kae's bloodnut blog

Movies - Horrible Bosses, The Help, All Good Things

2012-02-12T14:15:00.000+10:00

Horrible Bosses

Don't waste your time on this pathetic dross.

The Help

An interesting movie about a book written from the points of view of black maids in the south. It touches on the segregation laws of the time and tells of the mistreatment of the black maids and nannys, many of whom were the sole care givers for white children growing up in these times. We know that many families in the UK had servants and we know that their lives were not idyllic in many situations.Of course, if you look the book up on wiki there's a paragraph about someone complaining about the book implying bad things about absent black fathers and so on.

As the author was raised in Jackson, where the book is set, and there is some of her in the main character, Skeeter who is the book's author, I suspect that much of the book is drawn from real events. In my quick research I can't see anything to denote that the book was based on fact, I suspect that it was based on Kathryn Stockett's experiences and those of her contacts.

All Good Things

A sad movie, a work of fiction based on some facts. Read a review of the movie and then this Robert Durst, whose wife disappeared in 1982 ...

While doing a little on line research for this post I found this site. If you're interested in murder mysteries you might like to read about some true life ones!

A whole new world

2012-02-10T23:48:00.000+10:00

Today I activated my pre-paid wireless WiFi doohickie.

It's amazing! So fast!

I called Telstra to enquire.what kind of deal I could get for wireless broadband, it's only $30/month for something like 4G. They talked about broadband via copper and I told them that it would be pointless as I'm 7ks by wire from the local exchange.

The helpful lady at Telstra suggested I use the doohickie first and if it was OK then I should think about post paid... It's really hard for them to figure out whether it's available where you are, too. Apparently it's via the mobile towers and there's one withint 10ks of me.

So, here it is. I'll check it out over the weekend and see how the uploads to this blog go, I'll try to write more about Norfolk Island and put some more photos up.

So, works still flat out and I'm stressed and forgetting everything (forgot the AGM for the rissole tonight!).

And the first date I can go to the dentist in Sydney (Fri and Sat appointment) is 20 & 21 April.

I received my sleep study paperwork today. Guess what the date is? 21 April.

I checked some airfares tonight. A hundred bucks each way, but the times don't suit for leaving, it will take me almost 2 hours to get to Gold Coast airport. And I have to be there half an hour prior to the boarding I think.

Just shoot me.

Deprived childhood

2012-02-08T17:29:00.000+10:00

Slipper never got to the dress-ups basket first.

redbacks and mosquitoes

2012-02-07T21:03:00.000+10:00

A redback (almost) on the toilet seat....

Mozzies all over the place because of the rain.

Work - I'm as busy as a one-legged man in an arse kicking competition.

The redback, an immature one without its proper markings which had taken up residence in the ensuite, has been despatched. I hope there aren't any more, although I suspect that there may be.

The mozzies are, mostly, outside. But they've managed to give me a few irritatingly itchy bites.

Work - can't see any relief in that department for some time.

*sigh*

I'll try to give you more about Norfolk Island and Sydney on the weekend.

Toad Soup

2012-02-04T19:18:00.002+10:00

A dentist visit on 31st January was the last before I travelled home on Wednesday 1st. I left Sydney at about 6:30am daylight saving time and, even gaining an hour, I didn't arrive home until 6:30 EST. I stopped several times for water and loo breaks, and stopped at Glen Innes to check out The Strawberry Patch and get some food, and before I got home I remembered to stop and buy milk and some fresh fruit.

It rained all the way to Glen Innes, there were some showers betwen Glen Innes and Tenterfield, and it wasn't raining along the Granite Belt until I got to Stanthorpe. No rain at Warwick, and clear skies approaching th Cunningham Highway turnoff, though there was rain all around. It would have made a spectacular photo, but there was nowhere to stop and take the photo!

I arrived home on Wednesday evening to discover that I'd forgotten to empty the dogs' water bucket out.... and there was a well decomposed toad in Floyd's water bucket - ick.

My neighbour had recently mowed Meggie's yard so it was nice and neat for her. The rest of the grass has grown with all the rain, apparently almost non-stop since I went to Sydney! I'll have to get out there with the roundup and hit those bits I missed last time I rounded up the green panic. But I'll have to be sure that it won't rain and wash it away. The grass (?) beside the carport has turned into a weed area and I'll need to hit that with some weed 'n feed, when it's not going to rain for a few hours.

I have to do some web-upload stuff for the rissole I do the webstuff for and it's going to be interesting because my e key is not working properly. Somtimes I'll just be typing and the e will not type, when I hit it again I'll get two of them from one key stroke, don't ask me why! Touch wood, it's behaving at the moment. But probably not for long, though as long as I don't use that letter I'll be safe... arrgh.

I will continue with the Norfolk Island travelogue soon, there's more to show you and tell you about.

Lunch with MDFD today where I gave her the goodies I bought for her on NI and in Sydney (an $80 coat for $15!), I think she was pleased. We also went to the markets and I found a staghorn for my sistr in law, and one for me, as well as a nice "money tree" for the office.

Back to work on Monday and I'm dreading it, so much to do before the start of semester - and the timetabling isn't completely sorted yet, so I'm going to be flat out! And there's the preparation for semester two.... it never ends!

After three weeks away I came home to a bundle of bills, rates, rego, phone and electricity - though the electricity and phone are credits, and there's a few hundred already paid off thee rates... truly, it never ends, does it!

Floyd is skinny, I suspect he hasn't been eating properly while I've been away. If he was sharing with Meg he'd have had not much food at all because she's a guts. When I put food out for him he started eating it straight away, which is most unlike him because he's usually more interested in what I'm doing than eating if I'm out there with him. I don't think he's talking to me, either. He's coming around, though.

*sigh*

Oh, I forgot to tell you. The NSW Government seems to have a new policy on road repair. All along the badly damaged New England Highway are those light signs on trailers which say "Caution, rain damaged pavement". Wonder when they'll get around to fixing them - they've already run out of the mobile signs and in many places there are the usual yellow metal temporary sign boards, and in many others there are no signs at all and the potholes and chunks out of the road are really dangerous. Something else the Federal ALP needs to look at funding, highway maintenance and repair - yeah, good luck with that!

Something else, Tamworth was very wet and I wondered if it would flood there, and I noticed a lot of the rivers and creeks seemed to be full and I wondered whether they'd flood with more rain on the way. It seems that Tenterfield has flooded, so I think I came home in the nick of time!

Australians all, let us rejoice!

2012-01-26T08:33:00.000+10:00

Australians all, let us rejoice
For we are young and free
With golden soil and wealth for toil
Our home is girt by sea.

Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty, rich and rare
On history's page at every stage
Advance Australia fair!

MMm. That's a little stuffy for Australia day.

Try this:

Or this:

Or this:

Have a great day, Australians all - celebrate what we have!

Away up the coast for a day

2012-01-24T18:39:00.000+10:00

I'm off up the coast tomorrow to visit a friend and have a lazy day.

There's still from Tuesday to Saturday to fill in on the holiday and more photos to show.

I'll just have to write some more.

I have another dentist's appointment on Tuesday, so I'll be leaving for home on Wednesday next - I hope I can get through the floods!

Norfolk Island January 2012 - Monday 16

2012-01-24T18:36:00.001+10:00

Monday

It rained most of the night and this morning it's still raining and wet - memories of the cyclone off New Caledonia when MDFD and I visited there five years ago. The bed is mooshy so I had trouble sleeping. Mum had trouble sleeping, too.

We have a tour this afternoon, an Orientation Tour. Should be interesting. The airline magazine, yourworldofnorfolk.com.au is packed with informatio, so much in there with history and advertisements for shops and eateries, as well as the Norfolk Island Country Music Festival, which is held from 20-27 May 2012.

Our half day orientation tour was excellent. It gave us information on the areas and how the Island was settled. We were taken to Kingston, which was where the penal colony was founded. There are many buildings there which are very interesting. The orientation was mainly from the bus as the weather wasn't the best, windy and showery. We covered all the island (just about!), so it's all a bit of a blur! I did buy Lisle's, the guide, dvd of the tour, so I can refresh my memory later, when I have a dvd player about (I'm using my Acer mini tablet thing which doesn't have a disc drive in it).

First port of call was Kingston township, where the old penal colony was set up (you wanna know dates please lookemup, I can't remember them!) I took a few photos here, but we didn't get out of the bus much and it was very windy so photos were few - it was also not conducive to taking photos as we were in the bus most of the time and had a running commentary on where we were and the historical significance of each area and/or what role it played in the current scheme of things.

2137 The Salt House - this is where the original penal colony evaporated sea water by boiling it off and collected the salt. This was the main method of preserving meat, particularly for the prisoners.

Near the Salt House are lime pits where the limestone was heated to produce a substance they used for render and mortar.

2139 and 2138 and 2140 You can look back from the point near the Salt House and see Kingston pier, the original military buildings, and the main prison buildings across Emily and Slaughter Bays.

2141 From the point near the Salt House you are close to Philip and Nepean Islands. Nepean is the smaller, close island and Philip the larger, far island. They've just got rid of the feral goats etc on Philip Island, a relic of the penal colony, however the rabbits have taken over.

St. Barnabas' Chapel.

When the Pitcairn Islanders were told they could have Norfolk Island they were delighted, for in Island culture if you give something to someone it is theirs to do with as they please. Give away, throw away, whatever, the gift is given and is theirs. Unfortunately that's not what was meant when Norfolk Island was given to them as a new home. The Islanders were most put out when Queen Victoria decided that a Missionary of the CofE could have land and set up on NI. Finally the mission moved to another place in the Pacific (I can't look it all up and I just don't remember it, OK, it moved to Honiara in the Solomons in 1919-20), and they packed up everything, lock, stock and barrel, buildings and everything, and took it with them!!!

Unfortunately for them they couldn't pack up St. Barnabas Chapel so it stayed. It is just magnificent. I have the book on the chapel, but there are no coloured photographs in it.

Oh wait, I've found the book bought! It was built for the Melanesian Mission whose school and headquarters were based on Norfolk Island between 1866 and 1920. It was primarily established as a memorial to John Coleridge Patteson who had been ordained as Bishop of Melanesia in 1861. Patteson was topped, martyred, in 1871 in the Solomons when his ship was mistaken for a slaver. Patteson was highly regarded and a sum of money was raised via donations to build a chapel for the Mission College on NI. The Chapel was consecrated on 7 December 1880.

Here are some I took myself...

2144 - The roof designed like the keel of a ship, of Norfolk pine treated with whale oil.

2154 - The altar and the stained glass windows at the front of the Chapel.

2148 - Detail of the altar - note the floor, inlaid with marble from Torquay in Devonshire, Patteson's home.

2264 and 2149 - The west window, the Rose Window, produced by the firm William Morris in Surrey, England, restored in 1998. The Rose Window depicts the peace after the end of the War of the Roses. The panels below the rose are to commemorate the five martyred workers, one of them Patteson. Their names are on a brass plaque near the window.

2147 - The east windows (taken without using a flash!) and 2145, depict the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, with Christ in the centre and are the work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, a craftsman of the William Morris School. These windows were restored in 1990-91 by Mr Kevin Little of Sydney. (They are protected on the outside with panels of what appears to be perspex, on the Rose Window the panel is visible as it covers the whole window in a large single piece.)

2258 and 2257 - The font is also fashioned of the same Devon marble as the floor. I have to go back and get a better photo!

2151 and 2152 - There are beautiful mother of pearl carvings in the pews, these ones of The Nativity are in the masters' pews at the rear of the Chapel. The seating in the Chapel is unusual as the pews face the centre of the church, not the east (front) of the church, this was so that the masters could keep an eye on the behaviour of the students.

2283 and 2282 Oh, the Mission cemetery. The cemetery is in the valley, you can see it from the Chapel... short walking distance from the Chapel, where mission workers and pupils used to be buried. Eventually it was overgrown and the headstones were damaged by cattle, so the headstones were moved up close to the Chapel. The people are still buried in the old cemetery with no headstones!! A memorial cairn now stands at the site of the original burial ground.

2155 and 2156 - A lookout somewhere significant... sorry, brain is moosh! Okay, I think it's looking from the road back toward Anson Bay (from Puppy's Point/Flat Rock).

Later in the afternoon we had a lesson from a local on the language spoken here, which is a combination of languages and dialects from England, Tahiti and the West Indies. The vowel sounds are different it is a phonic language when you see it written and hear it spoken at the same time you can get the gist of it.

Nain myuuteaniyeas, siks Taahiishen mien, twelv gehl en wan biebi setl orn Pitkern orn d' 17th Jaenuweri 1790. Lieta orn Buffett, Evans en Nobbs kam orf' shep en lew on Pitkern orngfe dem. Nine mutineers, six Tahitian men, twelve women and one baby settled on Pitcairn on the 17th January 1970. Later on Buffett, Evans and Nobbs came off a ship and landed on Pitcairn...

Wi yuusa nortkl werds fromem mien. We use nautical words from men. Kapsais, hiiw, sling, bigsaf, stadap, florg. Kapsais = capsise (fall over); hiiw = hew ; sling = throw, toss, lift; bigsaf = big surf; stadap = stand up, upright, what you do after a kapsais; florg = flog.

Fromem gehl wi yuusa Taahiishen niem f' fruut ena thing f'iit, en thing wei el duu. From women we use Tahitian names for fruit and things we eat, and the things we all do. (Intesting that the doing words came from the women!)

Sam werds, him ena kastams wi gat fromem Ameriken wielas. Some words, them and customs we get from American whalers. Thaenksgiwen Dieh en orl kaina pai, leman, koknat, pampken. Thanksgiving Day and all kinds of pie, lemon, coconut, pumpkin.

We were told by one of the guides that whatever food the islanders find they can make a pie with it, and that's the influence of the American whalers. They have a huge harvest celebration on Thanksgiving Day.

Monday night's dinner was pizza from the wood fired pizza place. When ordering pizza always ask whether they use mozzarella cheese. The pizzas were dear and disappointing. A big let down from dinner at the Leagues Club on Sunday night.

Update:
I have more photos of Kingston which I'll write about and post later, and I have more photos of the chapel which I'll add to this post when I'm not cooking dinner!

Sydney Get Together for Blairoggers.

2012-01-23T15:07:00.000+10:00

Okay.
This week one evening at a venue where we can eat and maybe have a coupla sherbets.
Please email me through my profile here - or if you have my real email address contact me via that.

Still on NI - having trouble loading pix

2012-01-20T22:59:00.000+10:00

So will upload all I have and write more after I get back on Sunday.

Will be busy Saturday and Sunday.

Sydney - Norfolk Island January 2012 - Arrival on NI 15/1/12

2012-01-16T19:12:00.001+10:00

Norfolk Island 2899

Left Sydney on Sunday morning in the rain, clear skies over the ocean however we caught up with the cloud about forty minutes out of Norfolk Island.

I have no idea what the time is at the moment, I'm still in that timewarp I fell into between Queensland and Sydney on Wednesday afternoon. My computer says it's 7:37, Balibo is on ABC1 and I think it's on NSW time, my phone says it's 10:30 or so, and my watch which is analogue, and which I set and wound before we left Sydney, says 3:55, but I'm not sure whether that's AM or PM, and I suspect it may be incorrect. It's been raining tonight, and it spat today - was overcast when we arrived and our Host told us that they don't do weather very well here. They may predict rain, but it will only be overcast and as the island is so low the clouds won't rise enough for the rain to precipitate.

Norfolk Island has a Leagues Club, it's across the road from us. We had dinner there, quite nice. The Leagues Club people have all gone home now, left about an hour ago - noisy so-and-sos. And if you think you can get away from doof-doof on NI, don't. There's the doof happening here for sure!

In the supermarket food and manufactured goods are expensive, but that's to be expected as everything must be flown or shipped in. Any fresh products which need manufacturing, like butter, margarine and so on arrive on the plane on Sundays. Some other produce comes by sea, from Australia and from NZ and it's usually about six to eight weeks between shipments. All the vegetables are grown locally. If you can find fresh milk it is as dear as poison - the milk is all longlife, like New Caledonia, however in NC there is a dairy industry and the other products like cheeses and yoghurt and so on are plentiful, inexpensive, and delicious.

I don't have access to the net so I won't be able to post this until after I get back to Sydney... so I will continue my journal tomorrow. Oh wait, I may be able to get net access... I have my little pink computer but there's not all the software I usually use on it, so the photos will be enormous!

Leaving Sydney in the rain...

Goodbye Australia!

First look at Norfolk Island.

Rugged cliffs of Norfolk Island.

No criminals on the Island, the police assist a keyless club patron's break into his car - unsuccessfully!

I've bought minimal hours on the net so I'll have to get off and sort out some more photos... today's (Monday's) tales are to come.

Denist II

2012-01-16T19:00:00.001+10:00

Friday was my visit to the reconstructive and restorative dentist in Sydney, he used to be my general dentist in the eighties before I moved to Queensland and he is now specialising in implants, and tooth alignment and jaw anatomy.

My trepidation at the thought of the dentist's visit was considerable. I had spoken to my mother some months before after a visit to the local dentist and told her that I was concerned about the lack of dental care I was receiving. In fact I was so concerned that I was ready to cry! She suggested that I have her dentist assess me and see what I need to have done and what can be done about some problems with my lower back teeth (and the rest of them). The local dentist was insisting on taking them out and mentioned nothing about how I was going to manage to chew with only a wisdom tooth at the back and missing the next two molars from the bottom jaw on both sides! And I won't mention my creaky jaw.

The dentist, I'll call him Tom (we are on first name terms!), is still as kind and gentle as he was twenty odd years ago, and still not a bad sort.

First we discussed my medical conditions, drugs I take, and so on. Then he asked what concerns I had with my teeth. I mentioned several things and also that I didn't like how stained they were but that I didn't want them to be like glowing tombstones! He said he understood. I also mentioned that I'd need extra work for that as some of the front surfaces of the teeth would need refilling. Then I said that was secondary to keeping my teeth and having them in good order, I do like to eat steak and chew my food!

Tom checked all the glands in my mouth and the lymph near my mouth, jaw and neck. He also checked the muscles at the back of my teeth (where they inject you to block pain), and the muscles which control the jaw on the outside of the mouth. It was a bit painful. I also have a creaky jaw (he called it crepitice, I know what that is from my first aid training). After this he explained that this jaw problem I'd had for a few years was from my teeth not being in the correct position and my jaw having to move in the wrong way to chew. The teeth in the wrong position are partly due to bad dentistry (they don't restore the teeth surfaces properly to where they were before they were filled), and because I'd had two teeth out when I was nineteen which have caused my top teeth to spread away from where they should be.

He charted all the filled teeth and whether they'd had root canal or just fillings, then he checked me for gum disease. All the time he was telling me what he was doing. The gum disease test involves putting a probe between the tooth and the gum and measuring the depth. One and two are OK but need care, three and four are not good at all. He probed and called out the numbers to his assistant. The jaw is divided into six for this, three on top and three on the bottom. I got 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1. I was quite chuffed. He did say that my teeth are in good condition for my age, but I was correct to be concerned about what was going on and the lack of dental care I had received lately.

After he'd measured the gums he discussed with me that my teeth weren't in bad shape as far as what he'd looked at so far. Then he said he'd check for decay. He has a "whistle" for want of a better name, which he puts on the surface of the tooth. The tone tells him whether there is decay. I hate that noise.

Fourteen teeth need fillings, and he explained to me that they were mostly decay around amalgam fillings. Apparently the amalgam grows over the years and this causes the teeth to crack. As well as the expanding amalgam causing cracks the tooth tends to decay where there is a filling. This was something he wasn't happy about. He asked when I last visited a dentist and I told him it was about six or more months ago. I'd explained that we got a lot of dentists at the local surgery who are foreign and they only stay about a year before they move on. I had a checkup when I'd visited the dentist in about June last year and that only found about three areas of concern, certainly not the fourteen found by Tom!

Tom told me that he'd not used amalgam since 1990 and had been using composite as this was a better material than amalgam.

He discussed what would be needed to bring my teeth back to near perfect... let's say it's two Toyota Corolla cars... However, he knows that this is not affordable so he's going to work out a plan for me. He asked whether I could extend my holidays, I said I might be able to extend by a few more days, and asked by how long? He replied, "Oh, about six months..."

Oh dear!

His plan of action so far is to align my jaw and stop the degeneration of my jaw joints first, then he can see what needs to be done with the restoration of the teeth to make them meet properly and begin to replace and repair the decay and further align the teeth. He sent me to have a few head x-rays, that was interesting! My family rubbished me about whether I had a brain or not, but the x-rays were for my jaws and teeth.

After he assesses the x-rays he will work out a plan of action to fix my teeth and align my jaws. The first stage is a splint for three months. He may also fill teeth which seem to be the worst decayed.

Saturday night was spent packing and disposing of any fruit in the fridge which wouldn't keep for a week.

Time warp, speeding Audi, police, New England Highway, Norfolk Island

2012-01-14T20:47:00.000+10:00

Driving from my home in sunny Queensland, WARM sunny Queensland, I had a few issues. I've made a resolution regarding the pissy towns on the New England Highway which slow traffic down to 50kph just to pass through and especially those which decide you must travel at 50kpm from several kilometres outside town until you've pass through and out the other side several kilometres.

While driving I used my cruise control to keep to about 3ks over the limit, as there was an average of 1 police highway patrol car/radar unit every 100km, and probably more because those 1:100 were the ones I could see!

I was tailgated by a nong in an Audi. Drove me nuts as I was doing the speed limit, but still not fast enough for him. He couldn’t pass me as there were double lines, so he let me suck him along in my slipstream. He didn’t drop back at all, just kept tailgating me even though he could see he couldn’t pass.

Eventually he passed. He took off at about 120kph or faster up the road. A little further on I noticed a sneaky radar van parked at the side of the road. Oh goodie, he’d be gone. Thank you, God!

A little later I caught up with Mr Audi, stuck behind a B-Double truck, approaching a town and the truck was going very slowly. A little before the town there was a place where we could pass the truck, the truck was very slow

As soon as he could he passed the truck and then a little later so did I. While in the town he was speeding, it was 50kph in the town, but he still pulled away from me.

I forgot about Mr Audi until, approaching some blue and red flashing lights on the side of the road while travelling down a slight incline on a long straight I realised that someone had been pulled over by the police (there were police about every 100ks on the trip, and they were the ones in marked vehicles, and this one with flashing lights, but unmarked!).

It was Audi boy.

LOLZ

Reckon he got done twice in the one day, and that’s only the ones I knew about! (He didn’t pass me again, funnily enough!

About those towns which make you slow down to a crawl to get through them, it's ridiculous, particularly the ones which make you slow down miles before you reach the main street and miles after you've left town. It is my strong suggestion that the sooner these towns are bypassed the better for the motoring public!

I vow that I will never stop to spend any money in these towns which make me crawl through them. The time I lose passing through these towns is the time I would spend perhaps stopping in one to take a better look at something which has caught my eye. Travelling at 50kph through the town means I need to concentrate on my speedo and I tend to miss seeing anything other than the traffic, pedestrians and the things I need to concentrate on while driving, so I doubt much will be catching my eye and encouraging further investigation.

I left home the second time* (don't laugh) at about midday. I stopped a few times for fuel and food along the way. The last place I stopped was Muswellbrook and I was surprised that the fast food place was closing before time.

Travelling south toward Murrurundi I marvelled again (I always do), at how much the New England Highway has been improved from when my family used to travel from Sydney to Barraba usually in the summer holidays so that Dad could visit his best mate who looked after the local swimming pool (in summer he was the pool keepter and in winter he was a mechanic for the ambulance service. If you loved swimming and being at the pool in summer this place and Dad's mate were the perfect combination for the summer holidays. Free swimming all day and every day and special treats from the kiosk (lollies or an ice cream).

I remember when the trip was very slow, it used to take seven hours to get from Sydney to Barraba, a very long haul, so it was a trip made during school holidays or only for long weekends. We'd leave home in the wee hours of the morning so that the driving was mostly in the dark. That section, north of Murrurundi was one of the worst sections, a long, winding progress and if you were stuck behind a truck you'd have to drive slowly as there was nowhere to pass at all until you reached the top of the range. Those were the days!

When I reached the expressway north of Sydney, at the Cooranbong exit, I heard the radio and they were discussing the morning - I was surprised. Then I realised that I had somehow been caught in some kind of time warp. I'd lost an hour!

But it got worse! After I'd been here for a night and half a day I fired up my computer and checked my mobile phone. The phone had Queensland time, the computer had Queensland time minus one hour. So I don't know what's going on.

No wonder I'm feeling jet-lagged!

Tomorrow we're off to Norfolk Island. We'll be there for a week so I'll post then. And I'll tell you about my trip to the dentist on Friday 13th February.

* I set off from home more than an hour earlier and stopped to buy some fruit and vegies to take down to my family in Sydney, watermelons $2, small pumpkins $2, large ones (5kg weight) $3, rockmelons $1.50. Packed them into the car and sailed off... on the other side of the next town from my place I realised that I'd left some fruit out of the fridge and some needed to be eaten ASAP. So back home I went (wasn't looking forward to finding the pineapple on the stove top after being away ten days or more...). The family is finishing off the remainder of the fruit salad tonight.

An interesting video

2012-01-13T23:05:00.000+10:00

In a previous life my Aunt worked for Crown Corning.

We visited her for dinner tonight and she showed us this video....

And one about Gorilla Glass:

All the things shown in the Day Made of Glass are real.

Arrgh

2012-01-10T16:17:00.000+10:00

Today is the anniversary of the terrible flood in the Lockyer Valley which affected Flagstone Creek, Postman's Ridge, Murphy's Creek, Withcott, Helidon and Grantham.

I started writing at 9am, and had written at least a couple of pages with links between potting plants and organising what I need for Sydney. Then blogger went on the fritz... and I lost it all.

I'll see if I feel like starting again later.

This is damning - Leahy & Arnold double murder investigation

2012-01-07T16:19:00.000+10:00

Statements from the Coronial Inquest into the deaths of Julie-Anne Leahy and Vicki Arnold.

Mrs Leahy's half-sister Vanessa Stewart told the inquest Mr Leahy began grooming her before his wife disappeared.

But Mr Leahy said his sexual involvement with the teenager did not begin until after Julie-Anne vanished.

Ms Stewart, who is now 36, told the inquest Mr Leahy woke her for oral sex on the night her half-sister went missing, and that he coached her in giving him an alibi, something he denies.

More here.

"Snows left charred black in Mt Etna eruption..."

2012-01-06T11:26:00.000+10:00

Er, yeah sure.

(Just heard about the snow being charred black on the TEN morning news. Where do they get this from?)

Kristian Anderson laid to rest today

2012-01-06T11:09:00.002+10:00

More about Kristian Anderson and his tribute to his wife of seven years.

Kristian's blog.

If something's not right, if things aren't normal, don't delay and get yourself checked!

$700

2012-01-05T13:35:00.002+10:00

I'm just sitting here admiring my new tyres... smelling that new rubber smell... checking the little pimples new tyres have.

Y'know?

Ludwig shown to be a fool, toeing the line

2012-01-01T20:39:00.013+10:00

There's a repeat of the 60 Minutes program "Doing it Tough", about the cattle farmers who have been damaged by the decision of the Australian Government to suspend cattle exports to Indonesia earlier this year.

This exchange between Joe Ludwig and the reporter is telling.

TARA BROWN: The Government’s decision to slap a ban on the live export trade to Indonesia stranded hundreds of thousands of cattle across the top end and left farmers here fighting for their very existence. It came out of the blue and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Now this latest back flip to lift the ban might sound good in Canberra – problem solved – but for the industry, the damage has already been done. You’ve crippled a billion-dollar industry, you’ve offended a major trading partner, you’ve stranded nearly 300,000 cattle across the Top End of Australia. You’ve really stuffed up, haven’t you?

JOE LUDWIG: What I’ve done is put in place a framework which ensures the industry for the longer term. What industry did was let itself down itself – a self-regulatory model didn’t work, unfortunately.

TARA BROWN: The Agriculture Minister, Senator Joe Ludwig says he had to act, and he has, demanding exporters know where and how their cattle die in Indonesia. While the ban has been lifted, no cattle will leave until exporters can prove that. In the meantime, cattle farmers – who are not accused of mistreating their animals – are left in dire straits, the collateral damage of his decision. So all those families struggling today let themselves down?

JOE LUDWIG: What we’ve ensured is that we’ve got a system in place now now which ensures this industry has a longer term.

TARA BROWN: Sorry, I’m sorry, did you hear the question? The question was all those families up there struggling today have let themselves down?

JOE LUDWIG: No I’m talking about industry, the industry that represents them.

TARA BROWN: Do you believe that most Australian cattle are treated in that way in Indonesia?

JOE LUDWIG: What I believe is what I’ve done is appropriate.
TARA BROWN: Yeah but I’m asking you…

JOE LUDWIG: …Just in terms of the suspension…
TARA BROWN: No, no no, I’m just asking you, do you believe that most Australian cattle are treated in that way in Indonesia?

JOE LUDWIG: And the way I’ve answered that…

TARA BROWN: Can you answer it, I mean just answer the question.

JOE LUDWIG: And I have.

TARA BROWN: No you haven’t. Do you believe that the majority of Australian cattle going to Indonesia were treated in this way?

JOE LUDWIG: Ah.

TARA BROWN: Simple question.

JOE LUDWIG: The difficulty always is that can you guarantee that no animals weren’t mistreated.

Note this statement which was regurgitated repeatedly by Ludwing in answer to the questions from Tara Brown on what the ban had done to the Australian cattle farmers in northern Australia:

What I’ve done is put in place a framework which ensures the industry for the longer term.

And with hindsight, and in light of the decision by the Indonesian government to cut imports of live cattle from Australia, Ludwig's sustainable live export framework into the future seems to have been made out of string, spit and knee jerk*.

The complete item which appeared on 60 Minutes in July 2011 is here.

Weekly Times "Beef ban signals end for Bullo River Station".

For Sale: Bullo River Station. So, how good will it be for Australia if the Chinese or the Indonesians buy the cattle properties forced to sell by the losses caused by the government's kneejerk cattle export ban?

The ALP is totally unaware of any business and how they work. It seems that they have no concept of what is involved, particularly in a rural type business.

UPDATE:
Steve at the Pub mentioned the Darwin episode of QandA. Here's the quote, and a link.

DAVID TOLLNER: Look, there was a major disservice done to the industry, a major disservice. The fact is this industry has evolved over a long period of time. The cattle that are bred in the Northern Territory and right across Australia, for that matter, are brought up in world class conditions. People genuinely care about their cattle. When they're put on the ships to go to Indonesia, we've now got a mortality rate lower than that on P&O cruises.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID TOLLNER: Cattle are putting on weight. I mean, you ask Luke Bowen. You ask Ian McBean, the gentleman who asked the question. Cattle are putting on weight.

TONY JONES: You wouldn't go on a P&O cruise to end up in an Indonesian abattoir

DAVID TOLLNER: No. No. No. Well, no, no.

TONY JONES: Let’s hear from...

DAVID TOLLNER: Hang on. No. No. Let me finish. Let me finish. Then the cattle end up in a feedlot. These feedlot - there’s been enormous investment put into those feedlots. They are first class luxury as far as cattle are concerned in Indonesia.

FIONA O'LOUGHLIN: Sounds like they're having a blast!

DAVID TOLLNER: But we focus on the last two minutes of a beast's life and for that the whole trade has got to be shut down. As a result of that...

TONY JONES: Well if it were only...

Q&A Darwin link.

*Did anyone expect anything else?

(Sorry about the formatting if there are big spaces between paragraphs, but every time you go into the post to change or add anything it seems to change the spacing. And the formatting of the Q7A quote won't change when I fix it. Arrgh!)

I've found a kindred spirit.... sorta

2012-01-01T10:55:00.003+10:00

Wandering the blogosphere when I should have been doing other stuff, I wandered over to Andrea's place and found this blog by someone close to my age, and honestly, I coulda been thinking this very same stuff!

Caution, ~~she~~ ~~does~~ they do swear a bit in some of ~~her~~ their posts, but truly, ~~she's~~ they're funny! Here are a few that made me smile, nod and laugh!

In which Petty gets all deep and philosophical.

Yet another example of why I could never work with the Gen Pop.

I want some goddamned privacy!

Note: more than one poster there

I'm still reading through the posts... instead of doing what I should be doing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.003+10:00

Okay, it's only 10:10pm now, but I'll be pumping out zeds in an hour and fifty minutes.

I love that I can set the time that a post is published! Woohoo!

Have a fab 2012, and many more years to come.

Update:
Best laid plans. Bedside phone rings at about 11-ish. Happy New Year from Mum. I was reading a book so it wasn't so bad.
Then I hear the mobile going off, messages arriving. Okay. I'll just turn it off. Good. Oh-oh. Where's that SIM lock pin? ARRGH!

Sunburn

2011-12-31T16:16:00.001+10:00

Thursday 29 December 2012

Thismorning I heard the familiar sound of my friendly yard-taming slasher's tractor trundling down the street... I only had a long tank-tee top on, no trousers, so I stood under the carport partially out of sight and waved, and he waved, and I waved back, trying to convey "call in on your way back my block needs slashing again!", but I didn't think he got it.
Pulled on some trewes and jumped in the car to pop down the street and see him. We gasbagged for a little while, he's always good for a laugh, he told me that he's had many calls to slash blocks as the council is on the warpath and the grass is growing mad with the rain and hot, sunny days, and he said he'd call in on his way back up the street.

I popped across the street to deliver some empty beer bottles to the neighbour who had made a brew and had some left over which he needed bottles for (his son's come home and has been helping to drink tallies so the neighbour's had to put down some more!). I had nine bottles for him and I grabbed their Chrissie pressies to deliver at the same time. My neighbour, Mr Across The Street told me that he was going to give me the brew he was putting in my bottles! That was a surprise! His Christmas treat from me was some bucks to buy himself some prawns to have a feast - they're pensioners and their budget doesn't run to feasting on prawns. He was in a bit of pain, I don't think they know if it's cancer in his liver where it's come from - he had keyhole surgery during the week and they took a biopsy. He's been having pain in is tummy (base of his sternum) for quite a while. He had a doctor's appointment booked for that afternoon.

As I was gasbagging with Mrs Across The Street the tractor came back up the street so I had to rush out and open the gate - too late! The Mr Slasher and I chatted for a while, then he helped move some large chunks of ironbark onto the woodpile by loading it onto the slasher deck. That would have taken me ages to do and several trips with the two wheel wheelbarrow. He checked down the back in the gully and it was to boggy to slash (too boggy then for me to use the ride on, too), so he only did about 2/3 of the yard. It looks great. Will take a pic tomorrow (it's dark now). When Mr Slasher dropped the wood up on the woodpile he also helped by sawing some branches off a couple of trees which are growing into my place, I don't want to chop them, but they're blocking the way and would hinder the tractor and car access in short time.

No mowing the gully today, too wet!

Mostly slashed, the green island is the "burning pile", branches cut from trees and shrubs stacked there until I can burn them off.

The dogyard. Meggie's pleased!

I think I'm in trouble... she's not into having close-ups!

Floyd, of course!

When Mr Slasher was leaving I rushed up to save him having to get down and shut the gate, and give him his money. He gave me an extra discount 'cos it's Christmas. Woohoo! We talked about a lot of things. He had a son who died of cancer when he was little, bone cancer, and he was complaining about the doctors around here because he had a sore ankle and was concerned that it might be cancer. The doctor wasn't sympathetic at all and didn't allay his fears, just told him that he'd be wasting the health budget testing/scanning the ankle. Trust me, this doctor is not held in high esteem in the Valley as he's had many failures with patients - some were buried and a some were Christened!

It was midday when Mr S and I were gasbagging at the gate (would that be gatebagging?), and I didn't realise that I was getting burnt. I wasn't in the shade at all. Now I have a sunburnt scalp, red shoulders and a red neck.... oh, my!

Friday

Today Son from Across The Street came over and mowed and mowed and snipped and sprayed. The yard and the dogyard is neat again. I just have to spray the grass around the trees that the slasher couldn't cut.

Meggie and Floyd love having visitors - you know visitors are here only to visit Meggie and Floyd!

Saturday

The other day I heard interesting birds out the front. I looked and there were some of the rosellas, a green parrot that you lot can't find in a tree. So I went back inside to get my camera.... and this was what was left hanging out at the birdbath....

Today I had better luck! Now, how could you possibly miss these birds?

Because it's been so wet (up until now), these critters have been out in force... this one is enormous!

This chap's name is Bob Brown, thanks Minicapt, it's appropriate.
If the eyes were open a bit wider it would have been SHY.

That's enough for now. I has taken me three days to write this and get the photos and I need to get on and do some stuff!

In trouble

2011-12-29T16:25:00.000+10:00

Mum's hair is white. It's been white for several years.

On Christmas Day Mum's hair wasn't white.

I didn't notice.

Isn't that a testament to the ability of the hairdresser?

Anyway, it looked good. Less age-ing.

I didn't notice.

This may put me into a spot of trouble....

Worth a look, two articles

2011-12-27T09:06:00.000+10:00

Brendan O'Neil on the climate change witch hunt.

Gerard Henderson on the masters of embroidery.

Both links from Sean, a commenter at Catallaxy.

Shopping and forgetting

2011-12-26T23:15:00.000+10:00

Today I thought I'd dash over to the nearest big-two supermarket and get some bits and pieces. I've had trouble finding my favourite laundry detergent, they must have discontinued the ones I like. And the er, wildlife in the ceiling is driving me nuts and I've already sent up two lots of party favours (Ratsak throw packs), I need to get some wax blocks, Bromakil. A varied diet is good for them!

I wanted to get some ham and some bread, and there is a plague of cockroaches at the moment so I need to get some roach baits. The roach baits were the main driver of my trip to the far supermarket (36ks round trip!).

Driving home I realise that after spending $170 I've forgotten the cockie baits. Arrrrrgh!

Christmas eve tragedy

2011-12-26T23:04:00.000+10:00

A rescue gone wrong.

Canyoning is not what I'd call an extreme sport, people die canyoning but usually in flash floods. Plenty of people have accidents bushwalking and rock climbing, I wouldn't call them extreme sports, either.

A NSW Paramedic died on Christmas eve when he was smashed into a cliff face while on winch, rescuing an injured patient. An incident occurred and the winch line had to be cut. The story is that the helicopter was not in danger, which is the only circumstance I would imagine would prompt releasing the winch line.

Michael Wilson, 42, who had more than fifteen years experience as a paramedic, leaves his wife Kellie and their children, Eliza, Grace and Hugo.

The injured canyoner is in hospital in a stable condition.

A Christmas tragedy

2011-12-26T15:52:00.001+10:00

When you hear something like this on the news you think "Poor buggers." And wonder what happened.

Suspicion falls on Christmas lights.

I watch Ready, Steady, Cook! when I am at home and in front of the television, so I am familiar with the chefs who appear on the program.

I don't know what to say, except I hope that Matt is OK, whatever happens.

Dogs don't like citrus II

2011-12-25T21:52:00.000+10:00

I told you dogs don't like citrus!

Thanks to smike, here.

Merry Christmas to you all - Update II

2011-12-24T08:41:00.003+10:00

I know you're out there, lurkers and commenters! Have a wonderful day tomorrow, I hope you're spending it with friends and family.

It's a bit of a luxury having a day away from work on Christmas Eve, and I have to make use of it.

Update:
Oh, here's a very old photo from about 1979. I'm sure if I could find a Santa to let me sit on his knee I'd break his little leg!

Dinner tonight: roast pork loin and....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, no apple sauce... no baby apple.... noooooooooooooo.

Gravy. Just gravy.

*sigh*

Sick Parade - Get well soon!

2011-12-23T17:30:00.001+10:00

A couple of my blogfriends have been ill, or have had illness thrust upon them from a close family member.

Sandi M, hope you're feeling better real soon... I didn't know we had red-injuns in Aus!

C of M, hope Mum's on track and all news is good.

S of GC, hope you're finished doing the Molly Meldrum rehearsal stunt double work.

Now, those of you who I have promised something in the mail, sorry, didn't get to the PO. But the miracle will happen in the week between Christmas and New Year holidays - when the PO is open!!

Thank God that's over!

2011-12-23T17:20:00.000+10:00

My work year is finished.

Hoo-bloody-rah.

New 'ambush' style* manager is going to be making life interesting.

*Only when s/he's not using the 'seagull' management method.

South Pacific lies and betrayal

2011-12-18T17:45:00.000+10:00

Survivor. I don't usually watch it because it annoys me. Game shows have always annoyed me. Reality TV of the competitive type annoys me, and there's nothing real about this type of reality TV.

This South Pacific season I have caught a few episodes.

Can't those people see that Coach is playing them all? When will they wake up and vote him off?

I will be very surprised if he wins, either they'll wake up to him or the jury won't let him win.

No wonder I was tired! Update.

2011-12-18T09:45:00.002+10:00

My family are (were?) cavers. I am familiar with the caves of NSW, as we used to go away often to cave. My parents were members of the Sydney Speleological Society and I typed the SSS monthly magazine for a year or two in the seventies. Ah, those were the days!

I found some old newspapers which I hadn't read, they'd been sitting waiting to be used as a mulch base if I could ever afford some straw mulch. Well, that's not happened, so I dumped them in the bin (straw or other mulch was dear as poison in the drought as it was used for emergency feed and the price hasn't come down much).

The magazines fell out of The Weekend Australian so I thought I'd read them. So, I put them in chronological order (as you do), and read oldest to most recentl.

The first one was from August this year. There is a short article in it on the deepest gorge in Australia.

The photo looks familiar. Oh my, it's a place I have walked... near the Shoalhaven River. There are caves there.

The Deepest Gorge, no wonder I was so tired when I walked it as a very young teenager!

Here's the link, the photos are spectacular. If it's paywall protected you can google the name and author of it and sneak in that way.

Many years ago there was a fight to save the gorge, there is a limestone quarry there on the northern side of the gorge, toward the Shoalhaven river. There was concern that it would be an eyesore in such a place and would destroy caves in the area. I don't know what it looks like now, but of the linked photos above one is dated 23 months ago.

UPDATE:
Here's a picture of the Gorge. I've walked through it, down and up the other side.

Dogs don't like citrus.

2011-12-17T12:16:00.002+10:00

One day I came home and had a drink of mandarin juice. Floyd watched intently and wanted some. I put a little in his bowl, but he wouldn't drink it. Okay. Dogs don't like citrus. I understand.

Today I arrived home after a brief sortie to the markets looking for that special something* and I had a bottle of orange and mango juice which I took a swig of where Floyd could see me. He sat and watched. That usually means he wants to know what I'm having and can he have some too?

I found the tiny little stainless dog bowl I'd acquired as a prize (there were no large bowls left), and wiped out the dust. I took it outside and had a swig of the juice, then put some into the bowl for Floyd, telling him he wouldn't like it, it's citrus.

He drank it and wanted some more!!

Floyd is weird. I love Floyd!

*MDFD wants a couple of desert rose plants for her garden. She flogged off the plants she had on e-bay, someone paid $82 to come and dig them up. Go figure! She saw the photo of the desert rose on an earlier post of mine and just knew that was what she wanted for her tiny garden.

Flywire

2011-12-13T22:44:00.000+10:00

$6.99/metre?

You have got to be bloody kidding! Fourteen bucks for the door, and no "liquorice"!

Does it put itself into the door?

Sheesh!

Durban a success!

2011-12-12T21:45:00.000+10:00

Well, if you were listening to the coverage from the MSM of the mendacity mooted at the conference on climate change, the last, last, last, last, last (ad infinitum) chance for ~~them~~ us to save the world it was a success.

I heard this gem reported on ABC AM today, how did this doomer get the job?

KELLY DENT: We've seen farmers unable to know when to sow their crops because of changing rainfall and changing seasons*. The funding is urgently needed to support poor people to adapt to impacts of climate change that they are experiencing now.

TONY EASTLEY: Oxfam Australia's climate policy adviser Kelly Dent, ending that report by Lexi Metherell.

Read it all here (but this is the end of it!).

The Federal Opposition was quoted, too. "Durban climate talks a major failure", which is worth reading. Many more people should read it as it tells us that a carbon tax will make everything more expensive for no reason except to redistribute our money, and that the US will not impose a carbon tax so their coffers won't be swollen by this scam.
*NOTE: My italics, just how are seasons changing so that farmers aren't able to figure out when to plant their crops? Bloody hell, woman, have you no experience in farming? It happens every year, however, they do rely on long range weather forecasts and they watch the signs from wildlife and insects. They also know that seasonal weather is also cyclical. A period of drought followed by a period of plenty.

Bligh will destroy Queensland Health to save it

2011-12-12T21:06:00.000+10:00

First, the debacle involving a new pay system which did not manage to pay many Queensland Health workers, then the mixed up pay scandal of $80M of overpayments which the Qld State Government has just announced it will pursue the overpayees. The piece de resistance seemed to have been the embezzlement of $16M, yes, you read correctly that's sixteen million dollars.

But no, oh, no. It's not.

Anna Bligh, after a few ~~days~~ hours of deep thought (read: panic!!), has announced the carefully planned action to be taken to sort out Queensland Health. Queensland Health is to be abolished and instead two entities will be created to look after Queensland Health. Noone will lose their job. (I'll bet there will be a few consultancy jobs created by this ridiculous knee-jerk action!)

February won't be soon enough for a state election in Queensland.

Stick a fork in, they're done!

Flies, bloody flies!

2011-12-12T21:00:00.013+10:00

My little angel, Floyd, has over time managed to push the metallic flyscreen wire in the back sliding door. It's stretched and frayed and popped in.

Because of the rain there are a lot of insects around, and I'm noticing the flies. I hate the buggers.

Blowflies.

Yuk.

Nearly out of flyspray. They can smell food in the house from mile away and manage to find that tiny hole (1/4inch x 2-3 inches long. And tell their mates!

I've stuffed it full of paper but I don't know if that's worked. I've bought new flywire today and will try and fix it tomorrow when I get home. I'm not good with flywire. And I'll have to find the spline roller. I know I have about three, but where they are?

Bird puzzle solution, storm, flood, gratuitous images of Floyd (of course!)

2011-12-11T17:09:00.000+10:00

Okay, does this help? This is the second picture from the post before last with an indicator on it.

It's easily as wet or wetter than it was last December. Any rain now flows in the creeks (or in my yard, see photos), the ground it saturated again and it won't take much for more floods. In the past five days there's been about 150mm. Approximately 20mm fell in less than ten minutes in a storm this afternoon and the water flooded around my place.

This is the water squirting back out of the tank!

Rain falling from the gutters between the house and the shed - too much for the gutters to cope with. This causes the shed to flood.

I'm going to have to put a drain or something between the shed and the house because the water builds up and gets under the walls of the shed and floods the inside. (I knew there was a reason that nothing was put in certain positions in the shed, but totally forgot it earlier this year when I had help to clean up the shed and carport!)

Yeah, I knew there was a reason why wooden based things weren't put into that corner. *Sigh*.

Water flowing from the front of the house around the side and down the back. It was still flowing a few minutes after the rain had passed.

A puddle formed at the front. I'm going to have to get the shovel out one day after a storm and make some drainage for this lot, and at the other side of the house, too.

Nuts and mangoes. I don't think the nuts have been attacked by the macadamia nut moth.

Not sure here what's worrying him.

Ahhh, that's more like it, Floyd!

about raw, unadulterated, untampered milk and nutrition

2011-12-11T13:36:00.000+10:00

Milk was so nutritious 6000 years ago that those northern Europeans and east Africans lucky enough to get the genes to enable them to digest it had, according to the genetic evidence, 10 times more offspring than those who didn't have the genes. Now authorities state explicitly that there are no health benefits to drinking raw milk and that there are significant risks of bacterial infection. Doctors routinely tell people with chronic illnesses not to drink it. But the raw milk buffs aren't listening; they don't want to drink shop-bought milk, which has been separated and put back together for the desired fat/protein/calorie ratio, sieved to shrink the fat molecules so you don't have the inconvenience of needing to shake the bottle, and cooked to kill all the apparently deadly bacteria.

Those who want to drink milk the way it used to be wonder why it is illegal in a world where alcohol, cigarettes and white bread are available over the counter. So despite all the health warnings and assurances from authorities that raw milk has no more nutritional value than pasteurised milk, an underground network of milk lovers has quietly gone about procuring this contraband. And a handful of dairy farmers have started skirting the edges of the law to supply it to them.

Read here.

Birds, award, too pooped to pop

2011-12-10T15:05:00.002+10:00

Friday was the work "Retreat". No comment. However, I will say that I did receive an award for my good humour and smiling face while trying to deal with the burden of timetabling. That was good.

Today the parrots have been partying in the trees outside the carport. Here are some photos...

Find the lorikeets.....

Hint: look for blue and orange close together (the rest of them are the same colour as the frangipani), and note they are not just sitting there, they're sipping the nectar from the eucalypt flowers.

First shot is from a distance away. They're there, trust me!

Okay, I'll zoom in and see if you can see them... they're in about the centre of the picture, a little to the left.

Okay, well you should be able to see them easily in these next two photos. They squawking and carrying on, you can usually find them by their noise!

Coldest Brisbane December day in 100 123 years

2011-12-07T22:02:00.000+10:00

Out here it struggled to get over 17 degrees today. And checking the rain gauge this evening there's 88mm in it, all from today.

It's still raining... I don't think it will ever stop. I think I should empty the rain gauge 'cos I reckon it's going to be going well over 100mm overnight!

From Weatherzone.

Do you know this woman?

2011-12-03T22:01:00.000+10:00

On 29 August 2010 skeletal remains were found in the Belanglo State Forest. New South Wales Police have released this image constructed by a forensic anthropologist. Police have searched missing persons files and had no success in finding anyone who matches the description, they believe that the young woman may be a backpacker.

Please read for more information. There is also an image of the t-short worn by the woman.

Employers using Facebook to spy on employees....

2011-12-01T10:45:00.000+10:00

Leahy-Arnold murder/suicide third coronial inquest

2011-11-29T07:48:00.002+10:00

Inquest told third party likely in killings of Julie-Anne Leahy and Vicki Arnold.

More links here.

In the garden - frangipanis

2011-11-27T17:09:00.001+10:00

The frangipanis are now flowering madly...

Fruit salad frangipani.

Deep pink.

Pale pink.

Fruit salad.

Pink.

Red.

The front yard is looking nice.

Remember the videos of the bird chattering last month? Well, they found eachother. They have a baby, at least one. I think there are two, but I've only caught the one on film. I thought I filmed them on the woodpile but somehow didn't record.... arrgh! Anyway, here are a few stills of the baby and one of the parents. Junior is on the top of the woodpile and everytime Mum/Dad puts her/his beak close enough to Jnr the little blighter tries to get food from Mum/Dad.

I did get some film, then the camera's memory card was full. I tried to upload it earlier but my connection died. Twice. Will try again tomorrow.

Help!

2011-11-27T11:39:00.001+10:00

Some time ago I purchased Roundup in a tiny bottle with two lids. One lid was to the bottle and the other lid was a reservoir which held 20ml of fluid so it was easy to measure out the herbicide without using measuring cups or the like. This bottle is now cracking up and won't last much longer, I'm not happy to use it as I think it will crack completely and leak very soon.

Has anyone seen bottles like this anywhere with product in them? I've seen some oil bottles I think, but I'd like to buy a bottle to do the measuring easily as cheaply as possible and perhaps with a product I can use!

Thanks in advance!

Update:
Just sprayed around the front, in the garden beds, where the new green panic was coming up. Now they'll be ready to plant my new plants in.
Shoulda sprayed around the back first, it's less sunny in the AM.

Last nights rain brings swarms...

2011-11-24T19:17:00.002+10:00

Floyd's going mental. There are swarms of beetles whacking into the back sliding screen door and there are also termites swarming.

There don't seem to be many termites swarming at the moment, but give them time....

I'm hoping the bugs stop soon. I've turned out the light to stop Floyd leaping around, catching them and chomping them.

They aren't even the pretty Christmas beetles.

I'd take a photo but the beetles have spiky legs and I don't want them all over me (and I don't want Floyd all over me, either!).

Update:
EEEEEEEEEEuuuuuuuuwwwww
Floyd thinks the beetles are self-throwing, crunchy little treats.
Ick.

Beautiful day

2011-11-24T07:39:00.001+10:00

Last night it rained.

And rained.

There was even thunder with some storms.

I heard the rain whenever I woke last night, and this morning it is still raining. It's been very dry again for weeks. Checking the rain gauge there's been 50mm (~~one~~ two inches) overnight.

It's cool, only going to get to 26C today apparently, but I'm tired of the hot weather we've had for a while, it just drains my energy.

I've still got a cough from that wog I had the first week of this month.

Update: Thanks Anon. 50mm is definitely 2 inches! I'm mathematically challenged. Especially with conversions.

#Occupy - FAIL

2011-11-23T22:28:00.002+10:00

Another one.

Take care putting up the decorations!

2011-11-23T20:01:00.001+10:00

Or this could be you!

Busy? Need a bit of a distraction?

2011-11-23T10:23:00.002+10:00

Try this.

Coffee

2011-11-20T10:39:00.000+10:00

MDFD has a Nespresso Citiz and Milk. I always enjoy a coffee at her place.

A while back a friend sent me some money for my birthday (she'd missed a few), and I used it to defray the cost of one of these machines. It arrived a while back and I've just had the chance to unpack and set it up.

I had a decaf last night. Very nice. Thismorning I had coffee and it was delish.

Though I say I'm not a coffee drinker, I do like coffee. Instant is disgusting, just awful, and once a work day I have a cup of coffee at work from the barista's cart.

Now I can have nice coffee whenever I like at home.

It's a simple system and I might find it too easy to use!

Anyhow, if they run out of coffee in heaven maybe I'll get a visit from John Malkovich. (Though I'm informed that he's not doing the adverts this year!)

Regatta meet - oops

2011-11-19T13:11:00.003+10:00

Queensland's Australian of the Year award nominees and WTF?

2011-11-19T12:25:00.000+10:00

Bruce and Denise Morcombe have been nominated as Queensland's Australian of the Year.

Truly, we should never have found out who Bruce and Denise Morecombe were, or about their family, and of their strength. Noone should go through what they've been through - and what they're going through will continue for the rest of their lives.

I wish them the best, and hope they realise that their efforts to protect children are appreciated by other Australians.

The WTF is the nomination for hero. Doug Hislop has been hailed a hero for preventing the floodborne River Walk section from smashing into the Gateway Bridge. Thing is that even Doug has said that the Gateway Bridge was built to survive an impact much bigger than the walkway smashing into the pylons. I would imagine that much more debris has smashed into the bridge from the flood and that the river walkway was just what we could see.

Prairie rose, frangipani Update: Okay, it's a desert rose

2011-11-17T21:56:00.001+10:00

I believe this is a prairie rose... I've been waiting weeks for this spectacular specimen to flower! Just asked by MDFD about this plant she wants one for her garden. I had to look it up, it's a desert rose.

Red/crimson frangipani.

Fruit salad frangipani.

Pink.

My favourite pink, it has large, round petals which overlap and it's one of the biggest trees.

Schapelle - Sins of the Father interview

2011-11-17T07:03:00.001+10:00

Heard about this interview, with excepts, this morning and found it interesting.

Cancer

2011-11-16T21:47:00.000+10:00

My kind neighbours have just found out that he has liver cancer.

It's not from the liver, but metastasised from somewhere else, but they don't know where. He's only 77.

He's been ill for a year or more and the quack has had him on buscopan for months. And months.

He's lining up for endoscopy and colonoscopy this week to see whether the cancer is from the bowel or oesophagus/upper gut.

What do you say? I told them I'm here.

Their son is still working in my yard to stave off boredom. I'd like to help him to get a local job because they're going to need him around now more than ever.

Already I'm over summer (15NOV11)

2011-11-16T21:42:00.000+10:00

And it's still only spring!

Thirty-six degrees in Ipswich today, the forecast said 37C here, but I'd guess it was closer to 40C. It's still 36C outside and 33C inside at 5:30pm.

***

Okay, it's now 9:28pm and the temp has plummeted to 25C, I might get some sleep tonight.

I arrived home thisafternoon and my neighbour's son, who worked whippersnippering around the house last Friday has been back and done some more.

Leahy/Arnold third inquest begins

2011-11-15T08:21:00.000+10:00

The supposed murder/suicide of Vicki Arnold and Julie-Ann Leahy 1991 has interested me since I read the book "Murder at Cherry Tree Creek".

Too many questions unanswered.

Police decided that the deaths were a murder-suicide and were very sloppy in their investigation after making that decision. The vehicle was moved before forensic investigation was carried out and there are many issues with the standard of the investigation.

Suspicious, too, is that the partner of one of the murdered women took up with the sixteen year old sister of that woman after conducting an affair with her sister prior to the murder.

A third coronial inquest commenced yesterday. I hope that they uncover what really happened.

Critters - feeding Floyd and Meg

2011-11-15T07:48:00.000+10:00

Last night when I went to feed Floyd and Meg I saw an enormous green frog sitting on Meggie's water bucket. She was ignoring it, I guess she was hungry. Who am I kidding? She's always hungry!

As I was feeding Meg the frog jumped up into the arcmesh gate and sat there until I finished feeding meg and nipped back up to the house to get the camera. When I arrived back the frog leapt off the gate and into the grass and leaves. Froggie was headed for the long grass still up near the back side of the BFS - this is where the snakes hunt frogs! But hopefully this frog will be safe as I've got some snake scarers putting vibrations into the ground.

I couldn't get a better shot of the frog because she was travelling!

Those brown leaves would be bigger than a bread a butter plate, and some of them are even bigger than that (the tri-lobal ones are bigger than a bread and butter plate).

Helping Mum

2011-11-14T21:40:00.001+10:00

One day late last week Mum phoned. She said "I wanted to ask you a favour."

How onerous could that be, I thought. "Yeah, what?" I replied.

"I've found a thing on the net to make guitar plectrums and I want to buy one but I can't find them to buy."

"Oh." I replied, while tapping at my keyboard. "Probably best place to look is.... Oh, here you go, Google these words... The first link, the e-bay one, click on it."

"Mmmmm, okay. Oh. There it is, oh, that's expensive. I'm sure I saw one for $30."

"Okay. Let me have a bit of a look..." As I tapped some more keys. "Here you are. There's one for $29.95, free postage."

"Oh," Mum exclaimed. "So what do I do now?"

"I have an account on e-bay, do you want me to buy it for you?"

"Can you send it here for me?"

"Yes...." tapping keys again. "It should be delivered there between the 11th and the 18th."

"Okay."

It arrived this morning, before Mum was vertical. In time for Mum to take it to the school and present it to the music teacher. They are delighted! They won't have to charge $6 a plectrum to students when they lose them!

If only everyone I had to deal with was that easy to please*.

*Trust me, most are very easy to deal with, the difficult ones are just always difficult. Particularly when they don't get their way.

PS
I'm still not 100%. My neighbour made a lemon meringue pie last night, and made a mini one for me. Yum! I can make it last four nights.... I'll diet next week.

Half his age!!!

2011-11-04T13:41:00.000+10:00

Scandalous things have been happening in the world which have come to my attention.

The shocking fact is that Max Markson's ex lover who he apparently left pregnant is half his age! My goodness. That would make her, um, well he's about my age, so she'd be about 27 or so. Golly! Isn't 27 old enough to make decisions about who you are going to sleep with? It's certainly old enough to know about contraception.

Another shock revelation, Hugh Grant (ick) has a pregnant girlfriend who is 19 years his junior - hello? That makes her about, oh, 32 - he was born in 1960!

Then there's Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and heaps of others who seem not to be the target of these silly statements.

Daytime TV

2011-11-04T13:23:00.002+10:00

I've been home ill beginning Tuesday this week.

There's no doubt there's some trash on the TV during the day.

We've got a new program called "The Doctors" from the US. My. God. I haven't heard so much fearmongering crap and bad advice anywhere else in my life!

Today, amongst other things, we're looking at Michael Jackson. He was a drug addict, whether it was taken care of by a doctor or self administered, Jackson was a drug addict. If his personal doctor hadn't given him the drugs he wanted he would have got himself another doctor who would. That Jackson lived so long with such an amazing addiction is a miracle. It wasn't a matter of how, but only when.

Earlier in the week (can't remember when, I've been quite sick!), they had a question from a caller to the show about her son starting college and how she took him to college and saw where he'd be living with a bunch of (smelly, germy) guys and she was concerned about him picking up some germs and bugs while he was in college. One doctor said that it was well known that at college many dorm mates did get ill as it was a breeding ground for bugs. Another doctor admitted that he was ill all the time when he was at college. Yes. He did. He said that he probably got ill because he didn't know about soap. He didn't use soap. That's really disgusting. I hope he's learnt about soap now. (Where were his parents? Didn't his mum tell him to wash his hands with soap?) I call the soapless doc Travis Dork (with my best PM accent).

And there are no movies on television in the day during the week, they show them all on the weekend. Which is a pain.

When I'm not feeling like crap I suppose I should sort out my new laptop. Well, it's not the laptop, it's the modem. I'll have to reset the modem and the encryption code.

Worst thing about being sick is not having anyone to make me a cuppa and something to eat. Cooking is a nuisance as I have had no energy and there's nothing quick with a minimum of preparation. And besides, food has had not taste for several days.

Update:
Doctors are ringing the panic bell with listeria. One even said that you can get it from meat - which is not quite correct. Read about listeriosis here.

Bit of a mess, glad it's swotvac.

2011-10-31T23:26:00.002+10:00

There was a really impressive storm here on Sunday night. I got 1.5 inches of rain, but only caught the edge of the storm, there was very little wind, but it thundered and lightninged (or was it lightninged and thundered?), for quite a while.

That storm must have been pretty impressive a few k's away at the campus. The lowest point of the roof is above this stairwell which leads upstairs and also to the entrances of the lecture theatre in this building.

So glad it happened in swotvac, end of semester 2 was last Friday. Exams commence next week. Lecture theatre may be out of action for a while, not sure of the damage in the lecture theatre. I can tell the cleaners weren't impressed!

We might want to remember the foreman killed on a building site by a concrete pouring machinery collapse at St Lucia today, too. He was hit by bricks and broken formwork.

I'm crook with a wog, I think it's an URTI. I'm sneezing all the time and my nose is dripping, my throat is constricted (but not sore), and I'm over it. Itchy eyes, too.

I think I'll be staying horizontal tomorrow to see if I can ditch it.

OK, he might be for his electorate, but he's an idiot

2011-10-31T11:47:00.003+10:00

Bob Katter.

Surely he realises that the union was killing Qantas?

Mr Katter says Qantas will be foreign-owned if Mr Joyce gets his way, and says he will meet with union leaders later today to warn them not to fall into the airline's "trap".

Pfft. The union is hoist.

Bloody ride-on lawnmower

2011-10-30T18:11:00.000+10:00

I couldn't turn it off this afternoon.

Bloody thing.

I kept stalling it on the lush grass I was cutting, then when I wanted to turn it off the switch didn't work.

Damn.

I asked a neighbour how to turn it off and my idea to disconnect the (flat) battery was the received wisdom.

Walking back down the side driveway I pondered jumping back on the mower and completing the front mowing before I shut it down because, sure as shooting, if I couldn't stop it now, I wouldn't be able to start it when I needed to during the week to cut the front grass.

By the time I got back home the mower was coughing to its demise. There was still petrol in the tank.

Bloody mower.

Three Aussies killed in Kandahar, US troops killed in Kabul

2011-10-30T09:13:00.000+10:00

An Afghan in an army uniform opened fire on a parade and killed three Australian soldiers, one Afghan interpreter and wounded seven.

A bomber rammed an armoured bus and killed 5 US troops, three civilians and a police man in Kabul.

QEII and Anna Bligh on the Brisbane River.

2011-10-26T21:33:00.001+10:00

During the week Queen Elizabeth cruised the Brisbane River. Her guide was Anna Bligh. I viewed snippets of video of Her Majesty waving to the crowds gathered on the riversides (not much in the way of a riverbank there, it's all built up!).

The crowds returned the wave to The Queen, and then Ms Bligh began waving, too. I couldn't believe it. This was real shouting at the TV material.

"What are you doing, waving at the crowd you failure? They're waving at The Queen, not you!"

I couldn't find any video of this, but I did find this still:

Image found here.

I've been working for 35 years.

2011-10-24T22:50:00.002+10:00

No wonder I'm so bloody tired.

How big is your fridge?

2011-10-24T21:43:00.000+10:00

Some people seem astounded when they see/find out how big my fridge is. I have a 610L, side by side fridge freezer. My old fridge was 510L with a freezer on top but it wasn't big enough.

People just don't understand that up here in Queensland, with ants and other bugs, and summer days that are often over 36C inside, and also living alone, it is necessary to have a big fridge. Everything goes in there, fruit and veg as well as groceries!

Flour doesn't last long in the cupboard, it will get weevilly, jams and so on (low sugar ones) will moulder quickly so they're kept in the fridge. Storing other groceries in the fridge lengthens their life, too.

Gosh I need chocolate. I might have a glass cold milk with hot choc mix in it.

More Magic Soccer

2011-10-24T12:37:00.002+10:00

Occupy Toronto - One week anniversary (check the snark and silliness)

2011-10-24T11:33:00.001+10:00

On the one-week anniversary celebration of Occupy Toronto here are the comments about the anniversary in the Globe & Mail.

(Do I need to add a satire warning?)

(Thanks to Mini.)

Garden bounty

2011-10-23T15:14:00.001+10:00

Yesterday was cool so I spent some time working in the garden, er, "garden". It's in inverted commas because it's really just the yard!

I found four jacaranda seedlings, several macadamia nut tree seedlings under the main trees, and many runners from the jasmine which have rooted under the long grass. I'll have to dig more of the jasmine up to give away. I managed to dig up four jacaranda seedlings with roots and pot them as well as four macadamia seedlings. Digging up the macadamias was painful, I thought my hands were going to snap off as the soil is rich under the macadamia trees and they have spread a thick mat of fine roots very close to the surface.

There are a couple of people at work who have just built new homes. I might be able to give them some of the seedlings.

There are flowers on the mango trees, and I can see a few tiny mangoes already.

Saturday was the fourth Saturday of the month so the local market was on in town. Oh dear. It was pay week. Oh double dear. I took cash. Oh triple dear. I bought a gardenia, the large one with the big leaves and flowers, and as fruit and veg I found a nice cauli, some broccoli, kiwi-fruit, and a rockmelon. Then I saw my friend the rose lady. Big mistake. All her roses were out. *sigh* I'm starting a new rose garden. I had one years ago with more than 52 bushes, but when I had to commute so far to work and during the drought, I couldn't keep the grass down and the water up. The roses eventually died, they had borers. Silly thing is that the hibiscus are still going (most of them), when only two roses survived and those two were strays near the fence and not in the rose bed!

Today I've potted up some hanging tomato plants for my neighbours across the street (a gift), and a tub of tomatoes for me (to give away, I don't eat them!), and some hanging strawberries. I'll see how they go. I have to repot some cheap azaleas I bought as they're just in the pots they were started as cuttings in.

If I could get up out of my arm chair I'd take a photo of my potted up free seedling plants.

I don't think I'll be lifting myself out of the chair for a while.

Maybe later.

Let me make this clear (Insiders 23OCT10)

2011-10-23T09:26:00.001+10:00

Bill Shorten. All I heard him say was "wrecking ball", "Abbott", "wrecking ball", "Abbott", "relentless negativity", "Abbott".

Wiff Bill Shorten up fere I'm sure we'll be finking how well off we are wiff the carbon tax. Monff after monff we'll be singing the praises of the ALP when we elect vem next election, just so vat the wrecking ball vat is Abbott won't get in.

Bill has trouble with his "f" and "v" pronunciation and his "th" and "f" pronunciation. He sounds ridiculous and I can't get past that and his continual mentions of Tony Abbott (hey, Tony Abbott is in opposition, haven't you noticed?).

Defend Max Brenner - these pathetically ill-informed swampies want to protest...

2011-10-22T20:18:00.000+10:00

So how about anyone who can be there to un-boycott Max Brenner, a lawful business in Australia, and indirectly Israel, where incredible restraint has been shown in not destroying their enemies completely (I'm sure they have the technology).

Here you are, the anti-Israel protest rally taking place at Max Brenner Sydney. The swampies will be assembling at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre and marching to Max Brenner.

Good thing she left

2011-10-22T09:46:00.001+10:00

It strikes me that they were mismatched if she now feels this way about his writing, and feels the need to sign statutory declarations stating she's not fibbing.

I'm not defending Bolt who's made a clumsy blunder, but by golly, shouldn't the ex-fiance have kept mum about her relationship if it was all so painful and she'd moved on?

While I do not read Andrew's articles (I find that kind of journalism distasteful), I had become aware that a number of people had suffered nasty verbal attacks from followers of his blog, and also knew that some of my clients who abhor his views would be horrified by my previous association with him.

When the article was promoted on The Monthly's website, Anne contacted me to say Andrew had publicly denied that he had ever had a fiancee. I was shocked to the core, and immediately agreed to provide a statutory declaration and to show that I had evidence in Andrew's written correspondence.

I don't know how people found out who she was, I wouldn't bother it doesn't interest me, but there'd probably be people out there who would expose her name to create mischief for Bolt and/or for her. Perhaps she would have benefited from keeping it quiet and not pursuing the matter publicly. If she had issues with her ex-fiance after twenty five years had passed and they'd both married it would have been an idea for her to contact him privately - or just let it lie.

Read the article at The Age. If you don't want to read it at the age...

It is with great reluctance that I feel I must make a public response following the recent profile of Andrew Bolt in The Monthly magazine. I am the woman who Anne Summers refers to as Andrew Bolt's former girlfriend and fiancee.
I want to set the record straight, following Andrew's public denial of the status of our relationship and the fact that my name has been made public against my wishes.

I met Andrew around 1980 when we were both working at The Age. He was a cadet journalist and I was working as an editorial assistant and secretary. I also worked as a belly dancer to help fund my studies to become a teacher. Since leaving The Age and working as a teacher I have progressed into a number of management roles in the public sector, and since completing my MBA and qualifying as a professional coach, I have been working as a business consultant, career strategist and executive coach.

Andrew and I lived together for the best part of six years in the early '80s and during that time we became engaged. Our relationship was no secret among family, friends and former colleagues at The Age. I ended the relationship, but Andrew and I have had occasional, cordial contact over the years. I was therefore shocked and insulted to see a demeaning reference to our relationship in the IPA Review in January, in which he claimed he had been ''a minder for a belly dancer'' who was his ''then girlfriend''.

I immediately contacted Andrew via email, under the subject line "Rewriting History", stating that I was "shocked, disappointed and hurt to see myself referred to, in a fleeting reference, merely as a 'belly dancer' and to you as my 'minder' ''.

''This is totally absurd, and inaccurate, as you well know,'' I wrote. ''I cannot imagine why you would want to reduce our six-year relationship, during which we were engaged, to this. I can only imagine that it was to gratuitously add some spice to your established conservative persona.''

Andrew promptly responded, and did not deny that we had been engaged: ''I do apologise. I was trying to amuse, and should have realised it might offend you - even though I gave no indication of your identity … I'm mortified to have unintentionally hurt you …''

I replied: ''Whilst I accept your explanation that you did not intentionally set out to hurt me, I wonder why you would set out to 'amuse' at someone else's expense …

''Even more important is the impact that this has had on me. It is as though a chapter of your life has been intentionally omitted …

''I am pleased that you are happily married and appear to have found some peace and satisfaction at last, as I certainly have.''

Andrew's response reads in part: ''I may be forgetful, I may be careless. You know perfectly well what a duffer I can be. But I have not suddenly become so mean that I would knowingly make a joke at your expense … Nor am I trying to wipe you from the record of my life …''

When Anne Summers contacted me, interested in my recollections of Andrew, I agreed to speak with her because of her established reputation, I wanted to put the public record straight, and on the basis that my anonymity would be maintained. I did not divulge any personal details about Andrew or his family.

While I do not read Andrew's articles (I find that kind of journalism distasteful), I had become aware that a number of people had suffered nasty verbal attacks from followers of his blog, and also knew that some of my clients who abhor his views would be horrified by my previous association with him.

When the article was promoted on The Monthly's website, Anne contacted me to say Andrew had publicly denied that he had ever had a fiancee. I was shocked to the core, and immediately agreed to provide a statutory declaration and to show that I had evidence in Andrew's written correspondence.

I still have the engagement ring Andrew gave me, as well as a Claddagh ring (Irish wedding ring) that he sent me from Dublin, with his hand-written message: ''With the heart worn down, pointing towards the hand it's an engagement ring; worn up, a wedding ring. Wear it down for now; we'll alter its position when I get back, if you don't mind.''

I am at a loss to understand why Andrew would want to deny our engagement. It is all so silly, and ancient history, which Andrew could have chosen to leave in the past, had he not made an inaccurate and self-serving public reference to our relationship. This issue has been fuelled by Andrew, who created the situation in the first place and who has since made himself out to be the victim.

Andrew claimed on his blog that he was unaware that he had had a fiancee. This seems more like selective amnesia. It is though he is intentionally attempting to rewrite history.
I do not know what has happened to the Andrew I knew so well. The person he has become bears no resemblance to the ethical, highly principled and idealistic young man I loved.

I find it difficult to reconcile Andrew's public image with his private persona, and can only conclude that they have become enmeshed. I understand he recently claimed he had been made into a monster by the media. It seems to me that he has, in fact, created his own monster.

UPDATE: Mass formation flypast of up to 20 FA-18 Super Hornets Fri 21OCT11 Brisbane/Ipswich/Gold Coast

2011-10-20T22:04:00.003+10:00

MASS FORMATION FLYPAST OF UP TO 20 SUPER HORNETS THIS FRIDAY

There will be a mass formation flypast of up to 20 F/A-18F Super Hornets over the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Brisbane and Ipswich, this Friday (21 Oct) as part of the welcoming ceremony for four new Super Hornets.

The arrival of the four new aircraft completes the Australian Super Hornet fleet to 24 aircraft.
Sixteen aircraft will depart RAAF Base Amberley between 10 am and 10.30 am and will fly in a loose formation to a point off North Stradbroke Island, where they will form up and fly south, crossing the coast at Southport before flying down the Gold Coast to Tweed Heads.

The armada will then fly out to sea and reform at a point off the Sunshine Coast where it will join with the four new Super Hornets.

The 20-strong formation will fly south from Noosa Heads down the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane where it will then fly over the CBD en route to Ipswich and RAAF Amberley. It is expected to pass over the base at 11.30am.

The formation will be accompanied at intervals by up to two Hawk Mk127 lead-in fighters.

The final number of aircraft flying will depend on operational and training tasks for the aircraft.

The mass formation flypast of up to 20 aircraft will be not only an historic event which may not be repeated, but an important training exercise for operational planners and aircrew.

A more detailed itinerary is as follows:

Outward leg including Gold Coast

Up to 16 x F/A-18F Super Hornets

10.00 am 16 x F/A-18F Super Hornets commence their launch from RAAF Amberley.

Amberley

1018 Springwood

1021 North Stradbroke Island

1023 South Stradbroke Island

1025 Southport

1026 Surfers Paradise

1026 Burleigh Heads

1027 Coolangatta

1028 Tweed Heads.

Sunshine Coast

Up to 20 x F/A-18F Super Hornets

1104 Noosa Heads
1106 Coolum Beach

1107 Maroochydore

1108 Caloundra

1111 Bribie Island

1113 Redcliffe

1114 Fisherman’s Islands

1115 Manly

1116 Wellington Point

1117 Southern Tip Moreton Island

1119 St Helena Island/Brisbane – Ipswich

Up to 20 x F/A-18F Super Hornets following the Brisbane River

1120 Lytton

1121 Balmoral/Hawthorne/Kangaroo Point/Botanic Gardens/Captain Cook Bridge

1122 Highgate Hill/St Lucia/Indooroopilly/Kenmore

1123 Jindalee/Moggill

1124 Ipswich

Note: The aircraft will fly at approximately 2000 feet (609 mtrs) and up to 350 knots (648 km/h)

Times and locations may vary dependant on the weather.

Further information: Paul Lineham, Defence Public Affairs - 07 3233 4210 or 0408 972 329

UPDATE:

22 of them over UQ St Lucia.

Computer woes

2011-10-18T07:48:00.000+10:00

My laptop is on the fritz, won't start up without an argument and a few attempts with a long wait.

I've ordered a new one and should have it by the end of the week, then I'll have to find out what to do about my wireless modem - can't remember the password!

I bought a baby Acer a while back, but I can't do the non-bloodnut website stuff on it, it's only good for email and surfing (but not at home until I sort out the password for the wireless modem!).

Magic soccer player.... at two years old!

2011-10-14T18:31:00.002+10:00

Speech in the Senate Chamber 12 October 2011 - Barnaby Joyce

2011-10-13T09:47:00.000+10:00

Senator Joyce, (Queensland - Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (10:40): It is a disgusting day when the Greens, who were the paragons of virtue and were allowing open and transparent debate to enable all sections of the chamber to take part in the carbon tax debate, become part of a guillotine process so that one political party in Australia and the Independents cannot be part of the debate—no-one can be part of the debate because the Greens have changed. It is a new paradigm. The paragons of virtue have now descended down the greasy pole to be just like everybody else. I will bet there are a few Democrat voters out there who have wondered where they have ended up in supporting the Greens. There used to be a sense of honour in here but they have taken it and trashed it.

Just like the deceit with the carbon tax, they are saying one thing while being something else. The Greens today have shown that they say one thing out there but they are entirely something else. When leave was sought for the making of a brief statement, even that was denied. That is where this whole debate has got to. They are running and hiding because this whole tax is such a debacle, such a fiasco. It is disturbing that, because the Greens have chosen to adopt this attitude, we are denying not just political parties but the people of Australia the chance to be involved in and hear the debate in all its complexity, with all its nuances. The Greens exude this almost nauseating faux nobility but when you put them to the test it is the same party that denied Annette Harding the chance to have an inquiry into her rape and it is the same party that is now denying opportunity for debate. That is the Greens; that is who we have; that is what they have become.

The Australian people are very uneasy about this carbon tax. We had a demonstration in support of the tax out the front of Parliament House, but there were more placards than people—no-one turns up; the support is all contrived. In a couple of weeks time I am going to sell a mob of cattle and I am going to tell the truck driver to take them to Dubbo. I expect the cattle to end up in Dubbo. I will certainly be disappointed if he decides instead to take them to Weabonga and just let them go in the hills. It is exactly the same thing—when you have a contract with the Australian people, their expectation is that you will take them to a certain position, and the position this government said it would take them to was that there would be no carbon tax under the government this Prime Minister led. Instead, the government took the people to the hills and just let them go. Then Graham Perrett goes out and says they will not change the truck driver. It does not matter about the truck driver; it is the destination that matters—in this case the destination that those opposite are taking this nation.

This is why it is so vital that we turn this around. In these times of uncertainty, with what we are seeing in Europe and what we are seeing America, what the government is doing to this nation is culpable. Those opposite know that and that is why they are guillotining; that is why they are shutting down debate; that is why they are not allowing the Australian people to have their proper say. It is ludicrous to say that we have had a chance to look at this legislation. We have not. The government has wrapped it and stacked it and brought it in here in a bundle. If we asked those opposite to quote sections of it or to go to the pertinent parts of it, they would not know it themselves—they would not have a clue. It is going to come in here because they have wanted out—they have other things to deal with. They have to work out whether Mr Rudd is coming back and whether he is going to take out the Prime Minister. This is the whole soap opera that our nation has become under these people. It is a disgusting, hopeless approach to government. Every facet of this government is now a total and utter debacle.

What about regional Australia? The government inquiry went to Melbourne and to Sydney and to Canberra, but who did they talk to? They talked to their mates. The big banks are going to be happy—soon they are going to get this massive commission stream which the Greens will bring into place. The Greens are supporters of big banks and big banks' commissions.

I am surprised to see Senator Rhiannon is going to be supporting the big banks in getting billions of dollars of commissions out of struggling working families, out of people who currently cannot afford their power and out of people who currently cannot afford the daily necessities of life.

This is where the nation is going. Is it going to change the climate? No. We have asked Minister Wong this question 600 times and never once have we got an answer. How much will this change the temperature of the globe? The answer is absolutely not at all. It is merely a gesture and in the cruelest form will be delivered to people who cannot afford it. They are going to be lumbered with it for life, and the absolute insult is they listen to you now and they are hearing you shut down the debate because you are scared. You are running, but you are not going to hide—we are going to flush you out.

Worth a look - ABC AM Today

2011-10-12T19:37:00.000+10:00

Guys, Tim, ya gotta read this:

SABRA LANE:
Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister’s labelled you the biggest wrecker ever to serve in a leadership role. Are you a wrecker?

TONY ABBOTT:
I think we’ve got a Prime Minister who is the great betrayer of the Australian people. She was absolutely crystal clear before the last election, “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead” and if the bills pass the parliament today this will be an act of betrayal and every Labor member of parliament would’ve broken faith with his or her electorate.

and this:

SABRA LANE:
Are you cranky with Sophie Mirabella? She’s been kicked out of parliament for 24 hours with the Government struggling to get the numbers for the vote to enable its Malaysia swap. The Government might well bring this vote on early now.

TONY ABBOTT:
Well, the Government made a clear commitment that the people swap vote would be on Thursday. The Government made a special request to us to debate the covered bonds issue in the parliament today. The Government said that covered bonds needed to be expedited through the parliament so that the banks could start issuing these things so that interest rates could stay as low as possible. Now, the Government said that it was very, very important that this legislation go through the parliament today. They said that they would put the Malaysia people swap legislation to the parliament on Thursday and I would think that if this is a government with any respect for the parliament, that’s the procedure that they would follow.

SABRA LANE:
But it may well bring it on.

TONY ABBOTT:
Well, they would be breaking their word.

More.

Jam

2011-10-09T18:41:00.000+10:00

When I was in Sydney in early June I caught up with some people. One of them is an amazing cook who experiments regularly with preserving as well as anything else to do with the kitchen - all her experiments are successful as far as I know.

My Blogfriend visited me at Mum's place and brought morning tea with her. Raspberry and white choc muffins (my favourite, YUM!), cinnamon scrolls, and also some jars of jam and some tomato soup she had made. Mum kept the soup, she said it was delicious, and we split the jam. I gave some ginger and something to MDFD who likes ginger. Mum kept the apricot as she loves that, and a few other jams.

Raspberry and peach sounded just right for me, and it was! I wish I'd got a larger jar. At the moment I'm into the nectarine and plum. Fab. I like these because they don't have as much sugar as normal jams have. When/if I buy jam at the shop it's usually too sugary for me. I like my jam to have a bit of bite (but I don't like marmalade).

Things I heard this week... roundup

2011-10-08T22:55:00.001+10:00

Good news for arthritis sufferers.
Stem cells rejuvenating arthritic dogs. Hey, there's hope for me yet!

Australian vets say arthritic dogs are responding well to stem cell therapy. Researchers developing similar treatments for humans say the success of the canine treatments is encouraging. More

Good news for Tassie Devils.
Tarkine Devils to be studied by bushwalkers.

Scientists haven't been able to do a full survey of the last disease free devils living in the remote Tarkine region of Tasmania - but a bushwalking company is about to fill in the blanks. They'll be using remote sensing cameras to take photos of the devils that will be sent back to scientists at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. More

Good news for those who don't like yellow characters.
Pay stoush imperils Simpsons.

After 23 seasons, the American TV hit series The Simpsons is at risk. Rupert Murdoch's Fox television network has warned that it may cancel the show The Simpsons if a pay dispute with the voices behind the characters of the hit cartoon series cannot be resolved in the next 24 hours. More

Boo-f'kin-hoo.
Australian resident jailed for people smuggling. Why is he an Australian citizen?

A refugee who's been living in Australia for 10 years has been jailed by an Indonesian court after he was detained by the country's anti people smuggling task force. Heidar Ali was arrested by Indonesian police in May travelling to Java's south coast with a known people smuggler and 32 people from the Middle East. More

Boo-f'kn-hoo... again. LOL
WikiLeaks site in limbo without architect.

In the secret world of WikiLeaks there is one secret being held closer than most: the identity of a man known simply as the architect. The architect walked out of the operation last year, taking with him the all important submission system which allows whistleblowers to lodge sensitive information and keep their identities secret. Since then Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks organisation have been unable to accept electronic online submissions. More

No Shit Sherlock - Research
New research on links between diet and birth defects.

A new study from the United States suggests women who consume a good diet before and during pregnancy have significantly less risk of having a baby with several different kinds of birth defects. More

Nuts running the asylum.
Independents pressure Commonwealth to fund state tax cuts.

The conservative states agree stamp duty and other taxes should go and are mounting a concerted push for the Commonwealth to give them a share of income tax and excise if it won't consider increasing the GST. The independents, in particular Tony Windsor, are urging the Federal Government to opt for a modest raise to the GST to rid the nation of more than 100 taxes. More

Perfectly natural - I'm sure the thunderstorm on Monday afternoon and the ones today would have boosted the ozone level.
First hole forms in Arctic ozone layer.

Holes have been forming in the ozone layer above the Antarctic since the 1980s. But now the first hole has appeared in the ozone layer above the Arctic. Scientists say the sharp plunge in Arctic ozone levels means UV radiation has probably increased in the northern hemisphere. More

Things have changed

2011-10-04T07:08:00.000+10:00

You can't say that!

Now just be nice, Jason Morrison on 2UE.

Hurt feelings

2011-10-02T22:36:00.000+10:00

From the judgement of Justice Bromberg in the Eatock v Bolt case:

At the core of multiculturalism is the idea that people may identify with and express their racial or ethnic heritage free from pressure not to do so.

It is great for people to identify with their racial or ethnic heritage as long as that racial heritage doesn't admit them to a neverending stream of publicly funded benefits.

The way to stop this is to cease racially based welfare. Those who need assistance should receive it. Someone living in the city with the benefits and the opportunities available to every Australian should not be entitled to any extra benefit or opportunity based on their self identified race.

I wonder if Justice Bromberg's finding quoted above considers some of the cultural activities of some groups which are incompatible with, and unacceptable in, our communities?

Never been keen on planes and ferris wheels? I know why

2011-10-01T18:17:00.001+10:00

Linky

Update:
Many MSM outlets are reporting it as an "ultralight aircraft", perhaps they should get their terminology correct. It's a light aircraft.
And a bloody strong ferris wheel!

ONE - now - A seven metre mirror needs to be cleaned

2011-09-30T19:43:00.002+10:00

It's very interesting... cleaning the world's biggest telescope.

World's Toughest Fixes: Twenty Ton Eye.

The mirror is worth $15M.

(No link, I can't find one!)

PS
I just wanna know one thing. Why can't the host/narrator say "mirror"? He says "mearr".

I hope

2011-09-29T23:44:00.001+10:00

I hope I put my $10 worth of chicken thigh fillets back in the fridge when I forgot to bring them home from work.

If not I'll have some stinky chicken on my desk in the morning.... ick.

Floyd is great, Meg is still dumb, work is very busy with a curriculum review throwing my timetabling all over the joint... the garden is blooming.

Scarlett is doing fine with my ex. If I was still married to him it would have been our 20th wedding anniversary yesterday!!

G'night all.

Update:
No bad smell... got the chicken out but needed a bag to carry everything in (had to chuck out the original bag 'cos the chicken juice leaked into it), so put the chicken back into the fridge. Thank heaven! Dinner tonight and tomorrow night. Green curry! Yum.
TGIF!

Julia Gillard guest judge on Junior Master Chef

2011-09-29T23:28:00.000+10:00

The item judged is cake.

Does she realise her arse will look big in that?

We're waiting for it to be remaindered

2011-09-29T18:12:00.001+10:00

Unauthorised memoir sells just 633 copies.

The right to offend (Quadrant)

2011-09-29T12:33:00.003+10:00

Here.

Where is justice? (Quadrant)

2011-09-29T12:32:00.003+10:00

Here.

James Delingpole - Freedom of Speech in Australia

2011-09-29T07:49:00.003+10:00

Here.

Verdict in Bolt trial soon.

2011-09-28T00:21:00.002+10:00

Interesting.

I understand the verdict is due on Wednesday 28 September 2011.

Good luck to free speech.

Update:

Bolt huddled inside Federal Court room number 1 with his legal team for about 20 minutes after the judgment. When they finally appeared outside the building, Bolt made a short address to the waiting media pack.

"This is a terrible day for free speech in this country," he said, which drew heckles from some supporters of the applicants in the case.

Bolt responded with a glare and an appeal. "Can I at least have my free speech now?" he asked before returning to his hand-written prepared text.

Too bad about free speech and the right to state the bleeding obvious, and to question things which appear racist, and the ability of people to identify as a particular race to gain benefit.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement.

Bolt loses high profile race case.

A new publication from Elsevier on Climate Science

2011-09-26T07:41:00.000+10:00

A leading academic publisher and "Evidence Based Climate Science. Data opposing CO2 emissions as the primary source of global warming"
Link to Catallaxy item with info and more links.

Photos of Sydney Harbour

2011-09-21T07:16:00.002+10:00

Cav celebrates a birthday and visits Sydney for a day on the water.

Rangaists!

2011-09-18T08:31:00.000+10:00

OMG

Not only rangaists, but I never realised that the human AI industry was so, um, open borders!

Blunderfingers - comments enabled

2011-09-14T19:58:00.003+10:00

Don't ask me how but I switched off the comments for several posts over the last week.

But it's fixed now.

D'oh!

Now, Merilyn, I know you're out there.
I have some jelly.
I have some sponge cake.
I have some peaches in mango juice.
I have some double cream.
I have some shredded coconut.
I have some frangelico.

Do you think that will do for a trifle?

Update:
Yes,
I have custard!

YumYum!