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[missswannie]

I think when Kerry Stokes starts backing it, the vibe from WA will change?

I think he Twiggy Gina and all the other resource billionaires already do, as do most western Australians. At the current rate of vaccinations you are only talking a couple of months between the 70% vision and the higher rate. The rollout now includes 12 year olds and above so we are aligned on who are the ones moving around the community and having the potential to take something from place to place before they know they have it.

They, the state and federal governments, also know that if you have to close down the mining, gas, and agriculture sectors for periods then the economic impact on the nation will be pretty severe while NSW and Vic need the time to get back to work. The last quarter was negative, and the current one about to start will definitely be negative, so there's a tech recession as it stands.

The biggest impediment here is hospital capacity. It never caught up in the earlier resource boom and population increase and then was under-invested in during the 2014-2019 low period. Ambulance ramping is at an all time high with mental health and nursing home ambulance call defaults. The number of people accessing Emergency room specialist referrals rather than paying out of pocket referral fees going through the GP system doesn't help. Indigenous health already has people being flown from the Kimberley's to Perth for kidney health and circulation issues. Nursing and Doctor vacancies are also pretty high. If it's somewhat near capacity at present then a surge will not be coped with in high numbers. I think nationwide the Indigenous vaccination rate in rural and remote areas needs a pickup, as underlying immunity rates are naturally lower than comparable populations. Army has jumped in in NSW so hopefully more utilization of those resources to bookend that in all states.

On a personal basis, there are no restrictions in place at all over here, other than not flying to NSW, ACT, or Vic. SA and QLD came back online for flights from Friday. Pretty easy choice at the local level to keep that lifestyle going for a bit longer. That's not saying to others to suck eggs, the tyranny of distance turns out to be the benefit of distance in this case. A few vocal News Corp and Sky News opinion writers would argue against me. Truth is my business is held ransom by not being able to head over to other cities and countries too. Liberals wiped out to just 2 seats, and Nationals the official opposition with 3 seats, so there is not going to be much traction against the opening plan in Parliament House.

I wouldn't mind seeing some of the doses reallocated to NSW get evened up in the coming months to increase the rate, primarily to the Kimberley's, Pilbara, and desert communities. I don't see any hesitancy in the younger generations in rolling up their sleeves given the booking system reports. Maybe the old vaccination caravan that used to go around the schools needs to get rolled out again and do them all with a first dose before them end of term 4.

Might be hard on the FIFO workers that used to fly in from interstate and NZ, Ag workers for sure. Queensland has it right in going alone with a quarantine facility at Wellcamp. We are getting additional ones built in the north as well as the commonwealth one at RAAF Pearce. I agree with Quensland that these things should have been built by state and Feds a year ago, failures on both sides to eliminate the cause. Hotels would have gone bust admittedly. Not sure where the NSW one was being built, I think they moved away from the idea of Newcastle. Qantas is making news saying they will move the direct Perth to London flight to Darwin instead. No through traffic from Darwin, just the quarantine facility at Howard Springs driving that. That flight needs a full business class and 80% load to make it profitable as it can't carry freight, so they need the resource execs and enough people on board to be able to quarantine on the return flight. After a $1.5 billion loss their shareholders are not going to accept losing profitable routes and underutilization of 787s.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it would be of no surprise to anyone in Melbourne that the current lock down will continue. It was obvious last week that come this week the lock down would be extended. Then we got the 96 number and so that made the decision a definite. No word yet as to how much longer in lock down. But given the current number of 76 today, it will be at least another 2 weeks and most likely another 3 weeks from this Thursday. So we are looking at most of Sept if not all of Sept. Hard to plan anything at the moment with the rolling extensions. Have done a couple of tasks at home during these lock downs but only small ones. Took a couple of days to recover from the latest task. Want to do a few more larger jobs around the house, but can't focus on that as I'm also waiting for the lock down to end to get on with the other estate work. This lock down started off with just one week which has now gone for all of August. We were in the second week of a two week period of restrictions when this latest lock down happened thanks to Sydney.

The latest area of concern is in regional Victoria a few hours north of Melbourne in Shepperton which is closer to the Vic/NSW border than it is Melbourne. It's not far from Echuca which is a well known tourist town on the Murray River. It's where you can ride on a river boat. Some people in other states my have seen that on a travel show. Shepperton itself is a rather large regional hub so they get a lot of people from the surrounding towns plus it is a major transport hub. It also has a regional university and is home to the SPC processing plant. The issue in Shepperton has been essential workers getting infected so most of them have had to isolate. The military base close by have had to send in people to keep the goods flowing. Supermarkets were running out of food and other essential supplies. They have also had to call in people from surrounding areas to help out. Again luckily there are lots of people who in that area that can drive transport to help out.

The weather hasn't been the best during the lock down to do stuff outside. It's either raining or has just rained so the ground has remained damp. The frosty mornings has also added to that dampness. We are briefly getting some warmer temps by mid week but that won't last long as we will back to Winter temps by the weekend and more rain.

The announcement by Smoko a couple of weeks ago that 12-15 yr olds can be vaccinated came way too early since the vaccines needed by the respective states and territories had not been allocated. Vic still hasn't received the necessary vaccines to vaccinate this age group and the 1st of Sept is only two days away. The Vic govt only opens up bookings once the vaccines have arrived. We don't have any Pfizer in the state right now so no more bookings are available. Smoko has had lots of time to get vaccine rollouts right and the Fed's are still stuffing it up. Hopefully the rollout to kids will be done with some commonsense in that it's available at schools as well as vaccination centres. It would be crazy if kids have to compete with all those other age groups. The phased rollout was a total disaster to the point now that it's a free for all.

It is not surprising that NSW is leading the country for vaccinations since they are getting a majority of the imported vaccines. NSW was allocated 570,000 vaccines compared to Vic which was allocated just over 100,000 and that was during our current lock down. Danny Boy did ask for more but was largely ignored by Smoko. If that rate of allocation continues then yes NSW will get to 70% before any other part of the country, which no doubt Gladys will take the credit for, but it breaks the allocation of vaccines agreed to in Cabinet. Not sure how much longer the other state and territory leaders will put up with that. As for the loosening of restrictions in Sydney, well that just seems another case of favouring the wealthy. Even if you have had both jabs in western Sydney you don't get the same freedoms as people in the eastern suburbs who are also double dosed. People in western Sydney will again just watch people in eastern Sydney going to the beach, having picnics, catching up with friends. The definition of "family" will be loosely interpreted when social gathering. The cops will have a hard time determining who is breaking the rules. As with the past, cops don't fine people in eastern Sydney they just get a warning.

Given what has happened after previous lock downs were lifted in Melbourne, it will lift with further restrictions one of which will probably be the "no visitors" rule which is just another form or lock down. They could also impose the 25km travel limit rule. It will depend on how many cases are in isolation. We did beat Delta twice in Melbourne in the last two lock downs and got to zero cases. Not sure that will be the case this time. Key could be zero mystery cases rather than just zero cases. It's the mystery cases that is causing the lock down to be extended. This lock down was extended by people not following the rules. As with the last couple of lock downs it was virus coming from Sydney. Sydney will continue to be the epicentre of COVID for the rest of the year. Gladys has given up trying to control it and has found a scapegoat which are the people of western Sydney. It is politically convenient to find a scapegoat to deflect responsibility. The story not being told is that the virus keeps bubbling along by essential workers that are forced to be at work. They don't qualify for any form of govt assistance since they are casual and they are catching the virus at work then bringing it back to the family home. The latest bit of wisdom from Gladys is to not report daily cases. She has moved on and is largely ignoring Delta, it's just a news bite to her now. Yet another failure of leadership, just ignore the bad stuff.

The Paralympics is going amazingly well for the Aussies. Currently second on the medal tally. Way to go Aussies! Have been watching it, but it's only on one channel most of the time. Obviously not as much money on offer for the Paralympics as there was for the Olympics even though we are doing better than for the Olympics. Even watching women's sporting events is better supported than the Paragames, so that needs to change.

Well Father's Day is going to be another bust here in Melbourne. That's two years in a row. There will be the usual sob stories about how Danny Boy is being cruel to all the fathers out there. Hundreds if not thousands of people don't get to visit their fathers on Father's Day in a normal year, why the big deal on this Father's Day. If you don't normally visit or do stuff for your dad during the year then why is Father's Day so special, may be you have a guilty conscience. As I've said to my extended family, do things for people while they're alive and they can appreciate it. Trying to do stuff for them after they're dead is rather useless. It's more about appeasing your own guilt than anything else. So if you miss this Father's Day due to a lock down, then do stuff for your dad as a priority when things get better, don't suddenly get busy and don't wait for another Father's Day to roll around.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you even if you are in lock down, you have the freedom to buy cake and booze.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well we knew the lock down here in Melbourne was going to be extended, just didn't know how long for. Now we know we will be in the current lock down rules till 23 Sept, that's another 3 weeks. After that there will be some relaxation of rules but nothing much. The 5 km moves out to 10km for travel and exercise and playgrounds will be open again but with QR codes which is a lot of work to get organized. Every playground, even the small ones will have to have QR codes. Only one parent can be with the kids at the playground and no eating or drinking. Apparently one of the issues prior to the lock down extension was that parents were gathering at playgrounds as an excuse to meet up and having get togethers which was against the rules. Hence why playgrounds were closed. Now that the game plan with COVID has changed in Vic, the rules will be different when we come out of lock down. Unlike NSW, we aren't letting the virus rip thru the community but Danny Boy has realized this time a longer lock down isn't going to work. Nobody in Melbourne wants to repeat the long lock down of last year. By the end of this latest lock down we would of been in lock down nearly two months. So the next question is what number further loosens restrictions after 23 Sept and what number allows visitors to your home without overwhelming our hospitals. Hospitalizations will increase. That info is yet to come. The 10km thing means fuck all to me. Only allows me to go to my normal Dan Murphy's. Can't visit family, can't complete any of the required tasks on the estate. Might as well be in lock down.

With the latest news on the lock down, I can now schedule several jobs at home. Seems every time I want to do work outside, it rains. Has been a warmish day with rain on the way which has finally made it to my side of the city. It feels more like a Summer storm day with the wind and rain coming from the NE.

Apparently there are a couple of million Pfizer doses coming our way from the UK. Will be interesting to see what portion of those go to NSW given they are a lost cause and they have already met their 70% thanks to a larger portion of vaccines going their way. There is now no need for NSW to continue to get a majority of the imported vaccines. The numbers in Melbourne have now gone above 200 today so we should get more since that is what happened for NSW. No doubt Danny Boy will be making that point with Smoko. The AMA has come out again in response to Glady's crazy talk about opening up and allowing OS tourists. It's all about distracting from what playing out in NSW with their hospitals on the verge of falling over. Seems now she isn't listening to the health advice and their CHO is just their to justify Glady's ravings. Have a lot of respect for Kerry Chant having to put up with a crazy boss. I know what that is like and thankfully he was removed before he destroyed the organization beyond repair. I fear that the NSW health system will be broken when Sydney opens up to allow more freedoms. Vic can't offer any help since we are now going to have Delta in the community for a while yet. We are now focused on the higher vaccine rates not COVID zero so no more doughnut days. The doughnuts are safe from running out.

Saw on the international news that the latest COVID variant is called Mu. If that gets into NSW as surely it will given by then it will be open slather, Hazzard will start blaming cows. He is running out of ethnicities to blame. That variant is currently in Colombia so when it does hit NSW, anyone with Colombian heritage will be in the firing line from Hazzard. Waiting for the far right to blame COVID on solar panels and that everyone should eat coal. The latest crazy talk from the far right is injecting horse drugs to cure COVID. Shows we have become too successful as humans. We've allowed the dumb genes to remain. We have messed with nature too much.

We keep doing well at the Paralympics. We are getting medals just about every day which is excellent. Was watching the road race and the total change in weather conditions making things treacherous for the cyclists. A complete change from the hot humid sunny days. We got another gold in the rowing. Watching these athletes you don't focus on their disability just what they can achieve similar to watching the able bodied athletes, no difference. Would be a nice change if it was taken into their day to day lives and they are just seen as people, not disabled people.

Hope the weekend is good for you regardless of where you are. Don't forget to ring your dad for Father's Day if you can't be there in person. There will be lots of people who can't visit the cemetery for Father's Day.

 

[missswannie]

Monday morning in the west. It's blue skies and warming up. I can see a couple of beach visits this week if I can keep a couple of blocks of hours free in the calendar. Shouldn't be too hard. I seem to be doing an almost full European day on top of the local time zone, so figure I need to take some balances.

Taking advantage of the sport over here at present. Geelong GWS I scored a couple of cheap tickets to on the day, so did. Then Sunday was Wallabies v NZ delayed game. They didn't offer refunds from the previous date in August so had to go. It made for an interesting Fathers Day activity for the bloke. Lunch in Kings Park amongst the wild flowers then over to the stadium for a few hours of rugby union. I am debating about the grand final still. Plenty of tickets should come to hand. My usual invitation to a corporate box might not happen. The prices for a corporate box is eye watering, even in iron ore and mining town, to the point that corporates are looking at it and thinking hang on.

A few issues with the Geelong game though. The AFL's contract had them taking over the food and drink outlets at the stadium from the regular management and workers. They awarded the contract to someone else. Problem then has been that by only offering award rates on a Friday evening, they ended up being 180 people short and closed half the catering to the top deck. It wouldn't be rocket science to know that any service entity in Perth has been outbidding each other and paying higher to secure necessary staff numbers on certain days. Recruiters set up desks at the local unis to entice new staff with all sorts of incentives, so not sure what the AFL thought they would be able to do on the cheap.

The grain harvest months coming up have the same issues. Instead of relying on short term overseas visas, the local workforce is having to be used. Funny that having to pay award or better rates is an issue for some, rather than the discounted backpackers ones. There are 5000 students at one of the unis being paid to train on harvesters and other equipment ahead of it and will be bussed out there as soon as the exams finish. It will be a record crop this year for sure, so available wages is not the issue. Unless you have supply contracts with Coles or Woolies in which case you might be a bit tight.

I don't mind workers being able to get ahead. That's economics. We have suppressed wage growth for so long that it is great that circumstances have caught up with the system. Queensland, SA and Tassie are open to us, so there has been a bit of movement of people coming in to take it up when it gets interesting enough. McGowan has already said that vaccine rates have the be up at 90% to account for the below 12's who can't get vaccinated yet to make a total of 70%, so there will be a few more months beyond NSW and Vic once the vaccine allocation starts flowing back to the other states. I'm sad that a quarantine camp wasn't built last year last year at airports and the borders, then we could have had young workers making the trip across and just factoring in some time. A young couple doing the full grain harvest and then seeding season with a bit of other AG work and city work in the month in between at this year's rates would just about put a house deposit together. That's an amazing set of circumstances. I wonder if it influences policy debate down the track as I would imagine a few people would start thinking why do we have to go back to suppressed rates.

I have a young nephew, a sparkie, who has gone the country route after his apprenticeship, working on the Ag side of the trade. Knuckled down, got a house being built, had a baby with his partner and now a second on the way. He's 24. Doing the stretch years while the going is good and knocking over some of the bigger tickets in life. There is another generation coming through that is doing things differently again.

There is a rather large voice at the moment asking for veterans to be able to have a march this month, perhaps in connection with the the AFL grand final. There is no secret that this is an SAS town and people here back them in as much as every other vet. Perth mayor is keen, WA Govt interested, AFL not keen to have anything near their day. The people would be keen to demonstrate thanks and a big crowd would appropriate for the people. As the months go on every other city would get in on the act and round out the last 20 years with a proper thankyou. The media and sections of the government have an agenda to play still, which is hounding out people from the service without them being charged. Stupidly, the same people being told they have nowhere to be assigned so leave, are being brought in as contractors to help train the new inductees as the experience pool has been drained. These squads don't just train on bases. The number of urban property owners, developers, mine sites that host training exercises in real scenarios are there, uncompensated, just cooperative. Very understanding residents living around sites being used who know perfectly well what is happening when the crackle of simunition fx rounds and flash bangs go on between 8pm and 3am some nights, spread around the Perth suburbs and CBD. The OppForce guys that turn up to provide the training scenarios with live realistic opposition shooting back, hostages, etc heading home at 3am black and blue from being shot up, unpaid. The corporates that reach into their pockets and fund the Foundation that takes care of things, outside of standard government assistance to vets and families. All of the above at the very least would like to be able to publicly say thank you, job well done.

I'm sad to see the Paralympics end. The requirement this year for it to be on mainstream television and live is the perfect achievement. There is a something great about people having a red hot crack. Congratulations to the government for belatedly, but not too late, deciding to award prize money to medal winners. That's the sort of stuff people want to see, and the level of public recognition now helps all the other support programs to get everyone on a level playing field. Loved the virtual stadium seat program, that's a good fund to start the programs for the next one. I have to say there were days when I might have tuned in to AFL and other sports and then headed back to the Paralympics after a quarter or so because I was more invested in them.

Look after your mates and people around you if you are in lockdown. People might be getting to the end of their mental and physical resources and just need a helping hand but not want to say anything. Undoubtedly as things get let loose it will be another tough time in a different sense. You'd be fucked if you needed treatment for something or an operation in the next while so keep everyone as healthy as you can. The kids hospitals are going to be overwhelmed as per every other country so do what you can to ancillary that service. NSW and Vic are training other people to be ambulance drivers to boost numbers so put your hand up if you have time to spare to do that.

Enjoy your week.

 

[zekuma]

Monday morning in the west. It's blue skies and warming up. I can see a couple of beach visits this week if I can keep a couple of blocks of hours free in the calendar. Shouldn't be too hard. I seem to be doing an almost full European day on top of the local time zone, so figure I need to take some balances.

Taking advantage of the sport over here at present. Geelong GWS I scored a couple of cheap tickets to on the day, so did. Then Sunday was Wallabies v NZ delayed game. They didn't offer refunds from the previous date in August so had to go. It made for an interesting Fathers Day activity for the bloke. Lunch in Kings Park amongst the wild flowers then over to the stadium for a few hours of rugby union. I am debating about the grand final still. Plenty of tickets should come to hand. My usual invitation to a corporate box might not happen. The prices for a corporate box is eye watering, even in iron ore and mining town, to the point that corporates are looking at it and thinking hang on.

A few issues with the Geelong game though. The AFL's contract had them taking over the food and drink outlets at the stadium from the regular management and workers. They awarded the contract to someone else. Problem then has been that by only offering award rates on a Friday evening, they ended up being 180 people short and closed half the catering to the top deck. It wouldn't be rocket science to know that any service entity in Perth has been outbidding each other and paying higher to secure necessary staff numbers on certain days. Recruiters set up desks at the local unis to entice new staff with all sorts of incentives, so not sure what the AFL thought they would be able to do on the cheap.

The grain harvest months coming up have the same issues. Instead of relying on short term overseas visas, the local workforce is having to be used. Funny that having to pay award or better rates is an issue for some, rather than the discounted backpackers ones. There are 5000 students at one of the unis being paid to train on harvesters and other equipment ahead of it and will be bussed out there as soon as the exams finish. It will be a record crop this year for sure, so available wages is not the issue. Unless you have supply contracts with Coles or Woolies in which case you might be a bit tight.

I don't mind workers being able to get ahead. That's economics. We have suppressed wage growth for so long that it is great that circumstances have caught up with the system. Queensland, SA and Tassie are open to us, so there has been a bit of movement of people coming in to take it up when it gets interesting enough. McGowan has already said that vaccine rates have the be up at 90% to account for the below 12's who can't get vaccinated yet to make a total of 70%, so there will be a few more months beyond NSW and Vic once the vaccine allocation starts flowing back to the other states. I'm sad that a quarantine camp wasn't built last year last year at airports and the borders, then we could have had young workers making the trip across and just factoring in some time. A young couple doing the full grain harvest and then seeding season with a bit of other AG work and city work in the month in between at this year's rates would just about put a house deposit together. That's an amazing set of circumstances. I wonder if it influences policy debate down the track as I would imagine a few people would start thinking why do we have to go back to suppressed rates.

I have a young nephew, a sparkie, who has gone the country route after his apprenticeship, working on the Ag side of the trade. Knuckled down, got a house being built, had a baby with his partner and now a second on the way. He's 24. Doing the stretch years while the going is good and knocking over some of the bigger tickets in life. There is another generation coming through that is doing things differently again.

There is a rather large voice at the moment asking for veterans to be able to have a march this month, perhaps in connection with the the AFL grand final. There is no secret that this is an SAS town and people here back them in as much as every other vet. Perth mayor is keen, WA Govt interested, AFL not keen to have anything near their day. The people would be keen to demonstrate thanks and a big crowd would appropriate for the people. As the months go on every other city would get in on the act and round out the last 20 years with a proper thankyou. The media and sections of the government have an agenda to play still, which is hounding out people from the service without them being charged. Stupidly, the same people being told they have nowhere to be assigned so leave, are being brought in as contractors to help train the new inductees as the experience pool has been drained. These squads don't just train on bases. The number of urban property owners, developers, mine sites that host training exercises in real scenarios are there, uncompensated, just cooperative. Very understanding residents living around sites being used who know perfectly well what is happening when the crackle of simunition fx rounds and flash bangs go on between 8pm and 3am some nights, spread around the Perth suburbs and CBD. The OppForce guys that turn up to provide the training scenarios with live realistic opposition shooting back, hostages, etc heading home at 3am black and blue from being shot up, unpaid. The corporates that reach into their pockets and fund the Foundation that takes care of things, outside of standard government assistance to vets and families. All of the above at the very least would like to be able to publicly say thank you, job well done.

I'm sad to see the Paralympics end. The requirement this year for it to be on mainstream television and live is the perfect achievement. There is a something great about people having a red hot crack. Congratulations to the government for belatedly, but not too late, deciding to award prize money to medal winners. That's the sort of stuff people want to see, and the level of public recognition now helps all the other support programs to get everyone on a level playing field. Loved the virtual stadium seat program, that's a good fund to start the programs for the next one. I have to say there were days when I might have tuned in to AFL and other sports and then headed back to the Paralympics after a quarter or so because I was more invested in them.

Look after your mates and people around you if you are in lockdown. People might be getting to the end of their mental and physical resources and just need a helping hand but not want to say anything. Undoubtedly as things get let loose it will be another tough time in a different sense. You'd be fucked if you needed treatment for something or an operation in the next while so keep everyone as healthy as you can. The kids hospitals are going to be overwhelmed as per every other country so do what you can to ancillary that service. NSW and Vic are training other people to be ambulance drivers to boost numbers so put your hand up if you have time to spare to do that.

Enjoy your week.

Most interesting that you mention the special forces there. We have a kiwi fellow who would do consulting work for us and came from that background. He always raved on about Perth and his time training there and the opportunity to do real time exercises in inner city locations here and there. Better than simulated rooms and crash test dummies.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well another lock down week. Two more officially here in Melbourne. People shouldn't be too enthused about the removal of some restrictions in a couple of weeks. The major lifting of restrictions will be when small business can have patrons again. That's not going to happen when this latest lock down will end. Right now further progress depends on the 70% first dose date here in Melbourne. The only thing holding us back is the lack of Pfizer for the younger age groups. With what we found out this week, Smoko favouring NSW with a secret deal for the rest of year. Now that people know, that plan has been squashed. Just another one of those secret deals the Libs have made with their own. No different to the sports rorts, carpark gate, or spending money on projects that favour Lib LGA's. None of the other states begrudged NSW more of Pfizer at the initial high virus numbers, but that wasn't the end of the deal. Funny how Gladys never mentioned this secret deal at any of her news briefings nor at National Cabinet. Also funny how it was only the Labor states that said anything. SA and Tassie were very quiet about the secret deal. Gotta keep the party line even if it impacts your own citizens.

As for the latest group to breach lock down rules here in Melbourne, well it's that same ethnic group again trying the same trick. Silly people. All it will do is bring hate speech to everyone in that ethnicity and cost them lots of money. Each fine is over $5000. No excuses for not following the rules. Has nothing to do with religion. Couldn't care less whether you worship a goat, a physical object or an unseen deity, just follow the fucking health orders and everyone will get out of this sooner. Always wondered whether the statues of Buddha are racist, given that Buddha was an Indian prince not a Chinese monk. Suppose it's the same as the statues of Jesus, he wasn't a white dude with nordic features. And he was a refugee.

Smoko still doesn't get the optics on the Father's Day trip. Yep he was entitled to make the visit under the "essential worker" scheme, but then he made it a secret trip. If there was nothing wrong with the trip then why keep it secret. And still he can't see why it was wrong given millions of people were not able to do the same thing. Empathy is not something Smoko has and never will. He is tone deaf to anyone not in his privileged circumstances. And as for that women's conference, well that was more a PR stunt than achieving anything. The govt knows what needs to happen as there has been plenty of information on it. What is telling is that the women in the LNP just followed along what is essentially a man's view of the issue. Frankly if men aren't willing to make a difference, then get the fuck out the way.

So the LNP here in Melbourne have a recycled leader. That is the same guy who started the fake news about African gangs roaming the streets of the Melbourne. That fake story was taken up by the Feds, especially the front bench of the govt. It was a racist ploy and one that resulted in the LNP getting an arse kicking here in Vic. They lost badly. So those fears will be recycled again over the next 14 months leading up to the next election. The LNP will use the Rump play book and try to divide the people based on fear, cause that's all they got. All those people who believe their rights have been removed with the lock downs will gravitate towards the LNP, that's a given. With the new vision by Danny Boy, lock downs will be a thing of the past by the end of the year. The LNP will soak up anyone who feels affronted by not being able to go on a picnic. Who knew that picnics were such a big thing. Trying to get a teenager to any family gathering prior to COVID was like pulling teeth, now apparently everyone wants to go on a family picnic.

The weather has been on the warm side the last few days with those NW winds and lots of window rattling. The trees are looking wind swept. Temps have remained rather mild. Was only 18 today but with a warm breeze. Some people out in shorts.

It's hard rubbish week come Monday so the magpies are out going thru street trash. Wasn't aware that was part of the five reasons to leave the home. Waiting for the usual white van to appear in the street. Dude shows up every year searching for stuff. Don't really mind people doing that unless they block my driveway when I'm trying to leave.

Hope the weekend is good for you. Expecting more of the wet stuff in Melbourne.

 

[warrior queen]

Aaah since when did our posties have electric cart type delivery vehicles?!!

Be grateful you have delivery!
I can actually see the post office from where I live, but they don't deliver here so I have had to fork out for a p o box!

 

[missswannie]

Aaah since when did our posties have electric cart type delivery vehicles?!!

Bloody things get on the road in between starting streets over here. They max out at 40 or 50. I did see one postie with 5 or 6 kids from the primary school hanging off it going for a hoon down the road. Noone would report him in this end of town.

 

[darkelf9]

Aaah since when did our posties have electric cart type delivery vehicles?!!

That's just a precursor to bringing back horses.

Seen all sorts of postie vehicles these days. The push bike is rarely used around my area.

Funniest postie delivery I saw was in San Franciso when a postie came flying past me downhill cause he couldn't stop. Thought he was going to roll down the hill. Those hills just keep going.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the week started off with wind and rain and that's how it's going to end. Not getting too much of the high wind down my way. As usual the northern suburbs will cop most of the heavy rain cause they are in a storm belt. Any of the really bad stuff always hits the northern suburbs.

So Vic will get to 70% single dose sometime today. Doesn't really mean much. The small lifting of restrictions won't help most people. 5km to 10km doesn't mean much if you want to visit family cause home visits are still not allowed. Also means you can't get any reno work done on your house. Only emergency tradie calls are allowed. Can exercise for more hours, although anyone who exercises for 4hrs a day that isn't an elite athlete needs to get a life. The dogs will be hiding. During the lock down last year vet's had to come on TV telling people that dogs only needed 30mins of exercise. There were lots of dogs being taken to vets with sore joints due to overwalking.

The rules around gatherings is based on the honour system regarding who has been vaccinated. Double dosed people can gather with another household with a limit of 5 adults, but cops won't be checking. Will see how that plays out and if cops target migrant communities like they do in Sydney. It was noticeable that there wasn't a cop in sight when all those people were in Bondi with no masks and no social distancing. If that happened in the western suburbs of Sydney there would be cops on mass with mounted patrols. Seems only people who live near a beach have mental health issues requiring them to go to the beach and meet up with friends. So obviously people in far west NSW don't have mental health issues given they live hundreds of miles from a beach. Nearly everyone they interviewed on Bondi was out there due to mental health issues. Seems to be a catch phrase these days.

Looks like Gladys is back doing daily COVID press conferences. Was a dumb idea to stop doing those. Leaders need to be visible during a crisis. She obviously was taking her lead from Smoko. It must be part of the LNP doctrine. Fuck off when things get tough and don't answer questions. Good to see she has changed her mind.

The subs seem to be a real problem going all the way back to Collins class issues, then buying French subs, now we are going to the US. Well I suppose baguettes don't do well when they get wet. The French will get over it after they have some cheese and wine. They'll be able to buy lots of it with the $3Billion in compensation. We used to able to build ships, now we can't even do that. The JSF also has problems. We are spending lots of money on the toys but not much on the people who actually run Defence, and I don't mean the military. Overall the US gets want they wanted from us, either for us to beef up our military or allow them to have bases here. Smoko has gone for the cheaper option by allowing the US in.

Sunday will be the big news day here in Melbourne. Danny Boy is going to unveil the road map out of lock downs and what to expect from managing COVID. There will be lots of reference to "moving forward", not that anyone really knows what that means. I've heard that term lots of times at management meetings. It always meant they didn't have clue, it was just a term to calm the natives. We move forward everyday doesn't mean things get better or we achieve anything. I think lots of people will be disappointed with what is outlined simply because of our current numbers which is higher than when the road map was announced. So people shouldn't get their hops up. I don't think we will see any significant changes till the later half of next month. Reckon the plans will be focused on having a normalish Christmas. If things open up too quickly and the virus numbers increase dramatically, Christmas will be a no show. Thanks to Sydney our New Years was cancelled, we don't want that happening again.

Even though footy won't be on here in Melbourne we still get the Grand Final public holiday. Surprisingly the two teams are from Melbourne which is an achievement given that Melbourne teams have had a worse time with the COVID restrictions not being able to play on their home grounds and being away from home for so long. However they were the two top teams this year so they earned their place. Hopefully it will be a tight contest. Not sure who is going to win. The Demons might have the edge. The Western Bulldogs or Footscray as we know them here in Melbourne are always seen as the underdog since it's a working class suburb. Wonder what Teddy Whitten would think of it? Not just a legend of the club but also of the game.

Set to be a wet weekend here in Melbourne so those protestors will get wet. The public transport is being shutdown for several hours on the day of the protest. Seems ironic that anti-govt protestors rely on govt funded transport to get to the protest and you can bet a bunch of them rely on govt funding.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Well I didn't get Grand Final tickets through the regular means. Like the other 180000 people online at the same time for the 18000 seats allocated to the public, my number did not come up in the 9 mins it took to sell out. They have put screens up in the parks surrounding the stadium and are hoping to get 100000 or more turn up outside. I will now have to wait by the phone to see if any generous customers decide that my company would be fun in their corporate boxes.

Glad its friday. The weather this week can't make up its mind what its doing. Kind of hoping it might be a boat weekend, but have friends kind of hoping it might be a pizza oven night over at our house. I might be amenable if I can sit back and they do all of the work.

Royal Agricultural Society Show is going ahead from the end of next week. No restrictions so need to cancel it two years in a row. One of the big vaccination centres is inside the grounds there in leafy Claremont, so they have said anyone getting jabbed gets gold coin entry. Smart. You will have all the oldies who were adamant they would not get vaccinated unless it was Pfizer going down there from Monday to claim victory and boot the kids out from their schedule.

Bloody gas company changed over the meter to an electronic monitoring one. Doesn't have a power supply so don't know how that works but randomly turned up. Then told me that the gas pressure wasn't zero-ing out so there must be a small leak somewhere. And cut off the supply. How am I supposed to find a leak without sniffing around the place? To make it worse, with the labour shortage over here and booming construction business, the wait for a licenced gas fitter to come around is 3 weeks. Gas hot water system and gas cook top so not impressed with cold showers and oven food. Sigh. Be good to get a stack of tradies come over here once borders can get opened up or people will do quarantine.

The sub issue. Unsurprising. At least that one has been resolved now and not go around in circles. The aircraft carrier part of the alliance might need a bit more discussing to the public before it makes it onto the table. Learmonth, Shargah and Curtin AFB's to be hosting USAF units and come out of unmanned status might be good for their surrounding communities. The building boom that will cause will be a big one for tradies. Stand by for that one to come out at election time. We don't need nukes with our subs because the delivery platform will be on someone else's plane. The military unit expansion slated in the plan is significant. Someone has to guard all these assets and the AT capability for Stirling beefed up, although the mob on the coast down the road will handle that.

Gladys might not be around for too much longer. Plans afoot to roll her as soon as everything opens up and the worst of the hospital surge is overcome after Christmas. Then you can blame her all you like and everyone else is blameless heading to a fed election.

The shipping and airfreight crisis will go on for a while. Seriously, I'd be ordering stuff for Christmas this month and getting ahead of the game because it will not cope with any more volume.

 

[Marty Fisher]

Sorry, wrong section

 

[Marty Fisher]

Sorry wrong section

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

So Danny Boy has outlined the get out of lock down plan. Not much there in the short term. Essentially it means Melbourne will be in the current lock down settings till we get to 70% double dosed projected to be by the end of Oct. But the lifting of the lock down only applies to outdoor activities. If you are selling a property it has to be a vacated property only. Won't be able to have anyone to your home till 80% which is projected to be in early Nov. In previous lock downs, the lifting of a lock down has been based on a date. That has now shifted to a % of a fully vaccinated population. So the govt is now saying to the public that the time frame to open up depends on you not the govt setting a time frame. Puts the onus now on the general public getting fully vaccinated. We aren't doing what Gladys is doing in opening up on single doses. That just sounds nuts. Was interesting to hear that Danny Boy is using NSW as the canary in the cold mine. If it all turns to crap he will use that to justify his roadmap and if it goes well then he will use that to bring things forward. Rather smart. Either way Gladys takes all the risks.

The increase in the travel limit from 5 km to 10km now that we have gone past the 70% single dose doesn't do much. I can now go to my usual Dan Murphy's but I just checked and the usual single malt scotch I buy is out of stock. Even the really expensive stuff worth over $800 is out of stock. It feels like someone is playing a trick on me. Yes you can go to the store but can't buy what you want.

Heard that the province of Alberta in Canada is back in lock down after they removed restrictions and opened everything up. Then things got worse so they are back in lock down again and had over 20 deaths in one day. Just shows there are idiots in govt in other countries, all trying to do the same thing and ending in the same result. They don't learn. Gladys should take note.

There is lots of rubbish going around that the health system is fine when dealing with COVID and can cope with larger numbers. Not surprised its the far right once again peddling this crap. Sydney is doing the same thing that happened in London with ambulances queueing up at hospitals and tents being constructed to triage COVID patients cause the beds are full. So no the health system won't cope with larger numbers. ICU beds are not limitless and neither are the numbers of trained medical staff.

The protests are back. Not all the protestors are from the building industry. The union leadership as in the ACTU, has said that the far right has dressed up their people in high vis gear to make them look like tradies. With all previous lock downs, construction sites has always spread the virus which resulted in it being shut down previously. With all the strict lock down rules we've had in the last couple of months, construction has still been allowed to stay open on reduced numbers. A lot of other businesses have been shut during the same time. The virus numbers in the past few weeks has gone up due to the virus spreading at construction sites. Out of the over 600 cases today, over 400 of those are from the construction industry. The way the virus is spreading in Melbourne keeps changing. Started off with a few illegal parties, then parents meeting illegally at playgrounds, now its construction. It's not one group or one type of behaviour that is causing the spread and the numbers going up.

As for Porter well he is playing loose with the rules. He knew what that blind trust meant and was "unaware" he was receiving money from "anonymous" donors, which is total crap. Firstly a blind trust is about your money, not other people giving you money. The fact that he set up the trust so that these "anonymous" people could give him money was well planned. It is laughable that Porter is playing the victim. His privileged life since he was a school kid has led him to believe rules don't apply to him and there is always a way around any rule, even the law. Through his entire life he has had people that have enabled him. Nobody tried to shut him down to correct his behaviour. He has now tried to smear a person who took her life because of his alleged actions. And Barnaby has further enabled Porter by telling him to just wait till this issue cools down and he can come back to the front bench. This is why people are disillusioned by our politicians. There are no real consequences to their actions. If the people in Porter's electorate vote him back in then they are also part of the problem. If we want behaviours of our pollies to change then don't vote in people who are morally corrupt. Don't blame them. You put them in power.

Have noticed in the last month that the grocery bill has increased. Not really buying anything more. Being single my grocery bill is never large but noticed there is less in the wallet when I get home. Yes I still use actual money. I've never been refused payment with actual dollars when out shopping throughout COVID. If I run out I just go to the bank to get more. Even when I was working I always went to the bank. Seems to surprise people telling me how I find the time. Mind you these are the same people who spend hours on social media then wonder why they don't have time to do real world stuff.

Rainy day timetable in Melbourne today and for most of this week. Only one day rain free. The mornings are back to Winter temps. Best stay in bed till the day warms up. Given the lock down most people are commuting from the bed to lounge anyway. The only rush hour will be to the kitchen to get coffee. Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Most people in Melbourne will be counting down the days to the Grand Final. Didn't really get to do a cheese wine night during Le Tour so might do that for the final. Currently you can't visit family but all the booze shops are open. Priorities.

 

[warrior queen]

I hate to come on here after such a long absence and bitch about something..... but I have no choice.
Those entitled, precious ASSHOLES in Melbourne
It's not just Victoria that gets affected when they choose to gather without masks, protesting about the ONLY WAY we can get back to some kind of normal, likely causing more outbreaks and MORE lockdowns - it's everyone who has to transit through Victoria as well.
How fucking selfish are these people?
If I want to go see my bestie and her new baby, I have no choice but to transit thro Vic. Which ain't gonna happen because these bastards think their buttocks will drop off if they get a vaccine

Instead of protesting in big, unprotected groups, and risking a superspreader event and even longer lockdowns why not use a teensy tiny bit of intelligence and understand that they DO have a choice.
Don't get jabbed, don't fucking work.
Get jabbed, work.
Still a goddamn CHOICE, right?

/end of rant.

 

[missswannie]

Yeah we even had a bunch of numb nuts having a Freedom Rally over here in the west on the weekend. Freedom from what, we don't have any restrictions or masks. Only thing we can't do is go to NSW Vic or ACT, or overseas. Well, can go overseas if for more than 3 months, but getting back is a gamble.

And now a pathway for Pfizer for the kiddies after Christmas. Now we are talking about population coverage and infection pathways getting covered. There is a road out of this without all the UK style hospital carnage.

 

[jarigi]

Truly disappointing how many fucking idiots there are in our world. This will become the disease of the ignorant. Years ago, if you wished to travel OS, you got jabs and a certificate. No jab, stay at home or go to Rosebud foreshore for your holidays. Simple.

62M, hopeful of a brave new world, not a dumb one.

 

[jarigi]

Well, just when I thought I was prepared and understood the state of my world, I was rudely shaken by an earthquake. House shook like a toy and although I've felt many tremors over the years, this one felt serious. Mag 6.0. My heart was beating like I'd been in a car crash! The phone rang soon after and I learnt it was felt all over south east Australia, not just my street! Roll on 2022 I say, I've had enough of this shitty year.

62M, here despite the warnings.

 

[missswannie]

Popped down to see the Grand Final parade that wasn't supposed to be but happened to go ahead. It would have been a lot better without Basil Zempilas on the scene, but unfortunately some people elected him the lord mayor of Perth so on days like this we can't get rid of him.

Tomorrow 1715 our time the game starts. No invites from corporates to join them in their boxes so it will be either the television or one of the giant screens up in the parks around the stadium. I don't go for either team but like a lot of Perth have bought into the Melbourne team over the years. I don't think anyone would be disappointed if it went to the Bulldogs either. I doubt it is going to be anything but a match, probably down to the wire, and probably a goal and change. Some thing is drawing me to a margin of 9pts in favour of Melbourne. It will be 27C during the day, probably down to 24 by the time the game gets underway. In theory, the dew should stay away until maybe the last quarter, after which you probably want to do an out of the centre straight into goals slug match. Optus Stadium has the same dimensions as the MCG so plenty of wing to go and get lost on.

Perth Royal Show is starting tomorrow as well. We missed out on it last year as they thought they didn't have enough clarity around it, but this year it going ahead. It's a long weekend here so will probably go on monday, or head down late afternoon one day and stay on for the fireworks.

You can hear and see all the big police drones around the inner areas. They are peeking into alleys and old buildings and keeping an eye on gatherings. The numb nuts had a freedom rally here last weekend, probably on the orders of their right wing masters, but freedom from what in the west I have no idea.

Shamelessly, mid week I am off up north and will continue over to Exmouth to go and do some diving on the reef. Should be spectacular.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well this week so far has been rather quiet compared to last week. Firstly those demonstrations by a pack of idiots then that earthquake on the Wednesday. When that earthquake hit, I had gone back to bed then was woken up about 9:15am with a rumble. I took a quick look at the bedside alarm clock. Like most people thought it was either a large truck or a low flying plane but that only lasted for a couple of seconds till I realized it was an earthquake. When you've been thru one you don't forget it. Last one I felt was back in the 80's. That one only lasted a few seconds. This one felt bigger and it went on for longer. Checked around the property and no damage found. Didn't hear about any damage around Melbourne except for that wall in an old building in the city. Luckily because of the lock down nobody was on the street near that collapsed wall. There is a cafe just below it so on a normal morning there would of been people in that area. Chapel St in Melbourne is normally a rather busy part of town. I know we get numerous earth tremors in Vic mainly in the regional areas and most are around 3 or less. I know we had an earthquake about 10 years ago in the country but didn't feel it in Melbourne. The size of this one was similar to the size of the one in Christchurch, difference being that one was actually under Christchurch. Most of our earthquakes seem to happen in the east of the state.

As for those demonstrations well it was the usual suspects but also involved some members of the building industry however those dudes only went once. And from what the head of that trade union said, those dudes won't be working in the industry for long. Word will get around and they will be found. In that regard the trade unions are better than the cops. The subsequent protests were only the far right and those ant-vax fools. What really got people off-side was when those protestors pissed on The Shrine and essentially pissed on the sacrifice of all those diggers. The previous generations of those protestors fought in those wars. So they were pissing on the memories of their own family members. When the authorities found one of the ring leaders they granted him bail and let him go. Frankly they should of kept him locked up. No doubt that guy won't face any jail time and only get off with a fine and a good behaviour bond much to the frustration of the cops.

What was quite laughable is that protests were also in cities not under any lock down, which negates any claim that the protest was due to lock downs and closing the building industry. Now we have closed the building industry previously as has NSW, but the LNP didn't criticize Gladys when she did it. In fact members of the LNP supported those protestors in Melbourne but gave the usual comments about not supporting the violence. It has become a standard line. There were lots of "we don't condone the violence but" in their comments. It reminded me of Rumps infamous comments about "good people on both sides". The LNP has not come out and condemned the far right facists, but in fact stated they support their right to protest. Barnaby has not condemned Christianson for his comments and defended his right to say those things. So when members of the Federal Govt don't condemn these facist groups, it's seen as an endorsement which these groups use to upscale their actions. The violence comes from nobody stopping the previous actions. If govts and the cops don't take these groups seriously we can expect more of what we saw in Melbourne last week. The violence will continue to escalate. These groups can't continue to be dismissed as fringe groups.

Our Royal Melbourne Show was of course cancelled again. It didn't get much of a mention as in previous years. That's two years in a row. Could of purchased the show bags on-line but it's not the same. Next year will be different and kids can go to The Show again and things will get back to normal, sort of. Have lots of good memories of going to The Show.

Our COVID numbers have once again got to a record high. It was recorded earlier in the 800's now it's just over 1000 due to an admin issue from a private company. If your software is out by nearly 150 cases, reckon its time to find a new contractor. No doubt the LNP will blame Danny Boy. Either way the number is higher than it was last year. Danny Boy has given up even trying to talk about getting back to zero COVID. That isn't going to happen till probably 2023. We can expect we will have COVID cases for most of 2022. It's a guessing game as to what will happen when we open up at 80% double dosed. The 70% mark is officially when the lock down will end, but all freedoms are outside so the real ending of the lock down will be at 80%. I'd just be happy if I can travel to the country for my birthday in Jan. Right now I can only drive 10km from my home.

Whatever happens in NSW in the next couple of weeks once they lift restrictions won't impact Vic since nobody from NSW can come into Vic. We are only accepting Victorians who are double dosed that are stuck in NSW. That isn't going to change any time soon. So NSW can do what it likes, the virus numbers are meaningless to us. It's just not relevant to the rest of the country till the other states get to 80% double dosed.

Was a nice sunny day yesterday so did the mowing out the front. Had to wear a mask when mowing the nature strip. Did that as quick as I could. Not sure how much longer we will have to wear masks outside. Was rather oppressive last Summer having to wear a mask outside. Lots of unknowns.

They are doing trials of home quarantine using the app. So if you don't have a phone that works with the app you can't do home quarantine. You also have to be on your phone all the time and take a selfie within 5mins of getting a text. What if you're in the shower or on the toilet when you get the text? Do they tell you ahead of time when they are going to send the text? Not sure how the oldies will cope with all that. As for the self testing, yep that sounds fool proof. What could possibly go wrong? Any testing based on the honour system isn't going to work. It would be like getting rich people to fill in a tax return. So if someone travels to another state, they do the self test then self determine if they are OK to go that party. So if they test positive, they don't go to the party? I don't think so.

Expecting lots of rain for the rest of the week. We can visit the GP in person again. Haven't seen him for quiet a while, only talked on the phone. Have to get my tax done on the phone again this year. Using that portal thing had issues last year, will see what goes wrong this year. Do I have faith in technology? Not really since the Fed's haven't installed a proper internet infrastructure. Lets not forget this is the govt that said the internet is only needed for emails. We would be better off if our internet was run by a porn company. It would be more secure for one thing.

Hope the rest of the the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Isn't it an interesting week already. I do wish we had a federal level ICAC with teeth. And then others seeing it as an inflection point and making decisions on future moves. I might need some popcorn to see where this will all go to.

Perrottet can take a running jump if he thinks a GST redistribution is on the cards. Even your blue rinse liberals over here won't stomach getting only 25% of GST contributed back. We are only just heading towards the rev limiter 70% level now, let alone get there.

The big one being tested is the 1970's policy of acceptable unemployment. Having reverted towards pre-70's meaningful chance of employment, will people accept wage stagnation and rising unemployment again? The longer we stay in this situation the more the genie gets out of the bottle. The number of people that remember full employment gets less and less, but there might be a few that get a flavour for it now.

Probably a good idea to refresh yourself as to what the Doherty Institute assumptions on 70, 80 and 90% vacc rate reopening are. There are a few loud mouths over here on reopening that suddenly shut up when they read what the basis is. "No restrictions" doesn't feature in it. You either have minimal (not zero) social restrictions and maximum effective track trace and isolate, or ineffective TTI and maximum social restrictions. The assumed minimal restrictions are permanent mask wearing, 2 sq meter distancing, all public gatherings and workplaces to be permanently 2 sq meter and max capacity. The other fine print item is the the assumptions that kids don't really get it, and the transmission route is only between adults and then to kids in a family setting. Vaccination rates of kids don't feature as transmission statistics. The revised assumptions (18 Sept) are available as a document on the Prime Minister and Cabinet website. Don't be too disappointed that other states don't want to go from no restrictions to wearing masks again and one third capacity restaurants and workplaces.

Anyway, the second weekend of the grand three is done, with the NRL grand final done and dusted. Great that it was in front of a crowd and Queensland did a good job in giving it the atmosphere it deserves. We normally would be thinking Bathurst next week and then get on with business, but will just have to wait a while.

The forecast of a wetter and cooler spring here is coming true. We were on track for the usual warm weather up until the AFL grand final but it has rained and been cool since. You'd be booking a bikini wax and IPL zap by end of september to get back onto the beach but there'd be some monsters in pants still around here.

I semi-reluctantly got roped into attending a university pantomime performance on the weekend. I had forgotten what non-Christmas adult pantomime was like. Federal parliament question time. Dorothy Dixer lines and hecklers from the audience heckling each other and delaying progression in the performance.

Off up north on a delayed trip tomorrow, it will be nice to hit the +30 heat.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well a new week and new high in COVID cases here in Vic. We are breaking records for being in lockdown the longest in the world and now the highest daily COVID numbers. With the continual reporting of being the most locked down city, it has got to some people. Again a majority of the population is doing the right thing. But the last month has seen a rise in illegal gatherings. Some people are looking at others breaking the rules with no consequences and so have decided to also break the rules. There have been several AFL Grand Final parties happening again against the rules and also the school holidays has contributed to people illegally gathering in homes. I've noticed more cars parked in the street these school holidays that don't belong here. It's a rather small street that doesn't go anywhere so you get to know the local cars. Uni's are not back so it wasn't uni students. As to why the numbers are higher now, well there isn't one cause for the rise of cases. Those protests was also a cause of spreading the virus. In previous lock downs the high numbers would be major news but with the local govt now focusing on the % vaccinated, the daily numbers are not as important. The way people are now viewing those numbers is that only people who are not vaccinated will get seriously ill. So people are less likely to follow the rules. People will tolerate a level of sickness in the community. We are getting closer to treating COVID like we treat the flu, however unlike the flu COVID can happen all year round and recovery can take a very long time. Some people will be impacted for several years and that is young fit people which will turn COVID into a chronic condition. I don't agree that everyone will get COVID. People still need to take care when things open up and we get out of lock down at the 70% double dosed mark. I'm still waiting on the 80% double dosed mark. Even at 70% I won't be able to travel across the city. It only gets to 15km. We are currently only allowed 10km and the curfew is still on. No visitors to the home. That won't change till we get to 80%.

As for Gladys, she is showing that she is a political animal. She has thrown all the toys out of the cot and burned the house down. Her resignation is part of her defence of being the victim. She was tone deaf to the plight of people in western Sydney and she is now playing the victim of a dodgy boyfriend. Whilst she hasn't personally benefitted from the fraud, she did know it was going on and decided to not do anything about it. Her comments on those phone calls shows she knew what was going on and even hinted to her boyfriend that he shouldn't be talking about those things on the phone. What is interesting is that all of Glady's mates are coming on TV saying she didn't do anything wrong even though they don't know what ICAC has found. ICAC wouldn't of taken that serious step without knowing the answers to those questions. The review is more about whether Gladys will tell the truth. She refused to answer the previous questions. Will be interesting to see what happens. You can bet Gladys will turn this into a gender thing. And when all else fails just cry. I've seen women use that on men lots of times and it keeps working as a tactic. As for the timing, well there is no good time to be called up to a corruption commission. You don't delay corruption reviews because it's inconvenient. Just like there is no good time to commit fraud.

Seems the wheels are coming off the NSW govt. Their new leader is the dude that wanted to let the virus rip in NSW so we can expect that Sydney will have it's own Freedom Day which will see higher numbers in hospital. It will be making the medical system in NSW very nervous. All those little things like masks, etc will go. NSW is now facing three by-elections. Not what you want in these times. It will be another cause of spreading the virus in NSW.

Was watching the women's cricket test and didn't understand why the follow-on was at 149 runs and not 199 as per the men's test. I'm sure I'm missing something there. Anyway I'm sure the Aussies would of been happy with a draw. The women's Ashes will be interesting to see if the Aussies can get their test form back. Their one day and T20 game is still very good. May be they need to play more tests and have specialists rather than have everyone playing all forms. Even though they have some of their players out, it's about the depth not just the talent.

So the weather is playing a big role in the activity this week in Melbourne. Has been raining on and off since Sunday. Another high wind day today and rain every few hours. We are getting waves of rain coming thru Melbourne. Not the day to be outside. Will see if I get rained on when I need to be out and about this week. Big bill week. The cost of utilities keeps going up. The latest is the ISP. They have removed the discount credit that was introduced due to COVID last year.

Went to see my GP last week to get more scripts and saw their setup for the COVID jab. He told me there are still issues with getting the vaccines. The quantities apparently are still not consistent.

With the pending easing of restrictions to allow only vaccinated people to do stuff you can be sure we'll hear about intimidation of hospitality staff from people who are denied entry due to their vaccination status. It's one thing for any govt to make these rules, it's another for small business to enforce them. I doubt any small business will challenge people if the persons concerned demand entry. Small business is not going to employ security and the cops have stated that they will not be checking the vaccination status of people in places like cafes. It's apparently beneath them. They will wait till things escalate then step in which is on par for the cops. They wait till a crime has been committed to take action. They are not good at dispute resolution. So we can expect assaults on hospitality staff to rise when we ease restrictions.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Saw that it was 37 in Brissy yesterday. Nothing like that here in Melbourne this week. We are lucky if it makes it to 20 this week. The morning are still below 10.

 

[missswannie]

Nudge nudge, wink wink briefing source.

Don't be surprised when there is a prosecution of a Sydney doctor in due course for charging $1200 for covid vaccinations that get recorded on the system but squirted on the floor... Might be a few patients that get done for fraud as well. Old mate wandering amongst you with covid passport freedoms might not be a mate at all.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Has been a rather up and down week weatherwise. Most of the predicted heavy rain has occurred during the night. Have been going to bed in the early hours to the sound of rain on the roof. The rain has just started again. Expecting that to continue for tomorrow as well.

Well the genie is out of the bottle here in Vic. Seems people are breaking out of lock down early with the increasing vaccination rate. The virus has always spread quickly in Melbourne unlike Sydney. People in Melbourne are more mobile hence why the virus travels quickly. There isn't one area any more and household spread continues to be the major cause. The curfew is still on until we get to 70% which on the current progress looks like that will happen by the end of next week, which is a few days earlier than scheduled. Oct 26 was the timetable for coming out of lock down. Now that doesn't mean we are letting it rip like in NSW. The rules will be only slightly relaxed. There is still a travel limit and no visitors to the home and general retail will not be open. All that comes when we get to 80%. It seems the govt is counting on a lot of second doses being completed in the next two weeks. The daily virus numbers will then become meaningless.

As for NSW well the "let it rip" new leader is making sure that Sydney will continue to be the centre of COVID. He is just giving the middle finger to the rest of the country. The latest thing is scrapping any form of quarantine which is reckless, however just shows the continuing arrogance of NSW. So as of next month people can come from OS and are free to travel to other parts of the country without quarantine. Happy if people coming into the country stay in NSW, they can keep the virus in their state. Their hospital system will be under more strain. But what will happen is that those states which haven't got their vaccination rates up will have people arriving in their states. Just shows NSW thinks is it Australia, fuck the rest of the country. Can't expect much more from the far right. It only cares about itself. This is only going to piss off the leaders of the other states. Time will tell if Dom is good or if he gives the rest of the country gastro. Vic will continue with a form of quarantine even when we get to 80%.

The medical experts keep sounding the alarm to all state leaders that the health system in the country will not cope with the needs of everyone. The people that will miss out is elective surgery, cancer patients, and those that need an ambulance. Seems we are happy to pay that the price to have tourists back into the country. When all those chickens come home to roost then the public will turn on the medical professionals for letting their loved ones die. We all expect that we can get medical help when we need it. That won't be happening for a couple of years till COVID becomes more like the flu. And of course there are those who trawl out the one liner of ..."people die everyday". That's all well and good till it's a member of your family and especially a young family member. It will only take one mother coming on the TV and talking about their child losing their life because the hospital was full of COVID patients and there weren't any ambulances available. We have already had people dying of heart failure because of ambulances not being available in time due to COVID. Takes over an hour to deep clean an ambulance after a COVID patient uses it.

Tried the click and collect system when purchasing a new video game. Can't do any trade-ins with that system. Not an option on the website. Prefer going into the store. Like to browse the discount bins for games I wouldn't buy new. Got the new Far Cry game set in a far off dictatorship. Good to have a new game. Playing only previous games was getting a little boring. Was interesting that JB Hi Fi doesn't have that system. Can only buy on-line. Can't go to Bunnings. So doing any reno tasks is limited. Starting to run out of some supplies. Hoping that will all change in a couple of weeks. Keen to get moving with things as the year is almost over. Looks like I'll be busy right up till Christmas once the lock down is over.

The price of petrol is outrageous at the moment. Was over $1.80 in my neighbourhood this week. One positive thing with the travel restrictions, I haven't had a need to fill up for over 2 months. Our lock down started way back in late July.

Found the dude that goes around filling other people's bins with his crap. Couldn't work out who kept putting their rubbish in my bin. It never happened in previous years. Turns out it's the new next door neighbour who is a pome. He has that typical pome arrogance. They think Aussies are backward. Has been a pain in the butt since he moved in with his family. Fucking noisey as well. He waits till all the bins are out then wanders up and own the street seeing whose bin he can load up. I just happen to notice this when looking out the front window. I wouldn't of thought bin night was such a drama. Higher density living means more people in the street. So now we have parking issues and it seems bin issues as well. Makes my decision to move out of the neighbourhood the right one. It's just not the same place anymore. Driving back from the shopping down a local street, I saw the latest high density living block. Will turn a relatively quiet street into a noisy highway. And you can bet the fight over car parks will start.

Hope the weekend is good for you. Today is the cut off date for govt workers to get the jab here in Vic. And if you haven't had the jab, make a booking. The microchip is hardly visible..

 

[marriedpervs]

Sad. Depressed. Over it. Almost two years and the policy of our state government here in Victoria clearly isn't working. The last few days have been the highest number of cases and deaths since the pandemic began. I won't get political, just wanted to vent as my beautiful town has become a prison and the laughing stock of the world. Sadder than that, buildings are empty, business are going under left right and centre and the mental health statistics are not even allowed to be published anymore.

Very sad.