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[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well we are in the last day of Winter...allegedly. Still chilly here in Melbourne town and a tad damp from the rain over the last two days. The sun is out today but it won't last . Had one day without the heater but was back on again by late afternoon yesterday. The late Winter / early Spring flowers are out again in the front garden. The lilliums are starting to emerge which normally cover the front lawn and the tiny flowers have also popped up. Give it another week and the front garden beds will be full of the tiny flowers like blue bells. I try not to do any mowing in the front during these bloom periods. The deciduous trees are also flowering again. So more tree cutting coming up.

Another week of the LNP telling the current to fix stuff that was neglected over the past decade. The Libs not being at the upcoming job summit is just foolishness. Even if they don't agree with anything that comes out of it they should at least be willing to listen to whatever ideas comes out of it.

Been listening to the argument of the need to increase "productivity" before workers can expect any wage increases. Well lots of companies have made profits during the last couple of years and yet passed on none of that to their workers only the exec's who get million dollar bonuses. The term "productivity" has been around for many decades and all in the favour of the employer. Any increase in wages comes with "productivity improvements" which usually means the workers have to give up something like working for free past the normal working hours or doing jobs that are usually done by other people like cleaning. Or give up some holidays. At no point is "productivity" inclusive of management. So it's a bullshit term used just to cut the budget. Seen it too often.

Been watching some Youtube music lately. Picked up some artists I hadn't heard of before. Been a while since I purchased a CD which makes me old that I'm still buying CD's. Like when I tell the younger generation that I go to bank. I get a look like "what's a bank?". The only recognition of a bank is that's a place they've been to that their nanna goes to. But I have to laugh when young people suddenly discover vinyl as it's something new. I've seen people switch banks due to their normal bank getting rid of tellers. Anyone who says we don't need staff at banks is kidding themselves. People still want customer service. There are lots of things that can't be done on an app. In fact I see lots of people going to banks because the technology has failed them. There are still lots of things you can't do via an app or thru a web page.

Hope the start of Spring is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The start of the week has been sunny and a little warmer if you're out in the sun here in Melbourne town. All about to change tomorrow with all that rain coming from the west. The BOM is getting the message across that Spring is going to be wetter than normal but with these relatively nice days people are bound to be shocked by all that rain when it gets here. As per usual the northern suburbs are going to get soggy. They always get the worst of it given they are in a storm corridor that runs along the top of Melbourne.

Good to see that the Fed's are backing TAFE back in after it was smashed by successive LNP govt's both federally and in the states. Here in Vic it was the former Lib govt that essentially shut down TAFE because they saw it as a union recruiting hub rather that education institutions. We used to have tech school as well as high schools. Now we only have one path for kids to get jobs which is all funnelled into Uni which means kids that don't fit the STEM mind set have to drop out of high school and are deemed failures. We used to value trades in this country now it's in the "other employment" basket. Basically kids are told that if they are too dumb to finish high school they can always do a trade.

So the jobs summit seemed to end in a positive manner. Mr Potato Head is pissed that unions and business can actually agree on stuff and move things forward. He kept saying that the summit was hijacked by union thugs which is funny considering the two main union leaders were both women. Not sure describing women as thugs is going to help with his image. With the worker shortage, it's funny how some businesses are finding it hard to get staff. Previous employees who had to put up with poor pay and working conditions are now choosing where they want to work. If you don't pay people properly and provide a good work environment you won't get staff unless they are desperate for money and that's not the people you want to attract. QANTAS is a case in point where it has lost staff loyalty and now they are losing customers with their disrespect for customers. During COVID the accountants have been in to do "business improvement" which just means job losses and lower wages. The previous govt propped up QANTAS with tax payers money and they used it just sack people and get in cheaper workers who can't do the job. They can't even load an aircraft properly or just don't. What will be compromised next is air safety which is their brand. If Joyce continuous down this path it will lead to an aircraft incident. Everyone can see it coming. So Joyce has to go if QANTAS is going to keep going. Blaming your customers for your failures shows a company in trouble.

The 7:30 Report has got edgier with Sarah Ferguson. She is tough and doesn't take crap from anyone on the show. Don't watch the show too often but it does get interesting at times.

Albo is still playing the game of not speculating on the next round of tax cuts for the high paid and rich. He's going to let that simmer away until even the LNP starts calling for them to be scrapped. Then he'll agree to not follow thru. It's smart politics but in the mean time people are going to be hurting.

Went the local DFO yesterday before the next school holidays arrives next week. Was sort of quiet but not dead. Was easy to social distance and even though there were lots of cars in the car park, finding a park was easy. A mixture of shop assistants wearing masks. Most didn't. Some people with masks walking around. Didn't bother given the small amount of people there and most shops didn't have any customers in large numbers. Got most of what I was looking for and one item as a spur of moment purchase which was on the back burner but I saw a bargain and got it. All up I saved about $120 on the day. I can afford a couple of rounds of petrol over the next couple of months when it goes up. Had to laugh at one shop assistant who asked for my phone number as part of the purchase but when I gave my landline number she was confused then said..."oh that's one of those home phones" like it was a foreign concept. Given that DFO is a discount place I found the shoes rather expensive. Clothes and other stuff like kitchenware were at good discounts. Not sure why the shoes were on the expensive side given that most of them are made in the same countries as the clothes and kitchenware. It's not like China is paying workers in shoe manufacturers more money. The middle man is making a killing on shoes.

My team is out of the AFL finals. They had their chance but didn't finish off the other team. But at least they made the finals. Wasn't looking like that earlier in the year. Good to see that the Grand Final will be back where is belongs. I usually watch is irrespective if my team is in it or not. It's a good spectacle.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Crazy week. In Canberra for a few Queens passing events, then Sydney and now Brisbane.
Kind of like the new airport security scanners that they are rolling out in the domestic terminals. No need to take anything out of your bag, they just slice and dice it like a MRI.
Nice warm weather up here in Brisvegas. I must have arrived on no bra Wednesday because it was noticeably loose in the CBD and Valley today and this evening. Perth still needs a week or two to catch up on the temps to match otherwise you'd be popping out a mile. Sydney and Melbourne might be in bras until late October at this rate of forecast.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well it seems we are in a void with the continuing events of The Queen's death. Even when she's dead she's still working as The Queen. Must feel for the family and especially Charlie who hasn't any real time to grieve. One day and he was doing King stuff. At times his feelings have shown and the never ending procession of doing the march behind the coffin must be draining. Now done it twice and again and on the day of the funeral. Burying both parents a year apart must be tough. At least The Queen didn't suffer and her passing was relatively quick. That's the way you want to go. Lingering is not good for anyone.

Lots of countries have been keeping their plans for independence bubbling away just waiting for The Queen to pass. Having those discussions now it's appropriate. I'm not a monarchist and believe we should be a republic but that can wait a little while longer. First order of business has to be the Voice to Parliament. No point having a republic if doesn't include everyone.

Was flicking channels and came across question time. It was interesting so see that none of the LNP were wearing masks but all of the govt's MP were masked up. Was a bit like white hat, black hat. Mr Potato Head must have sent a memo around to make it clear that nobody was to wear masks. Still wearing masks here in Melbourne in some settings. Went to a medical appointment yesterday and it is still mandatory to wear a mask for medical appointments. One old bloke showed up without one then was hastily informed that he must wear a mask. He went on to say he forgot it in the car then when he was given one, he couldn't put it on properly and needed help. So quite obvious he's a no mask person. Masks still mandatory on the PT here even though it's not patrolled like it was in 2020 and last year.

So Poo-tin got a black eye from what he considers inferior people. The mighty Russian military isn't mighty at all. They ran away like young kids. Reminded me of the Afghan army who ran away from the Taliban. Ukraine keeps showing that Russia doesn't have any punch to their military. They are good against unarmed civilians but when faced with a proper military they can't fight. Now Poo-tin is trying to recruit school kids cause he's running out of troops. His demise will take a while but he's already down that path. He can hide in Russia but once his cohort see a weakness, he won't last long after that.

Saw Charlie lose it over a fountain pen leaking even though some of that was due to the death of his mum. I hated fountain pens because they would leak and even when they introduced the plastic ink refills it was still messy. I was in primary school when we transitioned away from fountain pens to ball point pens. Had a desk with the inbuilt ink wells. Nothing romantic about a fountain pen.

Did some shoe shopping earlier in the week. Wanted to get in before the school holidays. Was happy with the end result and saved enough to buy a bottle of bourbon from the Dan Murphy's a few doors down from the shoe shop.

With the public holiday next week it's like the Show Day public holiday is back. We used to get a public holiday for The Show but the LNP govt when in power got rid of it stating it was costly for business. We had Show Day since I was a kid. We looked forward to it. Kids these days haven't got that experience. When Danny Boy won govt he put in place a public holiday for the AFL Grand Final which was hard for the LNP to argue with. So next week it will be a long long weekend here in Melbourne town. Not that it makes any difference to me these days.

Heard a lot of talk about all this rain we were supposed to get the last couple of days and got nothing during the day. Only rained at night for one night. Now I see we are getting rain on the weekend which should of been here yesterday and so far nothing today. Also predicted to have wet stuff all next week but who knows if that will happen.

Just heard that The Fed is retiring after this next match. Technically he isn't the greatest because he has been surpassed on the court by Rafa and the Jackass but he is the people's champion and draws huge crowds whenever he's in the public. He could always play doubles. Imagine he and Rafa as doubles partners. They would sell a lot of tickets.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

It's an overcast day here in Melbourne town and the sky is rather dark for this time of day but it's still on the warm side however rain is coming. Set to be wet till mid next week. Hasn't really been dry since last week. First week of the school holidays and with the Royal Melbourne Show starting on Thursday it's going to get busy on that side of town. Best option is to go on the train since there is a train station right into the show grounds. And with a tram stop just out the front gates, the PT is an excellent option.

Been doing a bit of tidy up of the game consoles. Going thru all the screen shots taken of various games over a number of years. Didn't realize there was so much. Getting ready for the new games coming out before Christmas.

So the NSW govt found a scapegoat for Barrell Boy's job fiasco. Interesting how it was entirely the idea of a public servant to give him the job. Apparently no politician exerted any influence even though it was stated the job was being given to Barrell Boy as a gift for his time in the NSW govt and it was clear that he changed paperwork to ensure he got the job. If this doesn't go to an ICAC it just shows corruption is just an ongoing culture in the NSW govt.

As for the Lib's here in Vic well their leader made a speech in the Vic parliament in which he believes that King Arthur was an ancestor of The Queen. Even kids in primary school know that King Arthur is just a story not based on fact but apparently the Lib's can't tell the difference between fiction and reality. Then again this is the same guy who made story of African gangs roaming the streets of Melbourne. Which came as a total surprise to the people of Melbourne. Even the former LNP Defence Minister "the fixer" ,thought it was a laughable story. The Lib's want to be in charge of the state. They'll probably put the Tooth Fairy in charge of health. Their plan to stop the new underground is again stupid talk given it is so far gone and in the final stages. We have all endured years now of disruption due to the new underground so for that to stop now means we went thru all that crap for nothing.

So another racism scandal in the AFL. Won't say I'm surprised. It's happened across the AFL in different states and just shows footy has a long way to go in its culture toward diversity in sport. The fact that it has now happened in one Melbourne's high profile clubs has stunned people. Hawthorn is one of the big clubs that dominated the AFL for many years so it will come as a shock for their supporters. Have family that are Hawthorn supporters so they must be shocked by the news.

Did the supermarket shopping today due the long long weekend coming up. Still not sure why we are having a national day of mourning tomorrow given the funeral was Monday our time. I'm sure that I'm not the only one confused as to why we are having this public holiday tomorrow but we'll take it. Especially for those gearing up for the AFL Grand Final on Saturday. Just and earlier start to the partying.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Up in Singapore for a bit of work and then the F1 grand prix. School holidays hit and the airline weaknesses have come out again. 3 hours to check in and the subsequent delays. Most people just roll with it but the fuckwits come out to play as well. Should be a licence system to go beyond city limits for some folks.

Enjoying the warmth and currently having breakfast by a pool 40 stories up. Bikini to be swapped reluctantly for serious clothes to go belt a few teams of people into productivity.

 

[darkelf9]

Up in Singapore for a bit of work and then the F1 grand prix. School holidays hit and the airline weaknesses have come out again. 3 hours to check in and the subsequent delays. Most people just roll with it but the fuckwits come out to play as well. Should be a licence system to go beyond city limits for some folks.

Enjoying the warmth and currently having breakfast by a pool 40 stories up. Bikini to be swapped reluctantly for serious clothes to go belt a few teams of people into productivity.

Yes well travelling anywhere at the moment is a test of resilience but especially when you get people who are totally clueless when travelling. It's as if they never left home before and revert to toddler mode.

Well may be keep the bikini on to inspire productivity especially by the blokes.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the rain has finally arrived here in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne town. Given all the forecasting of very heavy rain predicted till mid week , I changed plans for doing stuff outside but yesterday we didn't get much till late afternoon. Managed to get a couple of outdoor tasks done today before the wet stuff has started. Now they reckon tomorrow is only going to be a few showers so nothing like the rainfall predicted, Not sure where it all went but then again I don't think the BOM knows either.

So whilst people are carrying on as if COVID is gone, the reports are that 45 people a day are dying of COVID in Australia. Meanwhile two states have decided to get rid of masks all together as if COVID is over. Been to a number of medical appointments and rules for masks in those environments has not changed. It's still mandatory and if you don't have one they make you leave if you refuse to wear one. And there has been the usual anti-vaxxer fuckwits going off. They will always find something to complain about. We are relatively restriction free these days. This time last year we were still in the second major lockdown here in Melbourne town. Things changed very quickly after we came out of that long lockdown with the promise of no more lockdowns and Danny Boy has kept his word. So whilst people who are dying from COVID are mainly the elderly and those with compromised immune systems of any age, society has moved on and economists deem these people as non-productive so they are thought as expendable by the economy. We are comfortable with that part of society dying so we can have our freedoms and feel outraged when asked to wear a mask. If it was kids that were dying at the daily rate there would be protests against the Feds. It seems the silent Aussies that Mr Potato Head keeps banging on about are those we don't consider worthy of our consideration so long as it isn't a member of our family then they will come on the TV saying how special their family member was but are ok with someone else's family member dying of COVID. There are still people getting around the place who don't believe COVID is real until they get dangerously ill and then expect the health system to look after them which our tax payers money being spent to look after fuckwits. As for long COVID well that is going to take several years before the impact of that will be considered as another chronic condition for the health system to deal with.

So it seems when Optus means Yes the are talking about hackers being given access to customer data. They initially told everyone that it was a hack and they were not at fault, but now it seems one of more of their IT people just let the hackers in. So wouldn't be surprised if their customers take a class action against them. Also don't understand why they are wanting customer driver license and passport details and the store them on the same systems. I've never given those details to any telco. So there is a lot to probe into Optus's processes and the need for such personal data to be kept by any telco. It's not the govt's fault, so trying to put this on the Fed's is just politics by the LNP.

It is laughable that Russian men of conscription age are fleeing Russia in a mass exodus. Seems lot of Russians don't want to die for fearless leader which I'm sure is surprising Poo-tin. Forcing people to fight at the point of a gun doesn't do well for fighting on the battlefield. They will either defect or turn on their commanders in the field. It shows how Poo-tin's grip on power is weakening when Russian troops feel ok to post videos of their crap rifles. The AK 47 is not an accurate weapon. Cheap to make but that's about it. If you see the way they use it in the M.E. they have to be lucky to hit anything their aiming at and they don't even aim. The M.E. mercenaries didn't work out as they can't fight on a military battlefield. It's not their style. All up the Russian military keeps being shown up as a weak military with inferior small arms. They can keep bombing the hell out of places in Ukraine at some point they need a ground force capable of fighting. The only thing Poo-tin has got is chemical and nuclear weapons which if he uses those, that's the excuse other countries need to put an end to this war in Ukraine. Poo-tin has had to make apologies to China and even his Belarus mate is distancing himself for fear of other countries going after him. They all sense a weakness in Poo-tin which is a big issue for a dictator.

Still waiting for the school holidays to end before venturing forth into the wider masses and we can get back to normal pensioner hours. For now quite happy to stay home and do stuff indoors and playing video games. Managed to do some tidy up jobs around the place so that was good. Not high on the priority list but still needed doing at some stage. Saw that my normal single malt scotch is available again although the price has gone up by $50. Makes it around $300 a bottle now. Still have some of the other single malt so no rush to get another bottle.

Discovered a new trick to ensure I don't lose content on my posts. Just refresh after each few lines. Given Lit has a major refresh issue in this current format, refreshing ever couple of minutes is the only way not to lose content posted.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[pershash21]

In Australia the government requires id to get a sim card activated and the telco must keep that data for 6 (I think) years.

 

[missswannie]

In Australia the government requires id to get a sim card activated and the telco must keep that data for 6 (I think) years.

In a practical sense much longer than that on SIM s your apps and browsing data on phones and internet that has to be retained for 6.999 years in case it needs to be checked for various activities by warrant.
Bluetooth handshake data is far more insidious when combined with facial recognition systems and AI deduction.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just finished the mowing out the front. Even though we haven't had any rain for several days and had some nice sunny days, the ground is still damp enough that the grass won't cut properly. It just clumps. So there must still be lots of moisture in the ground and we are set to get a big dump of rain here in Melbourne town to end the week. Haven't seen what the petrol prices are doing this week but wouldn't be surprised if they are up despite what the Fed's saying that prices should not rise for a while. Funny how the petrol companies mentioned that the higher prices would be coming in a few days but when the excise came off it took weeks for the prices to come down. Will see if the Fed's take any action on the petrol companies just gouging customers.

So the ICAC is now the NACC. Let's hope they have "the knack" of rooting out corruption in Canberra. Politicians should be nervous and it just might make them think before making decisions based on personal preference. If any politician makes a decision at their discretion it should be mandatory for them to justify their decisions especially if they over rule a public service process. Not surprisingly the LNP is arguing that the NACC reviews should not be retrospective which means they are shitting themselves about all the stuff they did over the last ten years that we don't know about. The proceedings should be made public and viewed in real time to add an extra level of scrutiny by the public over what is said at these proceedings. Everyone was rather shocked at the way Gladys conducted herself at the public proceedings. Her reactions to questions showed a lot. Especially when she was caught on phone calls trying to hide what her boyfriend was doing. She knew exactly what he was doing but told him on the phone not to talk about it on the phone. That was surprising for someone in her position pretending she didn't know. Like a deer in headlights. So the NACC is a good thing and it will make for some interesting viewing when it gets up and running. We elect these people and we have the right to make them explain to us why they did that they did.

So AGL has made it clear the market doesn't want to continue with coal energy generation. Funny how the LNP is railing against it since they always push the line of letting the market drive the govt decisions. Well the market is telling the govt loud and clear that coal is on the way out in the next decade. Vic will be coal free in the next 12 years. The energy companies are giving people plenty of notice to change skills. Nobody can say they didn't know their jobs were at risk.

So isolation rules are gone at the end of next week which is a political decision and not based on the medical evidence. COVID will increase in the community because people will not stay home when sick with COVID. Those in insecure work will have no choice but to work when sick. Payments should continue for anyone in that situation. As to the cost, well at the other end of the scale the cost to our health system will go up. Anyone waiting for an operation in the public system will just keep waiting given that COVID hospitalisations will go up. We already saw that people were attending parties when they had COVID so people can't be trusted to self determine if they should attend a venue when sick. People go to work with coughs and colds so they aren't going to change their minds if they have COVID. It's now up to private industry to determine public health issues. What could possibly go wrong?

Saw Jeff Kennett at the Hawks best and fairest blaming the victims of racism for speaking out. He hasn't changed. He was arsehole when he was Premier of Vic back in the early 90's. He was the guy who privatized all the utilities here in Vic and those costs went up the very next bills people received. He tried to glorify his time in office with the new entertainment centre near the Yarra River. We called it Jeff's Shed which he hated. Kennett is just an arrogant prick so it isn't surprising he wants to protect the reputation of Hawthorn footy club rather than deal with the issues raised. I would not be surprised if the families of those players have been pressured by the club to shut up. The people at the top of any organization are responsible for the culture of that organization. It is never a "bad apple". Other people in the club would of heard what was going on and they said nothing.

Daylight savings is on again here in Vic which is just annoying. Used to hate it when I was working because you just got used to daylight when getting up for work, then daylight savings hits a couple of days into Oct, and you're back in the dark mornings again. It feels like a second Winter. Daylight savings goes on for far too long and we don't need it. It's a thing we got to prop up retail which was before the 7 day shopping week we have now. That extra hour does fuck all apart from letting people drink more after work.

So OPTUS doesn't seem to want to take responsibility for that breach. It has taken far too long to inform the people impacted. They would be quick to demand payment for a bill but when they have to do something they are dragging their heels. There is no reason for them to hold data of past customers. As for things like passport, Medicare numbers and licenses well again there is no need for private companies to hold that data given govt agencies already know that stuff and store that data for at least 7 yrs. The govt knows a lot about you regardless what you think you're doing to hid it. The only reason for private companies to hold that data is so they can sell it. It's not surprising that people get cold calls and scam text messages since their data has been sold by the companies they gave it to. It should be illegal for any private company to sell your data and once you are no longer a customer is should be destroyed. Govt agencies used to hold data for 20yrs, that's when we only had paper records. The current need to hold data was based on the paper version of documents which used to take up lots of space. But these days digital space is cheap. No need for large warehousing of paper stuff.

Keep hearing about house prices going down. Not sure where that is. Prices are back to where they were before COVID so they have in fact gone up. Sounds like the real estate agents are tell furphy's. I mean they are honest right? Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

First week in a while of being in the same city all week. It has been interesting going around again, but at the same time I am still out of practice. Singapore was good. That place always has its shit together. Some people don't like the integration and everything linked, preferring a bit of grey, but you can't tell me that they haven't got it happening. The focus there was that they had 75 people homeless and out of work, and that was not good enough. The rest of us were going wow, only 75 homeless for whatever reason, and they were all in outrage.

We have had some beach days over here, but it has been a bit windy on a few so its not quite spring/summer by the West's standards. I would really like to get out in the sun. Bloody kids didn't super-shock the pool when we were away. When we get winds off the east, or off the ocean from the north west, it tends to drop top soil or nutrients. Add a bit of warm weather and sunshine and the mustard algae suddenly pops up before you can select summer settings. A couple of kilos of chlorine and a bottle of long life copper based algaecide and it knocks it on the head again but there is still a build up inside the sand filter. We are probably due for a new filter and electrolysis unit but you like to get the most life possible out of them.

We seem to miss out on all the good parties. Police had to come in a quieten one down a dozen streets over. Turned out to be quite the state of undress pool party according to reports. All the neighbours wanted was a few less cars parked on the grass around the place but they got the helicopter spotlight and the Channel 9 drone got some footage. Probably not the right suburbs to be poking around and putting stuff in the media, you never know who's shareholders and political heavy weights might be impacted and start making noise. The footage disappeared. In comparison we were having a quiet bbq out the back.

The airport train line finally opened here. 2 years late. They may need to rethink it as it only starts at 5:30am and 30% of flights leave by 6:30am here, mostly the mining commutes, so not good for those people. Perhaps a 24 hours service as it is a 24 hours airport. The 3,4, and 5am Bali flights are the cheapest to get on, as is the 5am to Sydney, 6am to Dubai, HK and Singapore first flights.

Have to head up to Exmouth and the NW Cape next week so should be able to get into the warmth a bit. Hope you are all having fun.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well the rain has stopped for a while here in Melbourne town. Still windy but there is some sun however the chilly wind kills off any warmth in the sun. Didn't get the heavy stuff but it has been steady rain since Wed morning. Just been watching the pictures of flooding on the Maribyrnong River which has a history of causing floods in that part of Melbourne. Saw the Anglers Tavern go under which is a very old pub down below the road level. It was a working class pub which was very well patronized by the factory workers. Haven't been there in years. If you go down to the lower bar there are pictures of floods in years gone by, so it's well known that the lower part is prone to flooding. It was a working class suburb in the inner west but like most things it has become an expensive place to live. Anyone living on the river there in an expensive home is just nuts. If you live there well you take your chances. They can't expect any sympathy.

Saw that petrol in my area was $1.77 this week. The price hike due to the excise hasn't kicked in yet. Just a game of wait and see when it will go up. Was out earlier in the week to get all the tasks done before the main rain hit. Took advantage of the underground car parks. But the car did get a bit of a wash.

Poo-tin was really pissed about his bridge being hit by that explosion. Didn't knock it totally out of action but sent him a message that he is not untouchable. His toddler dummy spit by launching all those missiles shows how fragile he is about his image. Very much like Rump. The only difference is that Rump wanted to be a dictator but was stopped. Now he is being subpoenaed to attend the Jan 6th hearings. But he won't turn up and there is nothing they can do about it. He will never testify in any forum but will do his normal bullshit rallies. The only way to shut him down is go after his money, as in cut him off from getting any.

The talk about the tax cuts is just a lot of hype given they aren't due for another two years. There are three budgets to come between now and then. The Fed's will find a way to cut it down. The cut-off at $120K makes sense given that's not for a household it's for an individual wage earner. The flattening of the tax that ensures the tax level for those earning $45K to 200K is the same doesn't make sense. A lot of people don't earn even $90K. The tax system advantages only a minority of people in employment. It's a tax system for the rich and doesn't reflect where a vast majority of employee wages reside. Anyone earning the higher wages minimise their tax anyway by having investment properties so they are getting those on lower wages subsidising their life style. We need a fairer tax system. Franking credits need to go as does negative gearing or at least reduce the rebate on investment properties to only a couple of %.

Apparently there is more rain on the way here in Melbourne town but then it should be dry for a few days. Then again it is Melbourne so who knows what the weather is going to be. The weather pattern for the last two weeks has been a dry start to the week then rain for the rest of the week.

Hope you find a dry place if you are in the flood areas.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well the sunny weather has kept going for most of the working week. Those northerly winds resulted in sunny warmish days but cool mornings. Was out earlier and that wind has died down but the sunny stuff is about to come to an end today. The rain forecasted from tomorrow till mid next week here in Melbourne town won't be as bad as last week. Those few streets in Maribyrnong that were flooded shouldn't have much to worry about. Some talk that the new river wall at the back of racecourse pushed the water towards those few homes near the racecourse.

So NSW bitching again about getting less money than some other states. Which is rich considering that they got more money per capita than any other state during pandemic over the last 2 years from Slomo who robbed other states not only of money but also COVID vaccines to give to Gladys. So NSW needs to gets its head out of its arse and get used to the fact they are part of Australia.

Since the weather has been nice this week decided to get my hairs cut at one of the local barbers. I can walk faster now. Also used my beard trimmer in anger and reduced the beard by about half. The beard was getting in the way so it was either putting it in a plat Viking style or chop it off to a more manageable size. The other option was to go on Gardening Australia and work with Costa. Not into man scaping so wasn't going to spend a lot time shaping it. Seen some dudes on Youtube going overboard man scaping their beards. They really need to get a life.

Was out doing the weekly shop and saw that Christmas pudding and mince pies are out already. We haven't even got past Melbourne Cup yet which is two weeks away. So you've got Halloween and Christmas stuff happening at the same time. Still not sure why we are even doing Halloween given it has no relevance to Australia. I figure we have enough skeletons in the country's closet, we don't need to import any.

Well Lizzy is an example of gender not being a guarantee of competence. It should only be about of competence regardless of gender. Her reign as UK PM is only giving the negative side to women in positions of power validity. She is totally incompetent for the job and another example of conservatives only looking inward. It's the style of republic that Little Johnny wanted to impose on us where politicians decide who will run the country. What's happening in the UK is an example that politicians can't be trusted to think about anyone but themselves. It's turning the clock back a few centuries where only the rich were allowed to decide who ran the country. These days the rich try to do that by buying politicians since they only make up a small percentage of the people who vote. The longer Lizzy stays in power the worse the pound will be worth.

Hope the weekend isn't too wet for you.

 

[missswannie]

I do love a good shit storm. The whole Netball Australia firestorm on the back of all the other enlightened souls paying up for their Simon Holmes-a-Court funded elections and upcoming candidate status. Now, a disclosure, I happen to know Gina and her daughter. By their own admission they are not your average cats, but are consistent. Very consistent. Philanthropist is not a description. Calculating is.

As soon as I read that there was a backlash against sponsorship I thought there is going to need a quick backdown and everything under tight control or else it was going to play out the usual way things go when noses get rubbed. Sure enough, the polling started within the senior management of the organisation early in the week. Sponsorship and programs come out of the management attributed performance fund there. It is a very much, you want to do something then kick in with some of your own money too type place. Western Australian netball had benefited from their corporate largess, with the rule being it goes to the players not the management and back office.

Sure enough, when a complete backdown wasn't forthcoming, the usual happened and the deal got pulled entirely. I'm not sure how they got away with begging for 4 months of interim funding. But also true to form, the whole sport got tarred with the same brush, and the WA Netball and West Coast super netball side got their funding thrown out as well in a complete exit. Very consistent, when that lot decides to go for or against something they go the full way. The very early telethon donation on saturday night, which normally sees a few hours of big end of town donations announced in the Sunday night finale, happened to match the amount pulled from WA Netball a day earlier. There is $15 million of sponsorship that no doubt will find a new home in the coming weeks and appropriate announcements to make sure that everyone knows where it came from and who lost it. I thoroughly doubt any suppliers to Hancock will step in if they know what is good for them.

There are no automatic rights as a professional sportsperson or club. If you don't like the sponsors or the club then you refuse to play and exit somehow. Find another club that matches what you can deal with. If you try to go the other way and force the club or sponsors hand then you risk it going badly. Pat Cummins might be big enough to pull of his move against Origin and Alinta. I doubt too many Fremantle Dockers players would be bold enough to take up the call against Woodside in the coming days. Maybe Fyfe, but then they could toss his contract and save a million a season. A quick back of the envelope calculation says that Fremantle members would have to stump up a 56% increase in fees to lose the sponsorship deal and take up the shortfall.

Anyway, popcorn television watching it all.

Hopefully it is drying up a bit in the east. It has been warm here other than today.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just got home from the latest specialist appointment which the second one this month. So won't need to see that one again. Was informed that telehealth is now gone and the only option is either face to face or a zoom call which is going to get interesting for older people who can't work out how to face time anyone without the entire screen being taken up by a pic of their ear. Not sure why telehealth is still not an option given it was a well used service especially for the elderly or those who struggle with transport to medical appointments.

So the UK now has a new PM and a lot being made of his heritage rather than just focusing on his capability. How long he will last is anyone's guess. Charlie hasn't been king for long and he has already met two PM's. As for Bojo well he only bowed out because he couldn't see any gain for him. He only cares about himself, so if there was a chance he could get in again as PM he would of taken it. He simply didn't have the numbers.

Got a letter from my local council that my area is now designated as a double storey location. Obviously a developer has influenced the council with a kick back of some kind. No doubt some council member will have a house they want to build in the area. The way they build double storey houses is to build up to the boundary line so the windows on the ground floor are in darkness during daylight hours. Seen that in my street with the new houses. So having windows on the ground floor along the sides of the house is totally useless. Then people complain about how dark the house is. Really?

Most of the week the rain has been during the wee hours of the morning but as soon as I decided to go out the rain decided to happen during the day. Was out yesterday and today and on both occasions the rain started when I left the house and stopped when I got home. Rain has been heavier today and doesn't look like it will be leaving us for the weekend and will continue again well into next week. So the Melbourne Cup will be a wet one this year and it's looking like the same for Oaks Day so a lot of tipsy wet ladies on that day. Was on the warm side earlier in the week but things have cooled off today.

On the way home travelling thru a couple of suburbs saw that petrol prices are above $2 which is a change from yesterday which was around the $1.80 mark. It went up by about 30c/L in less than a day. With the Melbourne Cup coming up on Tues it wouldn't be a coincidence that the petrol prices have gone up before the long long weekend coming up in Melbourne this weekend. Most people take the Monday off to have a longer weekend. So petrol companies are up to their old tricks again.

Was watching the India/Pakistan T20 and it was very entertaining. Really didn't see how India was going to win that one but Kohli worked his magic again. The Aussies have a must win game against the pomes tomorrow so that should be interesting. The Aussies aren't playing well so they could get rolled by the pomes. This world cup could be India's.

Hope the weekend is good for you and if you're in the east of the country the wet stuff isn't going anywhere. Having said that, just heard the rain coming down again.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it's still a wet day timetable here in Melbourne town. We didn't get the rain they predicted on Monday. Even Melbourne Cup Day was not as bad as predicted so we are still getting heavy rain through the day today. Got some hail in the early hours of the morning. The weekend is looking warm and sunny and next week will be warmer still so a chance for things to dry out in the garden. If it hasn't been raining, it's been very windy since last week. If you put any clothes on the line they could end up in the neighbours yard. Need to do some tree hacking once the weather improves and the wind buggers off. Don't need tree branches in the face.

I guess the Amazon will feel some relief now that Balls-is-narrow has lost the election in Brazil although he is taking a Rump dummy spit and isn't leaving peacefully. Will see if the police and military will back the result of the election or go with Balls-is-narrow. That's one thing with fascists, they use democracy to get elected then try and cancel it to stay in power. Hope the people who voted for Lula aren't expecting too much too soon. The same story is repeating in America and Australia where conservative parties tank the country then blame the new govt for their fuck ups. Given the current state of things in the US where Rump supporters are encouraging violence against elected officials there will be a breaking point for the other party. The attack on Pelosi's husband by a Rump supporter and Republican candidates making fun of the attack shows the amount of hate there is from Rump supporters. They actually want to do harm to politicians on the other side. They want a dictatorship where only their views are voiced and once again shows the democracy in the US is fragile. There is a show down coming and let's not forget there are guns on both sides. The threats from the far right that violence will erupt if Rump goes to jail should be taken seriously given the nut jobs on that side. It's also concerning that members of the FBI and Secret Service are Rump supporters as well as judges. The fact that voting is administered by the respective political parties is a major flaw in their system. They need an independent electoral commission not affiliated with any political party. Yet another flaw in their democracy. Nobody should be surprised if these mid terms ends in violence. And why should we care, well simply because we depend on the US to defend us. We don't have a large enough Defence force to defend our continent. If we don't want American bases here then we need a much larger Defence capability. The safe environment we've enjoyed for the past 50 yrs can all turn to shit quickly. Our island is not a guarantee of safety any more. If anyone in this country believes we don't need a military capable of defending us, you're living in a fairy story. The purpose of the military is not to rescue flood victims and do flood and fire clean up. That's a total waste of tax dollars.

The Spring Racing Carnival for this week is not over. Oaks Day is happening on Thursday for all the ladies which is also predicted to be wet. Given the forecasts haven't been accurate for the amount of rain anything could happen. The final racing will be on Sat which is supposed to be the best day. So lots more people will heading to the races whilst there are people still dealing with the flooding near the racecourse. It's a contrast of society where on one side of the river people are partying whilst on the other side people's entire lives have been shattered. No coverage of that during the live broadcasts. It's as if that other side doesn't exist. I doubt anyone going to the racing is even looking on the side of the river.

Since I couldn't get out in the garden this past week, have been doing some spring cleaning of the PC hard drives. Managed to recover about 30GB of space. As times goes on I'll get rid of more stuff. Waiting for the warmer weather to do some small painting tasks but most of the focus will be in the garden this Summer.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. It's tad chilly in Melbourne town today.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Another Remembrance Day has arrived and whilst it is good to remember, the cost of the new War Memorial update would leave younger people and those doing it tough rather annoyed especially since this reno comes soon after the last reno. Didn't see any poppies on sale at the usual spots, so didn't get one this year.

It seems that the Medibank hackers are Russians, so Poo-tin must be desperate for money. If isn't the Russians, it's the Chinese govt hacking us. It's not a bloke sitting in this basement doing these hacks, they are govt sponsored hacks by the Russian and Chinese govts. The real discussion has to now be why private companies need to store customer data long term. Need better rules around the need for companies to keep customer data long term and also keeping sensitive data years after customers have left. We need the ability to sue companies that don't safeguard our data and also prosecute companies that don't keep customer safe. Even when you buy a pair of shoes or a video game, they want your personal data. The real reason is why apart from selling it on.

The red wave in the US election turned into a bloody nose for Rump. His power over Republicans seems to be on the downturn. A lot of the people he personally chose lost. Which shows he is a loser once again. His big mouth female contender is having her arse handed to her. Have to laugh when they don't concede, as if that makes a difference. Rumps base may end up having to crawl back in their respective holes at the next election. They'll have to put their white hoods back in the closet.

Was out hacking stuff in the front garden earlier in the week when it was hot. Things have cooled off today. Have had a taste of Summer with a few high temp days and a warm night. Had to break out the shorts this week. Might be back in trakkie daks by the weekend.

Got a new video game mid week. Long anticipation for this one. A much bigger game than the previous one in the series. This one takes up over 100GB. A 1 TB hard drive on these game consoles isn't enough given the size of the new games especially the open world games. Anyway looking forward to see where this new game goes. It's already kicked my but once. A couple of more games on the list to get before the end of the year. No news on the next Elder Scrolls. Saw something suggesting it won't be out till the end of the decade. Not sure fans can wait that long.

Newscorp are working for the Libs again in the upcoming Vic elections. The two latest shots at Danny Boy are old news. Seems someone from Newscorp got to the kid who was involved with that accident. It was ten years ago so why is he only now speaking up. As for the story of the steps, well that is just another reason why journalists are now put in the same group as used car salesmen and real estate agents. A lot of our newspapers are now on the right of politics and essentially work for the Libs. I just wish that they are honest with the public when they print a story as to which side of politics they work for.

With voting happening in a couple of weeks, will be looking for early voting areas. Given COVID is running amuck again, don't fancy standing in line with lots of people. COVID numbers are up again and Sydney has a fourth wave happening. If a new wave of COVID was going to happen anywhere in the country, it will always be Sydney. It's history repeating itself and it seems they never learn. No doubt with Christmas coming up, the COVID cases will spread to Melbourne. Hospitalizations here in Melbourne are rather low, but will change with this next COVID surge coming down from Sydney. Not looking forward to wearing masks during Summer if it comes to that.

More rain coming our way this weekend to cool things off more. Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Traveling a bit once again. The passport has thrown its dust off well and truly.

Quite sad listening to some of the testimony with the Robodebt Royal Commission. There certainly has been a dearth of management and decision making within the public service. Legal opinion ignored, not flagging doubts, not reporting differences in structure. You'd hope some of these folks are within the PS still and not out there in the wild handling real people's money... You've never seen mining resource inferred reserves and estimations of bringing them online, some of these folks obviously went to the same school of maths. Of course that causes a whole industry of investor analysts and investigators that pull it apart and refute it after the mums and dads have already piled in. That's probably the function missing from the PS.

Have to go to a funeral for the mum of a friend next week. A little bit delayed as they requested an autopsy which currently has a waiting period of 17 business days. The sudden collapse in the shower, delay in finding her by an hour or more, unable to be revived turned out to be residual blood clots in the body 3 months after a covid infection that got loose and got to the wrong places. Another thing to keep an eye on down the track. Ok for the Novids, but worthy of thought for those that have had it. The new wave looks like a bit of a kick, judging from overseas press reports. I think I will keep aiming to remain a Novid.

I had better get cracking with Christmas shopping. The month has started to fly by and I don't think I will have the luxury of an easy run up to the day this year. It just has that feel to it. Maybe a few things to pick up on the next trips but I wouldn't want to rely on it.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

So the cruise ships are back and they have resumed where they left off with COVID running a muck on a ship. With the lacks rules around isolation no doubt NSW Health will let all those 800 infected people get on planes and take COVID to all parts of the country. COVID hasn't gone anywhere and just needs to rely on human behaviour to keep spreading. With Christmas coming up there'll be an extra COVID present for those who believe COVID is not an issue. Japan is opening up to cruise ships now so we can export more than just gas. People knew they had COVID before they boarded that ship but they still went given that all the tourist companies don't refund tickets if you have COVID before you travel. Travel Insurance companies don't cover COVID either. Just one more hazard to negotiate if you travel now.

The weather this week in Melbourne town is still wet but unlike last week where the wind and rain was coming from the north so it warm and wet to now being cold and wet since the winds are coming from the south. Total contrast to last week where we were in high 20's to back to Winter temps with it not getting much above 14 during the day. Had to have the heater on last night. Haven't had a need to use it for a few weeks. It's sunny at the moment but there isn't any strength in the sun. Expecting a warmer day on Friday then the next round of heavy rain on the way for the weekend and into next week. It certainly has been a rather wet Spring. Waiting for the weather get better so I can do more tasks outside.

So there has been lots of rooting just not in western countries. We are now officially up to 8 billion people on this planet we keep fucking up. The real question is can we keep feeding everyone rather than just the rich countries. Food security will be an even bigger problem and the richer countries will continue to be an attractive proposition for people from those countries that don't have enough. We have gone back to the middle ages where the peasants lived outside the walls of the castle. While those inside the castle feasted, those outside tried to get in to live.

Just heard that Rump is running for President again which is nothing but an attempt to stay out of jail. He is hoping that by running he can't be convicted of anything. The latest election results showed his power over the Republican party is a lot less. A majority of his captain's picks lost. His biggest supporter got a reality check and has been silent since her loss. Now he has DeSantis going against him and seems a strong challenger, then there is Pence who has hinted he might run which the bible thumpers will love. The Republicans might just gain some balls in the next election and kick Rump out. No matter who the Republicans pick it will be someone with extreme views. They can only put up candidates who look to divide people because they can only come to power if they can demonise a part of society. It's a tactic that works with Republican supporters which is why they attract so many nut jobs. Politics has become a divisive mechanism which is why young people have lost hope in politicians.

Been looking at early voting places and there are only two in my electorate which is less than last time. None of which are in my suburb so I get to explore other parts of suburbs in the electorate. Will be masking up. Noticed that all the volunteers at the voting booths are wearing masks. Not sure if it's mandatory to wear masks in these circumstances. Haven't read anything on the website about it. So off to vote tomorrow then grocery shopping.

The new video game has thrown up some surprises and like the last one in the series, it has enough challenges even at the lower levels. It doesn't let up from the opening scene. Curious to see where it goes and if it ends with the hint of another game in the series. Either way it's a keeper. Might have to use an extra hard drive if they keep making games for the PS4.

Danny Boy is making a bid to bring back the old SEC here in Vic which will be govt run. That's turning the clock back 30yrs. It was 1993 when our utility companies were privatized under Jeff Kennett and the Libs. Jeff said at the time it was going to make utility bills cheaper which wasn't true and bills jumped by nearly $100 on the very next bill. The reason politicians keep saying that it's cheaper to privatize things is that govts only count the cost of wages not the the total cost of the service. What is clear every time is that privatizing a service costs tax payer more in the cost of the service. So it's false to claim it will cheaper. The only thing that is cheaper is that govts don't pay the wages of workers. What they never cost is the service. It's considered free whilst it's in govt hands. So when anyone says it's cheaper to privatize, they aren't telling you the full story.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Did the early voting at a new place. There were a few people flowing thru but the volunteers from the respective parties outnumbered the voters. The party volunteer from the Freedom Party was rather aggressive telling me the candidate was going ensure the cops arrest Danny Boy and throw him jail, which is quite ironic given the name of the party is the Freedom Party. He obviously had too much red cordial that morning. Getting in my face he then asked for the flyer back. I'm very used to dealing with aggressive people. Someone else might have decked him. The Libs are backing other candidates that are anti-gay, anti-indigenous rights, racists and one candidate who stated Danny Boy should be hanged. So once again the far right are looking to divide people. The promise of $2 public transport fares is so ridiculous you wouldn't think anyone would believe that can happen. PT doesn't make money regardless of whether it is in private or public hands. If private industry was allowed to manage PT like they do the gas industry, nobody could afford to travel on the PT. Newscorp is reporting that the reason people are voting early is because people are pissed of with Danny Boy which isn't the reason people are voting early. Most people just want to get it over with plus the chance of catching COVID on voting day would be another reason. It's on the cards that Labor will lose seats but it won't be enough for Danny Boy to lose govt. At the last election Labor increased its seats so has a large majority.

Been watching some of The World Cup. Good that they are repeating matches during the day. Not much of a soccer fan so am more interested in the finals. If QATAR thought the soccer would take focus away from the issues in QATAR, they have miscalculated. The fact that they have FIFA in their pocket shows how corrupt FIFA is. That speech from the FIFA President was rather abhorrent. Another example that money talks. Whilst the head of FIFA has changed, their culture has not. It needs a gutting and teams from the high profile countries need to stop participating in future world cups till FIFA cleans out their current culture. Just protesting but continuing to participate will not make a difference. FIFA threatening players with yellow cards and countries with the loss of points for showing their support for human rights is a new low. It's what dictators do not sporting bodies.

So Rupert has turned his back on Rump. Rupert only backs winners and Rump is now not a winner. Even his rich backers from the last campaign have indicated their money is not going to Rump. His two favourite kids have walked away from his campaign. Even other right wing TV presenters have now publicly indicated Rump is yesterday's news. It must be doing his head in. He'll have to buy bigger dummies to spit out. It's a totally different presidential race this time around.

Put the car in for a service today and then putting myself in for a service tomorrow. What is becoming obvious is that the medical system is geared towards families. All the rules around post care are based on families. Given that more and more people are living on their own, the medical system hasn't caught up. They don't want you in the hospital. You're on your own post procedure. They are only obligated to look after you if there is an illness. There is a mis-match between doctors telling you about participating in preventive procedures and the medical system that will only take care of if you have the illness these preventive checks are supposed to eliminate. It needs to be one or the other. Don't tell people to get tested if you aren't willing to look after them post procedure. There is also no way that your partner can look after you as they do in hospital unless they are a nurse. What they really don't say is that they only want someone to call an ambulance if you need one. It's got fuck all do with post care.

Hope the weekend is good for you. The weather here in Melbourne for election day is predicted to be warm and sunny. Whilst the rain has stopped and the sun is kinda out, it's still on the chilly side at the moment.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

The weather is still on the cool side in the mornings. Had one warm day on Sat but the rain quickly followed. Still a bit wet yesterday and the wind was gusty again. That heavy wind continues to be a feature of the weather. Expecting the rest of the week to be dry then warming up again on the weekend and then yep more rain. Hoping to get out in the garden tomorrow to hack more stuff.

Had to catch a taxi in recent days to and from doing medical stuff. Masks are now dependent on the taxi driver. One was wearing one and the other didn't need me to wear one. Also got on the bus last week and the driver wasn't wearing a mask. So it seems PT mask wearing is now optional. Haven't kept up with the ever changing mask wearing rules. Need to go to the CBD later next month so will see what happens then. Still need masks in places like hospitals and all medical appointments. Hospitals now will not let you in without an N95. The standard masks are not acceptable. They do provide with one and there are still staff on the door to make sure everyone complies.

So Danny Boy not only won but smashed the Libs once again. And once again Guy has resigned, but he will be back. Libs have a short memory plus they are desperate. Looking like Danny Boy will keep the same majority which is surprising. Really thought Labor would have their majority reduced by at least 8. They lost a few but gained a few so it kinda balanced out. Labor took at least one safe Lib seat on the coast. The media coverage was again totally wrong as it was with the Fed election. Shows that the media is very right wing. The only people you saw on the TV were angry voters which was not an accident. The other myth continually put out by the media was early voters were angry at Danny Boy. The other lie was that postal and early voting would favour the Libs when in fact 60% of postal voting favoured Labor. The worst offender was the Herald Sun. People keep mistrusting reporters for this very reason. Back when I was a kid they used to be two different working class newspapers, now they are just a right wing mag supporting the far right of the Libs. The Age was mainly read by white collar workers. It was the place you looked for buying a house and death notices. Only old people read newspapers now and most of them are white and most of them vote Liberal.

The anger towards Danny Boy was mainly in the west where a high casual workforce live. People in regional Vic loved Danny Boy because throughout the last two years they have lived a relatively normal life. He kept the virus out of regional Vic. I have family in regional Vic and whilst I was in lock down to only travel 5km from my home, they were carrying on life as normal with no restrictions and that continued for most of the last two years. The only time there was an issue was when rich white people with a holiday home in regional Vic escaped the "ring of steel" and took the virus with them and their families. These are people who only cared about themselves and if they infected an entire community, they couldn't give a shit. Fucking entitled arseholes. If you have enough money to have a holiday home, then you are rich. The relativity being there are people who can barely afford to pay their rent and the working poor keeps increasing.

The various lock downs was very difficult for anyone on casual or part-time work which now makes up over 50% of the workforce. If people are not trying to gain permanent employment then they are at the mercy of the winds of the day. It's like going OS without travel insurance. You bought the ticket. In some industries casual work is all you can get but that's a result of weak unions and weak workers' rights. Not sure why all the anger was directed at Danny Boy given it was Slomo who refused to give casuals any money at the first lock down. The Vic govt had to go it alone and increase the debt to give payments to people impacted by the lock down. It could never replace the income people were getting especially all the cash payments for work which are hidden from the tax man. It wasn't until Sydney went into lock down rules did Vic get any money. Then again here in Vic people got less than they did in Sydney. Gladys got what ever she wanted no questions asked. Payments to people in Vic were far less. It wasn't until Slomo saw all the those people lining up at Centerlink offices here in Melbourne did the Libs finally come to the party. Not that they liked Danny Boy but because Libs saw all those people are actually voters. Victorians didn't forget how badly we were treated by the Libs so there was a lot of anger at the Fed Lib govt. Danny Boy in now a legend in the political world. Given his big majority he could win again in 4yrs. With Danny Boy's third win he is better than Little Johnny who is continually put forward as the most successful politician in history, well now Danny Boy is better than him and is the only state premier who has won three consecutive terms in office. The Libs refuse to read the room. The only state govt that is still Lib is NSW which shows the voting public has rejected what the Libs are selling. If they don't stop courting the far right and the extremist groups including the extreme church groups, they will continue to lose elections. The younger generation will not put up with political parties that are not inclusive.

Had to laugh at the Libs complaining they will have to work on Sat. Really? WTF! Firstly the Libs were complaining that there weren't enough sitting days, now they are complaining they have to work on Sat because they shut down Parliament early in the year when they were in govt. Now the Nat's are backing mining companies by not supporting The Voice to Parliament. Suppose there are more indigenous sacred sites they want to blow up. This will only bring out the crazies again and the fascists will be celebrating this on social media. The Nat's might as well put in their order for the white hoods as early Christmas presents.

Have finished the latest God of War game and was surprised that there is an epilogue game as well. I'm sure there will be more games in the series in the future. Now that Loki has split from his father, there is a spin off in the future plus Kratos and Freya are now fighting buddies so that could go somewhere. Next game to buy is Collisto Protocol which is a follow on from the Dead Space series. So lots of stuff to scare the crap out of you and as usual everything wants to eat you and chomp on your bones. Should be fun if you don't mind horror and lots of blood and gore. Was also surprised that God of War had elements that had links to Horizon Forbidden West and vice versa. It's unusual for two different game studios to reference each other's games as part of the lore.

Still waiting for the weather to warm up to do a couple of small painting tasks. Still too cold in the mornings. A couple of more medical appointments to end the year. Given a lot of blood this year to blood tests. Luckily needles don't scare me. Have to do another medical for the license as well. Comes up every five years. Had several cancer tests this year for different cancers so they are now an ongoing thing into the future. Not stopping me moving down the coast next year.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Watched the first test which I only found out about by channel surfing. Most of the cricket now is on pay TV so the only way to know when things start is thru the internet. I'm not glued to my mobile like most people. The don't really advertise it on TV these days, it's up to you to find out. The Aussies looked in form in the first test. The Windies are not the team they were but did show some fight. Just watching the second test although not sure why it's only a 2 game series. The South Africans are the main game. Any time they come up against Warner and Smith the memories of what happened in South Africa in that infamous test comes up. All the focus has been on what the three Aussies did but no attention has been given to what some of the South African players did which lead up to the Sandpaper Gate incident. The South African press also had a role in going after Warner's wife. They not only made sexist comments about his wife, they were shown laughing about it as part of the live cricket coverage. Commentators on the broadcaster were also making sexist comments about Warner's wife and circulating pics taken by her ex. Yet none of what the South African players and the press did has had as much coverage. So not surprised that Warner retaliated, but also he hasn't come clean as to his role in what happened on the field. Smith should of shown more leadership and just went along with it. His career has paid the price.

The weather in Melbourne has been all over the place. It went from days in the low 20's to mid 30's in a day then it went down to Winter type conditions and here we are in early Dec and it's back to cold wet days. Was wet at the start of the week then had one sunny day and in the early hours of this morning it just bucketed down had enough to wake you up and that heavy wind was back. Didn't stop raining till about 10 am. Now the sun is out but the wind is from the south so it's chilly. We're getting a couple of dry days then rain again on Sunday till mid next week. The pattern of rain to start the week has been going on for about a month now. With Christmas being on a Sunday, it's more than likely it will be a wet Christmas.

Was not impressed with the new video game. I only lasted a couple of days before I put it away. Callisto Protocol promised much but it's a total waste of money. Was reported to be like the Dead Space series but it's a step backwards. It's too slow and the basic character mechanisms are the worst in any game I've played over several decades and I've been playing video games going back to the PS One days. Even played a few PC games. I've never played a game where you have to purchase basic fighting mechanics like blocking. The main character also seems to be incapable of basic motor functions like running or even walking properly. He just plods along like he's walking in quick sand, meanwhile all the things that want to kill you are moving in quick speed. The stealth kills are totally useless as you can't move fast enough to make the move. I've played survival games before but this one just sucks big time. So traded it in for the previous Horizon game which was a one for one swap. Started it yesterday and it looks good. Plays a bit like the Horizon Forbidden West game but you can tell it isn't as smooth. But enjoyable. Also bought the first season of Halo mainly out of curiosity. Played the games so interested to see how that translates on screen.

One medical appointment down this month and two to go. Nothing after that till Q2 of next year. Nothing planned for next week so hopefully can get more done in the garden depending on when the wet stuff stops. Seems that every time I plan to get out in the garden, it rains. Not sure what Jan will bring. Hopefully some consistent sunny days. The trains and roads now are still impacted by the big rail project. The new city train stations should be done by next year. I think everyone is hoping 2023 will be better than this year. I'm certainly hoping for a less hectic year and I get more time to do the things I need to rather than spending most of it doing things for others. Has been a crazy medical year with lots of medical stuff to do. That needs to calm down next year.

Completed all the Christmas cards on the weekend while watching the cricket. Don't put out as many these days as I used to. I'm sure that they will die out in the next decade as more people are using the internet. Emails are also becoming rare as they are mainly the arena of business communication. The annoy part of that is that email apps are not retrospective so they don't work on newer OS's. I've got emails I can't read from previous email software because the older ones don't work on upgraded OS's. And who is exporting emails to CSV files on a regular basis.

Seen more people complaining about the rip off in air line tickets. The air lines just keep ripping people off and just expect their customers to be loyal to them. QANTAS must have lost a number of their Frequent Flyer members. The latest issue being those baggage handlers who are contractors hired under the new contracts. Not the first time I've seen baggage handlers abusing luggage. Don't sit in airport lounge with a view to the tarmac. You're more than likely to witness luggage being thrown around. Either way the airlines are not keeping faith with their customers. They just believe it doesn't matter what they do, people will fly with them.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

London is cold. Says every Aussie off the plane. At least it is blue skies and cold, very Japan like for this time. Meetings in person for the first time in a few years so everything is taking a bit longer with all the horse-trading over lunches and dinners prior to the actual on-the-minutes meetings.
They all seem to want to know about new federal EPA type agency arrangements announced this week in Canberra. I don't share the concerns as if you are designing projects to be minimal compliant and ask for a few leniancies then you are only designing a project with costly problems down the road.
Pressure is on to find copper and lantheum projects. Control circuits on renewable such as solar, batteries, upgraded power lines to handle more two way surges of power, etc is chewing up copper supply almost as fast as lithium. Lantheum is the new gold as next generation automotive EVs will change to F- ion batteries which need a lantheum anode. Toyota and Panasonic have a test bed which is getting 1000km plus to a charge, plus have a charge discharge cycle life 10 times that of lithium. I wouldn't be plugging a lithium powered EV in every day unless you are budgeting for a $20k battery replacement every 2-3 years... Still, just saying the words lithium deposit is enough to send your share price through the roof.

I had meeting in Israel prior to flying here, first time there since 2014. I thought it was 2016 but the security guy who randomly stops people in the airport said his ear piece said 2014 so there it was. A spare day on Sunday was spent getting the cooks tour of Jerusalem, clearly with a bit of history. Temple mounts, mosques, Western wall, Christian churches within churches, Crusader castles, a few old market streets. Something for everyone even if just to people watch those with far stronger attraction than me.
Tokyo next stop tomorrow then home midweek and get stuck into Xmas preps.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Gas companies are shitting themselves and now have resorted to essentially blackmail by stating that the govt's announcement will drive investment from the Australia and the latest changes is like living in the Soviet Union. They are spending over $20 million in ads and lobbying the Lib's to oppose the new price caps, which by the way is only on the daily price of gas. None of the huge profits these gas companies are making from their existing OS gas contracts are impacted by these price caps. Gas companies are now in the same frame as the financial industry was a few years ago. It was the Lib's that allowed the gas companies a free hand over the last 10 yrs so not surprising that they are now backing gas companies which are making profits based on the war in Ukraine. They are making huge profits based on other people's misery, but that never stopped a private company before. Profits over people's lives.

People should be pissed off that Aussie gas is being sold to Aussies at a higher price than what the same gas companies charge OS countries. Whilst it is the basic culture of private industry to make a profit which everyone can accept, but there is a big difference between making a profit and basic greed. It doesn't matter which large corporates you look at, ethics doesn't appear in their mantra. It's rather disgusting that gas companies are crying poor given they have had it very good for over a decade without any restraints and their executives have been getting massive bonuses worth millions above their million dollar salaries whilst at the same time more people are deciding whether to turn on the heater or to eat. Here in Melbourne, Winter weather has continued so use of the heater has continued for over 5 months for some people, especially the elderly. So no sympathy for gas companies.

Didn't watch much of Slomo's appearance at the Royal Commission into Robodebt. Only saw what was on the 24hr ABC news channel. What little I did see showed Slomo trying to control proceedings and avoiding questions by just rambling. His smirk came back when answering questions and was implying that his experience as a Minister was above anything the Royal Commission could say. His narcissism was on show and therefore he was never going to admit to anything. He continually blamed the public servants. The rewrite of the advice to show that Robodebt was ok shows that someone bullied the public servants to change the advice. We still don't know who came up with the idea to allow an algorithm to make human decisions without any counter check. The fact that public servants in Canberra knew the process was illegal shows that politicians have undue influence over public service processes which are supposed to be politically neutral.

Not sure about moving to only electric gas hot water systems. Gas hot water systems have always been superior basically because electric hot water systems suck. Was using an electric hot water system in a rental place many years ago and it was crap. So if we are going to move away from gas hot water systems for e.g. for showers, then the electric systems need to be just as good as the gas systems.

Watched some of the soccer World Cup. Will watch the final on Monday morning but have a medical appointment in the afternoon so hopefully the game is over in normal time. Given that Messi is firing, Argentina has an outside chance but France has a number of players who can score so France would go in as favourites. Don't have a preference, just looking forward to a good game if I'm going to stay up to watch it.

The weather here in Melbourne town is still on the cool side. The one or two showers predicted yesterday was actually rain for the entire morning and lunch time period. If it wasn't heavy rain it was heavy to light drizzle. Lots of people were out and about yesterday and we all got wet. The weather forecast was wrong again. Today is the first dry day we've had all week. Still Winter type temps though. Expecting to warm up on Monday and for a change it's predicted to by dry which is good as I need to travel into the CBD. The PT is still being impacted by all the rail and road works for the rail upgrade project which has been going on for several years. So I'll have take a couple of different modes of transport to get to my appointment, just means the trip will take longer.

Went Christmas shopping this week and again there wasn't much to choose from at the shopping centre. None of the major shops have much Christmas stuff. Target had only one stand with Christmas stuff. Big W was a little better, but the normal Christmas chocs weren't around. Couldn't find any selection of shortbreads or those butter cookies and no booze chocolate. Had to go to a speciality choc shop to find that stuff which was on the expensive side.

Hope the weekend is good for you. More medical stuff for me next week. Looking forward to the Boxing Day test and a quiet Christmas day.