or able to move. It's harder to find work now that I'm an only parent - I can't do field work anymore!! (I'm a geophysicist)

And now to fill in my days! I've already had multiple trips to Bunnings to get all the things around the house done that I've been looking at for the last 10 years. It's fun. I need to get some new turf on the verge too....may end up digging that out myself now I have the time!

Happy Long weekend for the WA folks!
I hope everyone is well and safe

 

[missswannie]

Speak for yourself! I might be in my 40's, but I was called a "young lady" at Bunnings today. hahahahaha

Actually, I have to admit, the older I get, the happier I am with it. Or maybe I'm just too tired to care? Either way, it seems to be working for me.

I'm glad the restrictions are starting to ease in Vic - I feel for everyone over there!! My aunt is in Rural Vic and has a son with mental health issues. She's also got liver disease (genetic) and it's been very difficult for her to get the regular treatments. She's also been too scared to go out given her health.

It's interesting looking at statistics, too. Apparently the suicide rate is similar to average - a credit to the government for paying folks to stay home. But then there are other issues with domestic violence, and what happens now once the payments are cut and there are still no jobs out there because no one wants to spend money - except for on toilet paper in case of anther wave.

It's going to be another interesting 12 months ahead. The big companies are still going through reorgs and are shedding more staff. Me included last week. I knew we'd have a turn down at some point, but I didn't think that there'd be a pandemic and I'd be stuck in WA. So, I'll be living off my redundancy payment for the next year, then out looking for work again or able to move. It's harder to find work now that I'm an only parent - I can't do field work anymore!! (I'm a geophysicist)

And now to fill in my days! I've already had multiple trips to Bunnings to get all the things around the house done that I've been looking at for the last 10 years. It's fun. I need to get some new turf on the verge too....may end up digging that out myself now I have the time!

Happy Long weekend for the WA folks!
I hope everyone is well and safe

Well, the reference was to the fellow seeking teenagers, but apart from that crowd I reckon its a fairly good spread of people in this place happy with how it all goes. I'm sure it was one of those cards on coffee shop walls that said it, but you are not supposed to be middle aged until you get a grey pube. If said gray pube disappears then you are not.
Sorry to hear about the redundancy. I'm struggling a bit with my lot lately. We had a pretty good year last year and start of this one, so no jobkeeper assistance with the monthly wage bills. It's hard generating new projects as most of the ones in the pipeline were Africa based. There is enough capital looking for a home about the place so it will fall into projects but getting launched at the right time is a guessing game.
Of interest, there is a bit of a move by British companies looking to offshore some processes in zones where they can get expertise but have business continuity. BP started the process when they realised that working from home was working for them, to the extent of putting their London headquarters up for sale and setting up regional office space for people if they have to go somewhere. As an extension of that, a couple of large companies are looking at WA and other Australian states for people who will work remotely but on a UK time. If you are in resources here you already deal with the UK between 3pm and 10pm most days anyway so not a stretch of the imagination that people might enjoy those hours and and Aussie lifestyle.
Hopefully Vic has nailed it this time. It was interesting looking at the transcripts of Andrews at the hearing today. Certainly some fuck ups along the way in assumptions and management process. It happened and probably a good shakeup of processes and people to come, so bides well for a future event. Given the demographics of the spread, I don't think it would have been nailed without a curfew/lockdown. UK is testimony to that at present.
Hoping for some beach time this long weekend. We were going to head over to Rottnest, but the mooring we normally use is occupied and the alternative one will be too shallow for the tide range. Maybe a day trip.

 

[PertPerth]

Well, the reference was to the fellow seeking teenagers, but apart from that crowd I reckon its a fairly good spread of people in this place happy with how it all goes. I'm sure it was one of those cards on coffee shop walls that said it, but you are not supposed to be middle aged until you get a grey pube. If said gray pube disappears then you are not.
Sorry to hear about the redundancy. I'm struggling a bit with my lot lately. We had a pretty good year last year and start of this one, so no jobkeeper assistance with the monthly wage bills. It's hard generating new projects as most of the ones in the pipeline were Africa based. There is enough capital looking for a home about the place so it will fall into projects but getting launched at the right time is a guessing game.
Of interest, there is a bit of a move by British companies looking to offshore some processes in zones where they can get expertise but have business continuity. BP started the process when they realised that working from home was working for them, to the extent of putting their London headquarters up for sale and setting up regional office space for people if they have to go somewhere. As an extension of that, a couple of large companies are looking at WA and other Australian states for people who will work remotely but on a UK time. If you are in resources here you already deal with the UK between 3pm and 10pm most days anyway so not a stretch of the imagination that people might enjoy those hours and and Aussie lifestyle.
Hopefully Vic has nailed it this time. It was interesting looking at the transcripts of Andrews at the hearing today. Certainly some fuck ups along the way in assumptions and management process. It happened and probably a good shakeup of processes and people to come, so bides well for a future event. Given the demographics of the spread, I don't think it would have been nailed without a curfew/lockdown. UK is testimony to that at present.
Hoping for some beach time this long weekend. We were going to head over to Rottnest, but the mooring we normally use is occupied and the alternative one will be too shallow for the tide range. Maybe a day trip.

Wow - I didn't hear that about BP. Glad to hear that some positives have come out of the COVID lockdowns. Certainly there have been many folks (including myself) who were very pleased to have to opportunity to work from home (shame it didn't last for me though!) It's the funny thing about resources - it's either the mining side or the oil/gas side which is booming. Never the two at once. I'm on the oil/gas side of things, and all the jobs advertised at the moment are in the mining. Plus most are FIFO which is impossible given I'm an only parent. I'm not officially unemployed until November, so I'm giving myself a little break before I put efforts into looking for work.

Rotto would be nice - hopefully the wet weather holds off until after the weekend. We had such a nice day today, it's been a nice taste for the start of the warmer weather.

 

[missswannie]

Almost mid month. Apparently it is NoBraDay, 13th, but given the times and people working from home a lot, most would struggle to find one in a hurry. If you go by the local shopping centre and supermarket that's probably in the main now.

Well and truly beach season here. The water has warmed up in the past 2 weeks. 30C today, and Swanbourne was very busy north to south.

Last two weeks of AFL to come. Last week was a bit of a fizzer, after a good first week standard. AnyoneButCollingwood crowd was cheering, but after a while You started hoping they might find a bit of character and have a go. Used it all up on West Coast perhaps.

Not so crash hot news from the Federal Budget if you are in job uncertainty and over 35. You lose support but then you have subsidies working against your chances getting back in. Given that over 50 was the second largest demographic of unemployment assistance prior to all this, I don't think method is going to be particularly kind.

I'm also not certain on the uni fee changes. Agreed, technical skills are needed if we are belatedly going to try and revive an industrial sector, but I want critical and wide thinkers as well to be able to see the big picture and not the instructions on the back of the weeties.

Election time is starting over this side for a March poll. By all standards the Libs who were almost wiped out last time might get a bigger beating this time. Its pretty hard to find a platform to stand against. The learn to live with it platform doesn't work over here, so the opening up argument doesn't resonate much with the population. I would argue a bigger quarantine facility would be better so that people can come over, do their time, and then enjoy. Same for people returning from OS, queued up for a slot. Process them all at Christmas Island or large camps and get it over and done with here, then they can move on to other states that might not be able to do the numbers needed. Mining camps we can do here, quite easily. Now if you don't want to do it that way and want to wait for a hotel slot, then so be it, but have viable options perhaps.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Another busy week doing a number of different things. Still on that repair task in the first bathroom. Has been a problem solving task, trying some different things. Always have spare stuff at home so not being able to go to Bunnings hasn't been an issue yet. Taken a couple of days to recover from the last stage of that repair. The legs have been sore for a few days. Certainly ain't getting any younger and my body is shouting that loud and clear.

So this Sunday will be a much watched event on where Melbourne goes to with the restrictions. The 5 km restrictions is grating on everyone and in my case it has just put a dead stop on things I need to do. Even if it is relaxed to 20km as some news reports are suggesting, that won't help me in getting to the other side of the city. Hopefully some of the shops can reopen. Not fussed about the dining out options but more retail stores should open and medical appointments that need a face to face. Had to cancel one specialist appointment already and is things does free up, might have to do the same to the rescheduled appointment. If we have live with ten daily cases as the norm then the restrictions need to reflect that. Having five daily cases as the trigger point seems too hard at this stage.

Not much rain on my side of Melbourne town. Certainly not the rain predicted. Did get some storm clouds yesterday with the cool change but not much rain from that in the S.E. mainly in the northern suburbs. If it's going to rain anywhere in Melbourne it's nearly always in the northern suburbs.

As for the AFL finals today and tomorrow well they are either going to be tight or a blow out. The only weak link is Brisbane. Will the adrenaline of the other week still see them thru or will the week off see them switch off? The other teams are capable of taking a game away from the opposition. My prediction is Tigers and Cats in close contests. Port will be hard to beat on their home ground but if the champs are up they can win. If it's a Port v Lions final well then Port will win.

Looks like the NBN upgrade is happening in my street. Crew been digging on the opposite side of the street where the power pole is located.

Hope the weekend is good for you. Predicted to be a wet one here in Melbourne town but will see if that actually happens.