One Life

Queensland + $5000 = 'Vitamin Me'

2012-02-09T22:48:00.000+11:00

How would I boost my ‘Vitamin Me’ levels in Queensland if I won a $5,000 (AUD) holiday voucher?

By giving it back to the people of Queensland because it truly feels better to give than to receive. Of course in return I'd receive the gift of Queensland! But first, how it all started ..............

When I think of my ultimate 'Vitamin Me', I think of my honeymoon in Queensland in December 2005 and the life changing decisions it led to.

HOUSEKEEPING: Where you see words in ORANGE, these are clickable links where you can find more information on that topic. Each link opens in a new page.

----------BRISBANE-----------

Arriving from London, getting from Brisbane International to the Sofitel is quick, clean and so trouble free. The hotel is above the railway station, how easy is that! Brisbane is beautiful but especially at Christmastime. Imagine coming from freezing Europe and stepping in to wall to wall sunshine, balmy nights and the ultimate holiday climate. We wandered the city absorbing the designer shopping experience, the culture, the bars and the friendliness from everyone we met.

After three nights we returned to the airport for a hop to Cairns. The aircraft descended past tree covered mountains on one side and the deep azure ocean on the other. By the time the aircraft came to a stop on stand we were high on 'Vitamin Me'. Is it possible all airports in Queensland are this easy to navigate? In less than 30 minutes we were loading our luggage into our hire car right outside of the terminal. Australian road users drive on the left and coming from the UK that meant zero adjustment, except for the watch-out for kangaroos signs and having air conditioning instead of heating in the cockpit!

----------CAIRNS----------

As we didn't know the city, we used the internet and street maps to work out where all of the hotels were in relation to the main attractions, choosing the Holiday Inn for its central location. From here we could wander into town to the Mall, to P.J.O'Briens Irish pub and Outback Jacks, or to the night markets or one of the many high quality restaurants.

-0-

Very keen on diving, on our second day we booked in with Deep Sea Divers Den for a full day on the Great Barrier Reef. What can I say! The ocean was shower temperature, the fishlife abundant and healthy and the service on board, wonderfully friendly, very helpful and a must.

_______________________________________________________

HOT TIP: Deep Sea Divers Den have ONLINE SPECIALS including the 4 day PADI Open Water course for only $480 and a 2 Day, 1 Night Liveaboard for certified divers only $350.

_______________________________________________________

Our next day in Cairns was a day off from the ocean and we headed inland to the beautiful rainforest area of Kuranda (check out the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Scenic Railway) via A.J.Hackett’s bungee jumping. There is lots of history in Kuranda with fabulous buildings and restaurants, quirky shops and cafes, and some wonderful art.

It wasn’t my very first bungee jump but it was the most spectacular setting. Set amongst a glorious tropical paradise, jumpers can bungee into water or try one of many of the other adrenaline activities. Plus there is a great viewing area for those who prefer their feet on the floor, and of course a cafe. Incredible.

1-2-3 BUNGEE A.J.Hackett CAIRNS

There is so much to see and do we really underestimated the time needed to see Cairns and its surrounds. Next time we thought, we'll spend much more time here. Time to hit the Bruce Highway for the drive to Townsville. The scenery is tropical and mesmerising. Banana and fruit plantations and lush greenery are everywhere. Coming from the UK the roads seemed empty with only the occasional road train or truck giving us a wave as they went by. We stopped for coffee in Innisfail and again in Ingham. Coming down into Townsville we could see the beautiful ocean in the distance. This is why we were here, for the ocean. We were to join a liveaboard diving boat, one we had booked from the UK after seeing the advertising for it at a big UK dive show.

----------TOWNSVILLE-----------

After a restful night and a good wander around the City we rocked up to the boat dock. We were deeply disappointed with what we saw. The boat looked nothing like the photos and it seemed to be full of people learning to scuba dive (as experienced divers we wanted a more mature diving trip).

What to do?

We’d already paid for the week onboard so we could hardly back out now but, this was our honeymoon after all !!!

Seeing our disappointed faces the divemaster called the owner down from his home. After a chat he said look, this is more a diving trip for learners, as you’re experienced divers let me see what I can do. He made some phone calls, he paced up and down on the wharf and then he quickly hustled us into his jeep and we raced across the marina to where Mike Ball’s SPOILSPORT was being refuelled.

Check it out he said, this is more the vessel for honeymooners, they have one cabin spare, what do you think? We hopped on board and were quickly ushered into the cabin, it was perfect. The crew transferred our luggage and dive equipment and we hopped back on to the dock for a chat. I’ll give you a full refund he said, drop by the shop when you get back in a week. I’m sorry you were disappointed, our sales people are a little too eager sometimes and don’t always ask all of the right questions. We shook hands and thanked him for his incredible customer service. Given that the two operations are owned by different companies this was a true show of Queenslander generosity.

The dive boat was really quiet. Everyone else had checked in just before dinner and they were already tucked up in their cabins. We unpacked our diving equipment and completed all of the paperwork and by this time the crew had made up our cabin. When we opened the cabin door we found chocolates on the pillows and a bottle of champagne with glasses on the dresser. I was in tears. Could this trip get any better?

We had no idea what to expect from this diving liveaboard but as the week passed we really did discover the true value of Queenslands 'Vitamin Me'. The Great Barrier Reef is incredible. The coral is healthy and colourful. The diving locations range from bommies to bottomless walls, swim throughs and fringing reefs. The whole week was like opening one Christmas present after another with no hint of what would be inside.

Off Townsville is the incredible world renowned S.S.Yongala wreck. A luxury passenger vessel which disappeared in a cyclone in 1911 with 120 people onboard, none of whom survived, she lies in an easily diveable 28 metres maximum depth. Here the fish life is abundant and so healthy they grow abnormally large in the fast flowing nutrient rich waters. For the diver, this is an absolute homage. A bucket list dive location. No words can reflect the experience except to say soul-food.

Mid-week we had a short interlude. In the middle of Flinders Reef is a sand cay with a weather station on it. We jumped in to the dive tenders and were ferried across to the pristine white sand. With orders not to walk higher than the visible high water line (turtle nesting grounds) we spent time with the resident Boobie birds and their fluffy babies and the beautiful and multiple red crabs.

Nearing the end of the week we were called to a very special briefing. What now! Mike Ball had placed a couple of cages on the bottom of the ocean for divers to lie on, why? Shark feed! Fish heads are lowered in a closed dustbin and from no-where; the reef sharks come in. Pure adrenalin. This was amazing.

For divers on honeymoon, can there be any operator better than Mike Ball and Spoilsport? Take it from us, Mike Ball is the pinnacle. The fresh cooked a la carte meals, complimentary hot towels after each dive, up to 5 dives per day right off the back of Spoilsport, the attention to detail in fact, every part of the operation is flawless, designed for the ultimate in service and second to none.

Leaving Spoilsport was like saying goodbye to good friends. We knew we would be back. First of all, would we get our money back? There was no question about it, without hesitation we had a full refund without quibble. We celebrated a most amazing experience in customer service by dropping in to the Townsville Brewery (try Ned's Red and Belgium Blonde for starters).

Before heading out of town we had to drop in to Reef HQ Aquarium where the residents of the main tank were being fed. A diver can never see too many sharks and turtles! Yet more 'Vitamin Me'.

----------AIRLIE BEACH-----------

Next stop, a wonderful winding road off the highway leads down into Airlie Beach. During the day visitors spend time on ReefWorld or on one of the many sailing or speed boats heading out to glorious Whitehaven Beach or to the Whitsundays. Or there is the beautiful town lagoon and the long sandy beaches. At night, there are many restaurants and bars in which to kick back making it a fun town to unwind in.

The Airlie Beach hotel with wonderful ocean views and gorgeous restaurants was our pre-booked choice. The McDonald's across the street had free internet access to catch up with friends too.

Tuesday night is $10 chilli night at Cactus Jacks (one of the hotel's own restaurants). The savings you make on the amazing chilli mean that you can indulge in one of their very special cocktails - hic!

It seemed in no time at all our three weeks were up and we left the hire car at Proserpine airport for our return trip to Brisbane. After another night in the Sofitel we were on-board our Christmas day flight back to London.

But this is not the end…………………

We were so taken with Queensland and our whole honeymoon experience we set the wheels in motion almost immediately to emigrate to Australia. In November 2007 we returned, this time not just for a holiday, but for good.

In November 2008 we joined Mike Ball’s Spoilsport for a second amazing liveaboard experience. It was as incredible as the first time. They had relocated to Cairns which meant we were diving on new reefs and seeing new sharks!

In 2009 we returned to Airlie Beach. The Queen Mary 2 was laid off shore with passengers enjoying the town. We again stayed at the Airlie Beach hotel and enjoyed a week of total relaxation taking time out on Reefworld and Hamilton Island.

In 2010 we drove up to Surfers Paradise and thrilled ourselves at Dreamworld and Wet and Wild. We were there for the incredible boat show but enjoyed the glorious beaches, the fine dining especially the Hard Rock café, and with so much to do, came back exhausted.

_______________________________________________________

HOT TIP: Checkout myfun.com.au/ for bargain attraction tickets all over Australia incl. Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild, Sea World and Outback Experience.

_______________________________________________________

In 2011 we returned to Cairns with a lay over on our way to Guam, the perfect place to stopover to break up a long haul flight.

_______________________________________________________

HOT TIP: Did you know that Cairns has both Domestic and International terminals. Continental Airlines are just one airline offering International flights. From Cairns Airport you can fly out to Tokyo and Osaka, Guam, Hong Kong, Port Moresby, Singapore and Aukland.

_______________________________________________________

Our honeymoon in 2005 led to a complete change of country and of lifestyle. Queensland had a profound effect on us. On 26th January 2012 we became Australian Citizens and made yet another massive decision, to sell our house, to buy a Winnebago to spend 2-3 years completing the BIG LAP.

_______________________________________________________

So how far would $5000 get me in our 'Vitamin Me' Queensland section of our big lap?

First off we’ll start in Goondiwindi, moving on through St. George and Roma to Charleville. On to Blackall and Longreach (our Winnebago model name and home to the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Museum!), then east to Emerald and down to Rockhampton. North to Mackay then inland again to Charters Towers before dropping back down to revisit wonderful Townsville. North on the Bruce Highway through Tully, Gordonvale and Cairns to Port Douglas and finally Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula. From here, south again across the Atherton Tablelands turning west through Hughendon and Cloncurry to Mount Isa.

DID YOU KNOW:

QANTAS actually stands for QUEENSLAND and Northern Territory Aerial Service!

_______________________________________________________

HOT TIP: Want to complete your own BIG LAP of Queensland and beyond? Flying in to Brisbane check-out Brisbane Motorhomes or Apollo Campervans or use the Camper Van Hire Australia website. Flying in to Cairns check-out Motorhomes In Cairns. There are many more more depending on your budget including Maui, Wicked, Britz, and many many more. WARNING: ensure that you get FULL INSURANCE because you never know when a Roo will bounce infront of you!

_______________________________________________________

I know that we’ll be welcomed wherever we go. I know that whether free camping or checking in to Big Rig caravan parks that we’ll meet so many wonderful friendly people. I know that the locations will be to die for. That the roads will be well kept and the parks will offer clean water and dump points, BBQs and modern facilities. That there will be dozens and dozens of cafés and restaurants en-route. That the scenery will be incredible from the Glass House Mountains to the wide expanses of sapphire blue ocean right up to the rainforests of the north. That the sands will be golden and soft and welcoming. That there will be parrots and kangaroos, crocodiles and fish, wombats and everything else which makes Queenslands fauna so very special. That we will find casual work on one of the many plantations and farms. That there will be fresh produce to buy from stalls by the road side. But most of all I know that the $5000 will be going straight back in to the economy of Queensland, a State which has more than its fair share of dramatic and devastating weather. That money will support, even in a small way, the tourist industry which makes Queensland available to all of us.

You see, that the $5000 prize is not just about 'Vitamin Me'. It’s about the real stars of Queensland, the people that make each and every one of us feel as though we’re welcome in their lounge, 'Vitamin Them'.

Education - ROI ?

2012-02-02T16:50:00.000+11:00

Sitting around waiting for this house to sell has led me to do quite a lot of thinking. And more thinking. And even more thinking. There are two professions which have always attracted me but at different stages in my life. I already have two degrees, a BSc and a MSc plus 2 PGDips. How many more can I collect? Actually - step back - think.

Why would I want another degree?
To get in to a different profession? TICK
To work in an area which pays more money? TICK
To pass the time on the road? TICK
To keep my brain working and active? TICK
To improve my knowledge in a subject area? TICK

When do the costs outweigh ROI?
UK degree courses are now averaging a student debt post degree of GBP53,000, wow! How lucky was I in the days of free education. I completed both my degrees, both of my PGDips and my HND at the expense of the State - FREE.

Degrees in Australia are costed on a different system. Which seems to be think of a number depending on the University and it's reputation. Perhaps that is still true of the more obvious institutions in the UK and USA, Harvard and MIT, Oxford and Cambridge are examples of higher fees for the more prestigious degree roll. At the beginning of a career this might prove very important, depending on the profession of course but later in life, it can hardly be worth the extra cash. Some fields are much more expensive and I happen to desire a very expensive field of study. The attainment of the degree will bring in a lot of income but I just can't bring myself to sign the cheque for $24,000 plus! That takes into account the three years of study getting a free year on account I have an appropriate Masters degree. So what now? Well, I have Plan B. But at the moment I'm in 'thinking' mode. Researching degrees and courses including VET courses. I have ideas which include getting on a professional video course so that I can make the most from the XA10, and also to complete the PADI Instructor rating so I can make use of that as we travel around. There are lots of other ways to make money on the road and I have a notebook full of them. But, once we come back down to real life and find a single location where we want to live, what then? I'm likely to have 15-20 yrs of working life left and I don't want to sit on my arse doing nothing. There is writing of course - I can never give that up.

Thinking..............................

2012-01-26T16:49:00.001+11:00

Australia Day January 26th 2012

We first arrived in Australia on 24th November 2007. Today at 10:40am at the Laycock Theatre in Gosford, we took the pledge and became Australian Citizens.

Given that this blog has always been about the journey to get here, to settle and in the end to become citizens, then it would seem that the journey is now over!

Bloody car drivers

2012-01-19T14:12:00.000+11:00

From what I've seen of car drivers in New South Wales, why would anyone choose to ride a bike amongst them? I'm not talking motorbike. They have the ability to twist out of trouble, I'm talking those without engines. Over the years I've done my fair share of cycling, but never on the roads - no seriously - why would I? I don't have a death wish after all. While I was studying for my Masters - having very little money - trying to bring up and pay for childcare at the same time as working nights etc - I had no choice but to ride a bike to University every day. I was maybe very lucky in that I lived part way along the Coast to Coast bike route which ran right across the UK. I had maybe 100 FEET on road. I could peddle on paths from my home and along tracks to get to the C2C which was built from disused railway lines and designated sections through parks. It was a grind especially in bad weather but I had no choice. It was a straight 12 miles in and 12 miles back. The upside of this was that I gave up smoking at the same time. I was already fit as a lop so didn't lose weight but it was cheap, if time consuming. There were a few steep inclines and peddling was hard and by the end of a tiring week I'd often walk up these hills instead. Going in to University meant that I could lock the bike at the bike shed and use the sports centre facilities to cool down and shower before heading in to the lecture rooms. I would not have done it if I'd had to use main roads. Simply too dangerous. Cars are lethal weapons. People are basically bad drivers no matter what the country.

I was engaged by the recent Shane Warne incident where he claimed to have had a cyclist hold on to his car through traffic and then block the road in front. Of course his biggest mistake was going public about it. But why would he go public if he was in fact in the wrong. Why not just fade away and hope no-one noticed it? As for the cyclist who was quickly quoted as saying that if Warne paid for his bike he'd take it no further. The police had decided to take no further action. So who is telling the truth?

I've been on both sides of this argument. I know who I believe. I used to spend a LOT of time, with work, in London and York. There's quite a bike commuting culture in both cities. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I could see cyclists every few minutes 'resting' on the back of cars at traffic lights, instead of having to unclip their shoes from their peddles. I've seen more than one incident where a car driver has got out of their seat to tell the cyclist to get off his property and I've seen many a cyclist stick the finger up at the car driver.

Just the other day close to my own home a lycra clad cyclist - clearly someone in training or trying to maintain fitness, who was in the bike lane swerved unexpectedly right in front of me. There was glass on the road and he didn't want to run over it. He also didn't want to slow down. He didn't look over his shoulder, he didn't indicate he was about to make a sudden move into my path. There was an island in the middle of the road, I could not swerve to miss him so I had to slam on the brakes. He looked at me as though I was a monster. Had I been unable, or quick enough to react I would have hit him and it would have been my fault! Or so it seems everyone would have claimed. Thankfully I had witnesses had an incident occurred.

What is likely to get people's backs up is the culture of litigation that these people have. Some websites in fact actively promote where to go and who to contact if there has been an incident. It's going to be next to impossible to prove who was at fault in most cases unless there were reliable witnesses. In the main it seems the car driver is mostly deemed at fault. Some cyclists (see YouTube) are posting footage (having video cameras on the front of their bikes) which show them 'running in' to the sides of cars - I kid you not - and openly claiming that they're going for an insurance payout. Cyclists wonder why motorists have a grudge!

I was knocked off my motorcycle in 2001. A woman driving a large SUV turned across the front of me into a golf course. I bust my collarbone and wrist and the bike was almost a write off. All this at 40mph. She claimed that I was in the pillar of her vehicle and she had not seem me. Her insurance paid for everything. My insurer was very keen that I make a separate claim against her in court for damages. They told me I'd easily get some 18,000 pounds. I never claimed. I don't believe in it. Yes I was hurt and yes I did spend time off work but my employer had 100% sick coverage and I didn't need anything special, just healing time and some physio and being in the UK - that was all free. She hardly turned in to me on purpose and the woman was beside herself with grief. I simply do NOT believe in litigation for the sake of litigation. Some people seem to make a career out of it. It's their very first thought. What can I screw this person for! One day the boot will be on the other foot and someone will try to hold them accountable. I won't feel sorry for them.

The problem for cyclists seems to be that they actively ride in dangerous places. Peak rush hour traffic amongst lines of cars. As for cycle lanes well most councils are playing at it. The lanes are usually not worth bothering about. They're hard shoulders with a bike painted in them, what use is that! Full of rubbish and crap thrown across by cars ready to puncture tyres. You want to 'train' then use a velodrome or purpose built training track which is SAFE. You want a nice ride out in the countryside, ride on a cycle path. It can hardly be relaxing to ride on busy roads! As for Sydney. Two patches of road painted green called purpose built cycle lanes. Who is she kidding! How many people live at one end of the lane and work at the other? Promote cycling as an alternative to car use? Hello! How many people live in the middle of Sydney? How many of them would prefer to use a bike? Don't know. Well you should know because that is how pressure is brought to bear for change. In all my time travelling in to Sydney on the train I saw the same one person take his bike on to the train. I might have seen 2 or 3 riding to the station. On average a train in peak hour arrives with some 2000 people on board it! That's one in 2000! But then I know the train before it and after it had no cyclists on board as I sometimes caught them too. So realistically that's 1 in 6000 passengers! That's not enough for change. Now then, have free bikes at the station at the other end!!!! You might get some interest.

Have you seen Australia? Big isn't it. Long distances between towns and cities. In fact it takes some 4-5 hours just to clear the country in an aircraft from Sydney flying north. It's not flat either. Unlike say Holland, a country of reclaimed flat land. Easy to ride a bike in Holland isn't it? Fancy riding from Sydney to Port Macquarie? It's just not possible is it. Besides which, is would physically kill most people. Then there are the elderly needing a trip to hospital. Get on a bike? I don't think so. Planners are short sighted. They are mostly reactive and seldom innovative in their solutions. People are not interested in supporting anything which costs them money. I'm saddened that there is not more support for bike riders to have compulsory insurance. After all, why should the car driver if not at fault, have to pick up the bill for his own repairs when the cyclist just buggered off into the sunset with no way to identify them? You see it's a one sided argument. Cyclists think they own the road and so do car drivers. The thing is that the vehicle owners DO own the road, don't you get it?

Japan - a bloody nation.

2012-01-11T15:14:00.005+11:00

Had a fantastic time with Rob and Lara over Xmas and New Year. In fact it was incredible. Looking forward to seeing them again very soon.

The year ahead is full on. At the moment we're playing the waiting game. Waiting to sell the house! Once its gone and sold, it will be full steam ahead. There is so much on the to-buy and to-do list its quite mind blowing.

I'm going to stick to historical blogging from now on mainly to keep our dreams our own and prevent the stalkers sticking their nose in where it's not wanted and copying (GoPro2 case in point).

I am saddened by recent events with Japanese whalers. How many whales do they need to kill for their scientific research? Come on do they think the world is stupid! It's the same with killing dolphins at Taiji. What part of "whaling is illegal" do they not understand? It's barbaric, but then they are barbaric people with a bloody past. They are a selfish race and to be frank Tokyo can be as clean as it can I'm still not going anywhere near Japan while they are killing ocean mammals. Isn't there enough killing on this planet without ensuring everything is wiped out. What happens when animals and oceans are devoid of life what then? Can you imagine a world where all that there is, is farmed animals and people. Is it too hard for even the simplest of people to comprehend. When all the sharks are dead, then what?

It seems that Sea Shepherd are the only one's willing to do something, anything to bring this to the attention of the Australian government. Talk about pushing their luck. The Japanese had a harpoon ship off Macquarie Island today. How far are they going to push it? To the point where the people demand a ship be dispatched to defend one of our biggest TOURIST pulls - protection of the whales that we all love and enjoy to watch so much during their migration. It's all about money of course. We wouldn't want to upset the Japanese too much incase we can't buy their cars! Hello! We'll just have to buy Aussie built cars then won't we! If the world puts a trade enbargo on Japan they'll sharp stop their whaling activities the problem is that governments don't have the bottle or just consider the economy much more important.

Come on Julia Gillard - if you can have the balls to introduce a carbon tax, you can have the balls to take Japan to an international court to stop them killing WHALES and DOLPHINS.

Oh! The Places You'll Go - Dr. Seuss

2012-01-09T14:08:00.002+11:00

See what the interpid pair get up to in Aussie !

2012-01-05T15:55:00.000+11:00

NYE2012 Sydney Midnight Fireworks

2012-01-03T15:08:00.000+11:00

Christmas Week

2012-01-01T23:32:00.004+11:00

Rob and Lara do Sydney!

Busy, busy, busy!

Taronga Zoo
Surfing Umina Beach
Country Club
Umina RSL Club
Palm Beach
Jenolan Caves (River Cave)
Mount Victoria
Echo Point (Blue Mountains)
Scenic World
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth
Sydney Tower & 4D Eye
Blue Room (River cruise NYE2012)
Opera House
The Rocks Market (Closed !)
Reptile Park
Sydney Acquarium & Wildlife World
Manly
More Surfing !

2011-12-23T14:32:00.000+11:00

Wishing you all a very

Merry Christmas

And a healthy and happy 2012

With Happy travels and exciting adventures

xxxxxxxxx

2011-12-20T14:28:00.001+11:00

Copy copy copy cat

2011-12-20T13:48:00.001+11:00

So why do people copy other people?

Case in point = GoPro Hero HD. I wrote about it on the blog and guess what? My research et al - copied. Homer the Stalker went out and bought one. Why? Probably because it was yet another example of stealing someone else's best ideas. For people like me who come up with the original thought (and why I'd find it useful), it's annoying, which will give Homer the Stalker great pleasure of course. We have not bought the Hero HD yet, mainly because they were selling them off for a reason - the Hero2 was due out which is the one we'll get, when we get round to it along with the professional XA10 (Homer the Stalker can't afford one of those).

So why do people like Homer the Stalker copy people like you and me? Insecurity? The Keeping up with the Jones' ideal? Lack of imagination? The very thought that someone owns something they haven't got? Well, all of the above.

Certainly, people who copy usually do so to emulate the person and / or their lifestyle. Now, there are different levels of copying right? I can quite easily pop out to a local shop and return with the best ever idea for measuring flour (which I actually have) and I would not be surprised if everyone that saw it would trot off to the same shop to purchase exactly the same object. This is hardly trend setting, it's common sense.

We see common objects in different guises and family and friends take interest, see the sense in it and purchase the same item. But, there it stops. People who are jealous of other people or who can't stand the thought of those people having something which they haven't got, are beyond purchasing something because it is useful. They want to emulate 'everything' that a person does. To my way of thinking this can become downright freaky but they think that there is nothing odd in this behaviour in fact, they even think they thought of it first! Take video footage as an example. Who came up with the idea first? Well actually I have some fab ideas for how to use the Hero2 and what its going to be attached to. Putting it down on here though would give away that idea and give Homer the Stalker yet another opportunity to copy. Now then, I could go into a great deal of detail about how some people copy others. Name situations, qualifications, items, objects, in fact, all manner of things but that would be a bit close to the truth to put in writing on a public site and I'm not that stupid.

Which category of copier do you fall into?

Are you trying to own a house which is similar to someone else? Copying cars or motorbikes? Copying worldwide travel plans or hobbies? Copying ambitions? Copying educational aspirations?

Is your obsession going further? Creating fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter? Going to the same cafe's? Shopping at the same location? Can't stop reading blogs and postings in fact anything to get a glimpse of how other people are living?

At the end of the day do you need help?

Therapy?

Counselling?

Or just a punch on the nose!

Religion free Christmas

2011-12-19T13:16:00.001+11:00

Can there be such as thing as a religion free Christmas?

Australia is a Christian country and therefore the Christian agenda sets the public holiday calendar. To this end, Christian or otherwise, the seasonal holidays for December centre around the religious practice of celebrating the birth of Christ. So, what about people of other religions? Are they kicking off about most of the Western world closing up shop on Christmas Day? Just wondering! As an atheist, Christmas as a religious festival means bugger all to me. But the seasonal hype is difficult to escape. As an individual, there is no reason to follow the date trail. We wouldn't be attending any religious ceremonies so what is 25th December to us? Actually, it's nothing more than a day in the year where there is very little to do because most of the businesses are closed. There is less to do in Port Macquarie, where everything really is closed. The Central Coast has slightly less regulated businesses, so the clubs are open, as indeed no doubt are the petrol stations. We for one are making good use of the local club, as they are serving Christmas dinner on Christmas day - so that's where we'll be. It's also a hefty load cheaper than we paid in the UK - dollar for pound! I'm sure it will be a holiday camp atmosphere. After all, most Australia bowling clubs have that working man's club feel about them. Nevertheless, it's a good place to spend an otherwise incredibly lazy day.

In future, we won't be sticking to 25th December, unless of course we are overseas and have no choice. We're more likely to celebrate turkey and cranberry sauce day, on the 28th December instead (this year it will be Boxing Day as that is the day we pick Rob and Lara up from the airport). This allows us to make full use of the post Christmas sales, which usually start on Boxing Day, where we can get everything on-sale from food, drink and especially those presents. I never did understand what the giving of gifts had to do with Christmas anyway - not really. Christmas in modern decades is more about Coca Cola than anything religious. I mean think about it. What is the link between a birth and Christmas pudding, rum sauce, Christmas cake, cracker pulling, decorations, Christmas trees, tinsel, sending greetings cards or anything else out of the retail cupboard? Correct - absolutely nothing.

The only aspect of Christmas tradition I love is the singing of carols. The human voice is a wonderful thing and the singing of carols a wonderful sound. This no more makes me religious than using Oh My God as an expression. Although thick people seem to think that anyone using the phrase must be religious by association! Morons. I'm sure they think that people who eat turkey and cranberry or indulge in pudding and rum sauce must also be religious!

I have no intention of telling people what they should believe in. If people want to believe that there is a super natural being floating around the universe on a giant cloud, that's their business. Similarly if they want to believe that the human spirit is a thing, which somehow also floats around on that giant cloud, go for it. I don't believe any of this. When your heart stops beating, the brain dies and with it your consciousness. The lights go out and there is nothing more. Otherwise, heaven would be full of the spirits of everything that has ever existed including the humble mouse, dolphins and dinosaurs. To have a brain is to have conscious thought. The animal world, of which we are part, have brains which to some degree think. So heaven, is pretty full of everything that ever existed and has died! Errr, come on people. It was OK in the dark and middle ages when law came in the form of that little all encompassing book of moral tales but have you not advanced your thinking since then? Never mind. If you wish to waste your life wondering about what you will do in the next life, get on with it.

I on the other hand have accepted that thankfully, when the lights dim and go out, there will be simply, nothing!

Sometimes.........

2011-12-18T17:44:00.001+11:00

you need nothing more than good friends, good conversation & good food

Never ending BUCKET LIST

2011-12-15T16:48:00.000+11:00

At what point do we stop adding to the bucket list!
2011
Highlights we ticked off:

Compass Expeditions Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) by BMW GS650
Hong Kong - Disneyland, Big Buddha
Quarantine Station, Manly
Rabbitohs NRL Season Pass
Billy Connolly at the Opera House in Sydney
Robin Williams, Walking with Dinosaurs, Better Homes and Gardens
Whale watching off Palm Beach
Bundanoon is Brigadoon, NSW
Royal Easter Show, Sydney Olympic Park
HMAS Adelaide (Wreck Diving Course) off the Central Coast of NSW
Keeper for the Day, Taronga Zoo
Diving TRUK LAGOON on MV Odyssey incl. Guam
MotoGP Philip Island
Darwin City visit
Blue Room Sydney Harbour NYE

2012 and beyond.......

House sale (when?)
Global Atheist Conference - Melbourne (April)
Take possession of the Winnebago
Diving Port Lincoln - Rodney Fox cage diving with Great White Sharks
Diving President Coolidge - Vanuatu
California - Nevada - Arizona - New Mexico Road Trip (April / May?)
Diving Ark Venture - Maldives (July?)
UK - incl. Titanic Museum Belfast (September)
Peregrine - Crossing the Antarctic Circle (December)
Diving USS Oriskany - Florida
Compass Expeditions Santiago / Macchu Pichu (April 2013)
South Africa
Diving Cocos Island - Argo, Undersea Hunter or Aggressor Fleet

Education

2011-12-15T14:41:00.000+11:00

I have for many years, as some of you know, been toying with completing a PhD. I can't hope to get back into University teaching at the level at which I left it in the UK, unless I have the bloody piece of paper which states PhD. The closest I came to getting a Senior Lecturing role (lower than my UK level) was at Newcastle University. They did all the right head nodding etc but when it came right down to the wire it was between two of us, and they appointed the person with the PhD as they were able to bring the extra kudos with regard to publications. At the time I thought well f%^k them then and thought I might complete a PhD anyway!

Looking back at my career now I can honestly say that I fell in to lecturing. I started out in Outdoor Education teaching skiing, the Duke of Edinburgh's award, canoeing and mountaineering. I gained high qualifications over the years in all of those sports but when I wrapped myself round one too many trees and bust my right knee, that was the end of that! Moving forward, I fell into IT, teaching that at a training level to unemployed youngsters. Back to school for a BSc followed by an MSc I had a taste of operational research. I then applied for, landed and quickly got promoted up the government ladder in Operational Research Project Management and that is where I should have stayed. Instead I combined ORPM with training in the Oil and Gas sector, a job which took me around the world, the problem was that I had always wanted to get in to University teaching and eventually I was head hunted and landed a top role in Sheffield. I stuck at that for almost 10 years and to be honest, should have stayed there for the security and the prospects. However, I twisted their arms into giving me voluntary redundancy (they offered me promotion!), so that we could come out to Australia and that is where the fairy tale ends.

As you know dear reader, employment has been a long hard slog here in NSW. To say that has been disappointing is an understatement. I have the paper trail, I have the academic publications but I still can't break in at the level I want to. Now, I've given up. I'm sick of training and of trying to teach people who are more in the system as a way of boosting their CV as opposed to people who actually want to 'learn'. Education is a commodity of necessity, no longer the home of the privileged intelligent. The classroom is filled with people more interested in facebooking on their phones than on listening to the lecturer. My only recent taste of old fashioned education was teaching the Chinese post grad students at CSU. They didn't have smart phones and they spent every lecture listening and taking notes. THAT is what teaching is about. Sadly, University's are filled with students who simply don't want to be in the lecture theatre. So why would any sane person want to be in there trying to teach them?

The attraction in the UK was without doubt the 36 days paid leave, on top of the whole of the summer break spent at home and most of the rest of the time I worked from home anyway. I got paid an obscene amount of money and had a massive pension plan. The Australian system is no way near as lucrative. Leave is a mere 20 days per year plus standard BH's. Pension plans are currently under scrutiny as UniSuper comes under attack for not being able to meet the future demands of those about to retire. Look at it like this and who would want to be an Aussie lecturer when there are no real incentives? In the end the teaching system, is yet another job and little more unless you are very high up in your field and have established a strong research publication portfolio.

The other problem with completing a PhD is time. A full time PhD in real terms takes 6+ years even though you won't hear that from a Uni trying to attract someone to do it. The aim of the PhD is to further the body of knowledge for the subject. This will always mean a massive amount of research and reading other people's books and academic texts on the chosen subject while a huge part of the task, is not enough. A potential PhD student must develop and often write a method for the collection of new and widespread data. There is no point in doing local studies, especially in a State such as NSW as the research population would be too small and the study too narrow to hold any water. A geographical study in the UK is much easier given the density of the population and access to the wider European population.

Who wants to devote 6 years to full time study, reading academic texts, writing surveys and continually gathering and analysing complex data? No thanks - not anymore.

So, what do I want to study? Well, I want out of the education and teaching network. I don't want to do any more industrial training. I don't want to write any more teaching or training materials. I want to study something that I have 'always' wanted to study!

When I was about to leave school I tabled the matter of University degrees at home. Some of you might know that my early relationship with my Mother was more than strained. The conversation went something like - I'd like to be a ______. No dear, study something much easier than that, you're not clever enough!

I'm 50 years old, I have degrees with distinctions to show my capability and have a tested IQ of 158. I think I can cope with most subjects!

To this end, I have chosen the University, and the degree. If I am accepted, I can complete the degree in 3 years instead of 4 as I can obtain advanced standing as I hold a Masters degree, and year one would mostly be proving I could study, read and write academic papers. It's not a PhD, its not another Master's - it is much, much more lucrative. It's a career I have 'always' wanted to do and once qualified I will have a minimum of 15 years in the workforce using it.

I want to go back to full time study for the following reasons:

a) Because I can
b) I can afford to
c) My brain is not being used to it's full capacity
d) The earning potential is massive
e) I can set my own schedule
f) Work from home (kind of)

The only foreseeable problem / issue:

Studying full time while on the road! Yes, this is going to be a huge problem.

Any guesses on my chosen study subject?

All change!

2011-12-13T17:05:00.001+11:00

Had an important interview last Friday but you'll just have to wait for a month or two before we release info on that one. Tried to find a bookshop that had moved from Ultimo to an unknown location! Popped in to Paddy's in Sydney for some stocking fillers. Had another open house with no-one turn up. Got a buyer for the house but they have to sell theirs and get somewhere near their asking price before they can offer on ours! Received the official all-clear letter from the cardiologist on the PFO.

Apart from that.........................

We won two massive hams in the Country Club ham raffle. We also won some PlayDoh in the Umina toy raffle (errr WTF?). We've chosen where to have Christmas day dinner! Got the official lanyards for the Blue Room for our NYE11 harbour cruise. Booked and paid for the Sydney Sofitel for NYE, single night only. Tracking around the websites trying to find a hotel room for just the one night proved that they are not willing to let anyone stay for just the one night - seems that 2 or 3 nights are the going minimum. Once I logged in to my Gold Accor A-Club card suddenly the doors opened up and we got two rooms for $450 per room for the one night. That's more like it! Sorted out Rob and Lara's eVISA's online - note to self - do the same for our USA visit 2012 (using the ESTA system).

Since packing in full time work - I've slowly got more bored and more bored. I 'am' writing of course but what about the boredom! Decided to go back to full time study. Completing this on the road is going to be a sensational challenge, a BIG challenge, but I'm up for it. As I already have a Masters degree the course I want to do can be cut from 4 years to 3 years. I won't be saying what the subject is, not live on the blog anyway till I've hopefully - passed it all in 3 years time! I'll be posting about that on the travel blog and on Facebook to keep things inside the friendship circle.

Have narrowed down the storage options for our house contents. Probably going with PODS at Blacktown as they are not only cheap but the whole process is a damned site easier than getting removal vans to transfer our contents to Erina or Gosford.

Heart beat

2011-12-03T12:50:00.001+11:00

Having to leave the house at 8am on Friday to walk up for the public Bus to Woy Woy then on to Gosford Hospital reminded me of why I own cars! I was at the Cardiac dept. front desk by 10am and the procedure started at 10:30am on the dot. It was really straightforward and relatively quick but I'm guessing that had they actually found something then they might have spent more time exploring. First off I had a chest ultrasound which was interesting to watch. Then the consultant cardiologist stuck a cannula in my right arm into which the nurse pushed two lots of semi-conscious drugs. Now they felt very nice! A plastic mouth guard was next and then the endoscope was inserted in through the mouth guard. I'd already had a large gulp of anaesthetic to the back of my throat but I was fully conscious of it all. This relaxed my body so that I would not gag on the foreign object in my throat. He had a good look around and commented that it was rare to have the chance to see the perfect heart. Usually they are looking at people who are really ill and no doubt see all manner of problems. After a lot of hmmm-ing and oo-ing he grinned, said everything looked great and wrapped up with off to the ward then. Talk about relaxed, I was well spaced out. Hence why the bus and not drive. Chris was in the waiting area and he came through to watch me sleep it off till they released me at 1pm. Straight in for warm coffee and a sarnie and a walk to Gosford station, train to Woy Woy and pretty much straight on the bus back to Umina. Sorted!

Let me remind you that the reason I was attending the Cardiac clinic was after I had a skin bend while diving in Truk Lagoon. The bend was across my stomach and after consulting Divers Alert Network they advised me that often a skin bend occurs in people who have a hole in the heart - a Patent Foramen Ovale - and continuing to dive with a PFO can increase the chances of getting full blown decompression illness. So, not diving until I found out. The trans esophageal echo (the tube down my throat into my stomach) shows the activity of the heart and the movement of blood through the chambers. If there is a hole then the blood is shunted through the hole instead of passing through the chambers. If there is a mini clot - which is usually filtered out through the action of the lungs - the clot can pass through the hole and continue on to the brain - STROKE!

Thankfully - the TOE is used to show up all manner of problems inside the heart such as murmurs, valve problems, thickening, fat deposits etc. The result of the test shows that my heart is 100% in good condition. Everything is working as it should be and there are no visible signs of anything abnormal which is awesome news. I am STOKED!

This of course should not lead to complacency. I've spent my life healthily (kind of) with a low fat low sugar diet with just about everything in moderation. I am an ex-smoker it must be said but it also shows that if you give up the horrid weed, exercise and live a healthy lifestyle it helps to keep the heart fit. When I was younger sport was a big part of my life. Skiing, rock climbing, a lot of mountain walking. In mid life, swimming has been my thing. Especially when preparing for my diving courses and instructor ratings. Has all of that paid off? I've never over done it but I have watched some of my friends take exercise too far and at least one of them has heart problems related to excess exercise!!! My grandfather used to say - everything in moderation - the old wives tales are pretty accurate when you think about it!

So - what this means is that I do not have a PFO (where 30% of the population DO and don't know about it) and no heart problems at all. My skin bend was probably due to excess diving on that day. I had after all done 4 day dives and a night dive! Five dives per day at 50 years old! I am one of those who has not even thought about my age and slowing down to accommodate it. Perhaps I need to listen. The upshot of this is that I need to limit my nitrogen exposure for multiple dives to a more sensible 3 or 4. I have a relatively small build compared to Chris who did exactly the same dives that day but his build is bigger. Plus, I have considerable scar tissue in that area of the stomach from emergency gall bladder surgery. On the subsequent dive 40 hours later, the purple mottling returned but was localised to the scar tissue. So I am susceptible to skin bends around the damaged skin but NOT susceptible to DCI as a result of a PFO. I am even now breathing a sigh of relief - this is after all my most loved sport and to not be able to do it would be a deep sadness.

So ..................... where is the next trip to be?

Tidying up

2011-11-27T15:28:00.001+11:00

Sooner or later everything we have will be going in to storage. I've got mixed feeling about this. Firstly it's going to cost money to store our 'house contents' and by that I mean a few hundred per month if we chose a locked up big-named-storage facility which is local on the Central Coast. The price goes up considerably the closer in to Sydney we go. There is no way around this really apart from finding a buyer who will by the house completely furnished. An idea for an investor who might be willing to shell out on older furniture but we're unlikely to realise the value of our goods so effectively its a no-no. We both love our belongings. We're hardly indulgent in our tastes and so don't have anything which is ridiculous in value. I think the most expensive would be the leather lounge suite which came in at close to $7k and we're not too keen on replacing that in our life time. The idea of spending so much on the contents was so that they would last out our life time and I believe they will. They are suitably neutral and their design is lasting, which means that no matter what the 'fashion' is out there, we'll always look relatively in date. So, no choice. Pay the storage fees and be done with it. That's how it goes. I won't post on here our final choices for storage - bit obvious to the web watching stalker or crook - but it is well north of Sydney and cheap. Sadly, we will have to collect our belongings at some point and shipping interstate is not going to be cheap either but that's the direction we're headed in. That's life I guess.

I've been thinking about eBaying some final items but to be honest we brought some items with us from the UK and they will be unknown to the Australian buying audience so really, what's the point. To get them to buy them in the UK will mean international shipping and given they are Lorna Bailey pieces I wouldn't bet on their chances of making it to UK shores in one piece. Might take them back to the UK next year in hand luggage and sell them using Rob's address. That way I can target the main purchasing market and get a fair price for the items. They are rare but not to NSW! Apart from that, there isn't anything in the house or the garage apart from a bed or two worth passing on. We may or may not store the spare beds. The ideal is that we have a two / three bedroom design drawn up when we do come to build. The third bedroom designed in such a way that we can use it as a study but any future purchaser can see the house as a three bedroomed house.

I've been running down the store cupboard and supplies in the larder. We can't store foodstuffs or chemicals or liquids of any time so they have to go with us or be donated to family. Or we may just leave some items of general use on the shelves in the garage. At the moment all we're doing is planning and planning and planning .........................

Even when its raining....

2011-11-27T14:03:00.001+11:00

Australian rain is not as dull or grey as UK rain. Having said that it was raining on the Central Coast over the weekend we were in Darwin and it hadn't stopped by Saturday morning. Thankfully, it has now stopped and we've gone to the other extreme with temperatures in the low thirties. The ground has thankfully dried out so Chris is having a chance to catch up on finishing off the bottom of the outside walls around the house. The north facing walls are the worst where the salt is leaching through the mortar in between the bricks causing the paint to bubble. A hard scrub with the wire brush and the paint comes off and after that, we've got exterior wall paint going on. The colour match is 99.9% close to the original - amazing as I did it by eye - and anyone looking would not know the difference unless they had been told it was recently painted. He's painting up to a natural wall level where there are bricks which stick out in a band right round the house. Well done to Chris. It will certainly add to the curb appeal where potential buyers can definitely look at the house now and see that apart from the rear garden - there is nothing at all to do but move the furniture inside. That said - apart from a viewer who is coming on Monday, and still an unreal number of people driving by - we have heard nothing since the last open house. This, the last weekend in November, is supposed to be the busiest time of the year in the Australian housing market! Really? Well, we have not seen any evidence of that at all. Our next house, wherever and whenever that might materialise will need careful thought and much more planning. We are also now truly convinced that the way to keep the cash pot topped up, is to build which gains more equity in the property and cuts out the ridiculous stamp duty that is payable on second hand houses. The words 'never' and 'again' spring to mind.

Have to complete the paperwork for the annual insurance for the Outlander this week. Talked to Sydney RV Centre to ask about where we are at with the Winnebago - all is going great guns - just need to sell the house to pay the balance off and get on the road. Got some household bills too and that will be it for 2011 as far as costs go, I reckon.

Rob and Lara are due out on Boxing day and it's looking more and more likely that we will be commuting in to Sydney from Umina Beach rather than having a city apartment as their main location. But who knows. If we get a buyer in the next few weeks who is ready to go we could in theory get out household contents in to storage, and Bob in to Debbie, and have to hang out in Sydney over Xmas and NYE - but I doubt it! That said it will be another round of Sydney Tower, QVB, The Rocks, perhaps another Bridge Climb, (Lara fancies) Skydiving on to the Beach, Aquarium, Wildlife park, Taronga Zoo, Manly Ocean-world, Manly surfing lessons? Manly ferry, Paddy's market, IMAX (will MI3 still be showing!), the Reptile Park and the local beaches either from home or perhaps from the Mantra (but I doubt the latter!).

I downloaded and have been getting to grips with Scrivener, now that its fully functional for Windows. Liking it - a lot.............

Darwin, Northern Territory

2011-11-21T17:17:00.001+11:00

Medina VIBE Hotel and waterfront complex

Darwin was destroyed in 1974 by Cyclone Tracy so what is on display now is new from then as the town was completely wiped out. Walking around Darwin, it becomes clear real quick that everything is modern and new. There is little of that old town detritus which dogs say Sydney as the whole place was cleared just under 40 years ago. Buildings and streets are fresh. modern and without the graffiti of older city buildings. It is clean and well presented and there is lots to see. There is a historical walk which passes all of the rebuilt older buildings such as parliament and the police station.

We looked at hiring a car. We got various quotes but they all stacked up in the region of $150 for two days with full insurance. With an excess of $3000 only a fool would pass up on the extra $30 per day which brings that excess down to $300 but all the same we decided that we'd wait to explore the outer reaches of the city when we pass through in the motor home. Whenever that might be! We did a little research and found that the public bus service costs $2 each no matter where the pick up and drop off is so that was a no brainer. Given that a taxi one way from the airport is some $30 - bus it was. The only downer is that the local indigenous population make use of their free bus passes (a great deal seems to be free for them). So what, I can hear you say. Well, they are not the cleanest of people. We had the pleasure of sitting in front of a guy who stank of urine! Nice! Most of them got off at the government housing complex so we could breath again for the last few stops to the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre.

The Aviation Centre brags the only B52 Strato-Fortress in the southern hemisphere. It is a very big bird indeed. Really impressive with her 8 massive engine. The bomb bay houses a DVD/TV display talk of the history of the B52 and of the heritage centre. Recommended. Well worth a few hours of anyone's time. For us - Chris hooked on aircraft after his time working on aircraft in the RAF and me growing up in an RAF family - we both found the history, the aircraft and the displays extremely interesting. We'll be dropping in to Duxford on our next UK trip as Chris hasn't been there and I've also recommended the main US aerospace museum in Washington DC - now that really is an awesome place to visit.

Darwin is an awesome place to visit. Clean and modern it has a high proportion of indigenous people who do seem to follow the stereotype of lazy, sitting around doing nothing with bottles in brown paper bags taking advantage of all of the freebies on offer. That's not to say a lot of them could be in local work of course! Are they? Who knows.

We've booked the air-transfer bus for a 5:30am collection in the morning and now we're chilling in Fiddler's Green with a few beers in advance of an early night, with an early start. Looking forward to returning in the Winnebago with Bobby.

On the house front. We've had a couple from Booker Bay through who look to be our first potential buyers. They've been back to view it today but have to sell their own house. Given that its up for $450 they have a better chance of selling quickly as its in that desirable / cheaper price bracket. We'll see how it goes. The impression is that they own that house outright and have talked to the bank about financing a larger house so it's looking promising! No open house this coming weekend due to the change of strategy. Then we're in to December. I'm kind of hoping that it sells with a closing date of after Xmas now as that will save a considerable amount on hotel bills while Rob and Lara are over here. But we definitely could do with selling it in January at the latest so we can get going.

Always Learning

2011-11-18T21:29:00.001+11:00

Crocosaurus Cove - two dozen young ones cooling in the shade!

Just dropped in on the TV channels back in the hotel room to see some images of recognisable locations. Why recognisable? Because we recognised the awesome scenery of the Waterfall Way in NSW. Where are we at the moment? Darwin in the Northern territory. So it does seem a little odd to see tourism advertisements for the Waterfall way, but of course we'd see such from a different state!

That aside.

We flew into Darwin yesterday on the same day that President Obama was actually on the ground in the same city. How odd to see Air Force One parked on the other side of the airfield. Well I say odd, incredible in fact. No doubt the closest we'll ever get to the leader of the free world!

Passing through the airport was effortless. It reminds me of Cairns as it was in 2005. Small and personal and impossible to get lost or disorientated in. At the exit doors was a small stand advertising the transfer bus into town. Easy. Tell the helpful lady which hotel we would like dropping off at and on to the waiting mini coach. Ten minutes of straight forward traffic on the outskirts and inner roads of the city and we were at the undercover main doors. Four minutes later and we were in our room at the Vibe hotel on the waterfront. This is what all cities should be like but sadly this is the last of the small scale Australian cities (of course we have yet to visit Adelaide!).

The room did not have too much by way of information so we had to rely on a small map and the Internet. Never mind. We settled for Fiddlers Green, the Irish bar / restaurant across the park at the waterfront side of the hotel. Job done.

On our first real 'day' we headed straight downstairs to the Coffee Club. The helpful young barista gave us directions for the footbridge above the hotel which would lead us straight in to town and perhaps we could try the Crocodile exhibit on Mitchell Street. Job sorted. Thanks for awesome muesli and great coffee and up we went in the lift the five floors to the roof level. Looking back across the lawns of the waterfront facility, we could see the purpose built wave pool and conference centre and a netted beach and swimming area. A wonderful safe area for families and kids. Apparently down there somewhere is also he deckchair cinema but sadly it closed out for the end of season last weekend. That must indicate that winter is high season in the NT. A flat walk along the walkway led to a short series of steps and we found ourselves at the old Police Station. A few more metres and we were at the Parliament complex and theatre. Next was the incredible tourist information centre which houses leaflets and booklets for just about everywhere in NT and it must be said a wealth of information. A few more metres and we were in an open shopping mall section filled with decent quality shops and cafe culture. Round the corner toward Mitchell Street we entered the pub zone. A few high quality backpacker hotels could be seen plus high quality apartment blocks and more Irish bars and cafes. Tucked in neatly amongst all of this the entrance to Crocosaurus Cove.

For $26bux people can spend all day inside. There are lots of large pool and rock areas which house crocs in various stages of growth. Certainly there seem to be a lot of the baby crocs in one zone and in the next zone more crocs looking to be maybe 4-5 years of age. The big boys are housed on their own and given that there are maybe ten separated pools for the bigger boys I can only assume that the smaller ones, as they grow are sold off for well, croc farming, wild release or perhaps handbags who knows. The purpose of the facility is not too clear and any animals lover unlikely to ask. It must be said however that the facility is well kept and the animals certainly seem contented. What do they say? In the event of a nuclear holocaust the likely survivors would be the cockroach, the scorpion and the croc. I can well believe it!

The temperature was roughly 32degrees but the high humidity made walking around a much more damp experience than walking in the same NSW temperatures. That said I think we must be quite acclimatised to Aussie now as we didn't find it unbearable. With a bag load of reading info and after a great time with the crocs we headed back to the hotel for some reading a cool down. We'll see where we get to tomorrow.

First and initial impressions of Darwin are that for a city, it has a friendly, almost town-like atmosphere. Something lacking on NSW Central Coast. The CC is too crowded and too busy for people to note other people. There appears to be a heavy population of UK residents in the small section we've seen so far. People are friendly and talkative, a little like Brisbane. The CC might have nice beaches but people should look beyond that for what else it has to offer. Actually the CC is insular. Places like Terrigal have no atmosphere at all. Life seems to revolve around the Mantra and the few cafes and restaurants near to it. The Haven has a fish and chip shop and a car park but surely you can find that in any seaside town. Actually Terrigal is a bit south coast UK but with sand and clean water. It's impersonal. Yes there are pockets of community which will band together but is that the extent of people's ambition? Well it's not our ambition. We want more from Australia, and Australia has so much more to offer. Those people with no money who chirp about holidaying on the CC as if it were the world's last paradise can't see beyond their own empty bank account. Well good on you. Enjoy your small pocket. We'll see the rest of the country on your behalf!

Hoping to get on a four hour tour tomorrow. Watch this space...................

Painless Parking

2011-11-17T13:11:00.001+11:00

Dropped Bob off with Debbie this morning at Just Like Home and he skipped off into the play zone to meet Chloe his number one girlfriend. Straight through with next to no traffic via Homer (Tom Tom) into Sydney Airpark which is on Arncliffe Street. Easy to find, pull into, hand over remote fob and onto the transfer bus. Within ten minutes, at T2 Jetstar auto kiosk. Sadly the Jetstar SMS scanner was not as easy. It failed to read the code numerous times but it would accept the booking reference and out popped all four boarding passes so no headache really. Through into security, on to the food court and finally the boarding gate to plug in the laptop and get some free electricity. Now boarding for Darwin. Wooppee!

NYE2011/2012

2011-11-16T15:55:00.001+11:00

Just booked the Blue Room for New Year's Eve. Yes, I know it's somewhat expensive but it's not often we get to see the New Year in with Rob (and his tother half) so it's gotta be special for this their first view of both sets of fireworks. The first time we took this cruise it was such good value for money that it was the obvious choice for a second go. The boat is a flat barge specially built for Sydney Harbour which means that its rock steady and excellent for functions such as this. The atmosphere in Sydney on NYE is nothing like anywhere else in the world and I've experienced London, Edinburgh, Cyprus (damp squib), Aberdeen and plenty of others, and nothing, compares to the spectacle that Sydney puts on.

With the uncertainty on the house, i.e. will it be still up for sale or sold, I'm not certain what to do regarding accommodation. Bobby is booked in to Debbie's for the whole of the two weeks (at the moment) but if we're at home - what then? If we have sold the house - what then? We'll give it a few more weeks on the market and then have to state I reckon that we can't move out till January, should a buyer come along. It wasn't supposed to be like this, so slow to sell but what can we do!

Chris has been busy this week taking off peeling paint from the bottom of the front and side of the house. It kind of resembled damp but its actually the salt coming out of the mortar in between the bricks under the damp course. A quick wire brushing has put paid to it all and we got the closest match in paint possible (which is 99.9% matching thank goodness) and he's been making the outside of the house look as perfect as possible. There'll be an open house this weekend - fingers crossed we get some business through the doors although we have only had one drive-by this week. It's almost painful!

We're off to Darwin. Incredibly on the same day that Barak Obama flies in too. We booked this back in July as there was a Jetstar deal coupled with a Vibe hotel deal which I couldn't resist. It will be nice to see a new Aussie city. Really looking forward to it. It won't be the last time we visit but next time we'll be driving in rather than flying in! I'm taking the Mini10v so might get to post a few blog posts while up there. Given the forecast is thunderstorms we might be seeing Darwin from inside the bar! All in experiencing somewhere new is what it's all about.

Royal Doulton - Long John Silver

Neither of us are sleeping very well with the post whooping cough chest complaints and we seem to be watching more and more late night TV. At certain times of the week we get the old UK house auction programme and that stupid 60 minute makeover programme. They are really so bad. The auction programme shows houses just as the UK went into a nose dive on property prices so people who bought at auction were suddenly dropped in to the possibility of never making any money on the purchase after the market crashed in 08. It is frightening though just how high prices were back then. Ordinary 4 bedroom houses were going for over 500k-quid!

As for 60 minute makeover! I guess in a way it is good to see people who clearly don't have much cash, get a much needed refurb of their home but please ............... the designers are all so crap! Plus the decorating team want shooting. The paint and paper finish it worse than a ten year old can do. Why don't they ditch the stupid format and take a whole day to do a place up so it doesn't look so Heath Robinson. It's also sad in some cases to see how some people seem to collect the most God awful pottery / furniture / collectibles. Blinking heck. What is the fascination with collectibles?

I should talk, my Mother has rooms full of high grade super expensive 'stuff'. I dread the day when I have to box all that 'stuff' up and try to off load it at a specialist dealer or an auction. But there are people out there who want their Beswick horses and the like. I never had seen the point of spending such huge amounts of money on 'stuff'. OK now there are some Toby jugs (which were my grandparents which sat on their mantelpiece) which definitely have a sentimental place in my heart but as pretty little ornaments - errr no - they're bloody horrible. Same for the animals and the thimbles and the plates and crockery and the jugs and the paintings.

Valentino Rossi AGV Helmets

Oh well, each to their own I guess. Personally, my worthless yet priceless fridge magnets are as much of a collection as I'm going to have. Except for the Rossi helmets that is! There is something unique about a bike helmet collection. Oh well .............. all the same, we'll be watching the next installment of Homes Under the Hammer and 60 minute makeover if only for the poke-fun factor!

On the shopping list

2011-11-15T16:16:00.001+11:00

IDC OWSI, EFR Instructor & Underwater Videography Instructor
Canon XA10 and Gates housing
Hollis S25 complete wing setup x 2
Webber Q and stand
Suzuki Grand Vitara V6 (TOAD) with A-Frame + extensive stone protection system
TPMS tyre pressure system for 6 + 4 wheels
High quality Binoculars
Go Pro Hero HD video cam for the crash bar
Polycarbonate safe box
Rear Bike Rack

Furniture and belongings - Storage

Any ideas what we're planning? If you want to know more please email me on: ozdivergt@hotmail.com

On this day.......

2011-11-14T17:36:00.001+11:00

16th April 2007 to be precise, I wrote my first blog post. Here we are on the 14th November 2011 still going! This is my 1000 blog post! It's been frustrating, informative, hard work, fun, exciting and worthwhile. I thought I'd celebrate by adding AdSense - hence the new box to the top right. If its just a white box well I apologies. I have no control over how or what goes in there but I'm assuming that each time you the reader clicks on the blog a new advert appears! I think that's the idea, we'll see how it goes!

Moving slowly on

2011-11-14T16:19:00.001+11:00

The Outlander is fixed! We collected it on Friday afternoon, having dropped off the Rav4. The bill, to the learner's NRMA insurance, was some $3800 for parts and $800 for labour + whatever Compass Claims charged for the hire car - ouch! The repaired Outlander is beautiful. Chris spent time with the touch up stick attacking the stone chips on the bonnet and the wings and the car looks like new. Love that car.

NOTHING on the house sale front - frustrated beyond belief now. So much for the Central Coast being the 'place' to be! Chris is repainting the outside garage light covers, eliminating the peeling paint and spraying them hammered silver, generally giving them an overhaul. We've got some colour charts for the wall paint too. The bottom of the bricks by the garage are oozing salt so he's going to scrape off the flaking paint this week and repaint the small damaged area. After that there really isn't anything at all we can do to bring the house up to be any more 'desirable' than it is. I mean it could not be more 'walk into and just unpack'. What do people want! The other two houses for sale on the estate are in the low $400s and the last of the upper end of the market houses has now sold which leaves only ours in the big 4 bedroom executive bracket. Seems to be between 4 and 5 months to clear the houses so our time must be approaching. We know its not over priced although it will be up to our agent to get more than the current listing price during negotiations. We have a bottom line and they know that and they're confident they can realise what we want (which is effectively what we paid for it plus stamp duty plus the estate agents fee to sell plus solicitors costs). That's our break-even which is 'well' below the current valuation so what is the soddin' problem!

I do know one thing, we will not be buying another second hand house. Our final house - wherever that might be (and it will not be in NSW) - we will have built and it will be a 3 bedroom (3rd bedroom being used as the study). It will have a Port Macquarie sized lounge - cinema room, a small kitchen, dining area to take our table, and the games / study zone plus two good sized bedrooms each with their own en-suite. It will have a lot of glass because I love natural light. Preferably away from surrounding houses but not in the sticks. Somewhere with a sense of community but which is also quiet and off the beaten track. A location which has good access to facilities and necessary shops but nothing like the Central Coast. Oh and the mandatory double garage to take the next Outlander and the two BMWs. But that is years and years away. Hopefully the housing market will have settled down by then and we'll have found the dream location. One thing is a certainty - we will be doing a lot of research into location. The next house will be the very LAST move.

While having coffee today we noted a petition against Maccers due to be built in Umina. Actually we knew there was going to be one when we bought the house. It's on Ocean Beach road but not where we thought. It's actually much closer to town next to the Caltex Garage. 6 properties have been bought and the tenants on notice to move out. I reckon in 6 months time the whole of that block will be given over to Maccers, their car park and the drive through facility. Aldi is now open down the side street. Bunnings bought in to the old Franklins when Woolworths moved across the road and that has full approval. Dan Murphy's have bought up space somewhere down there too. The second hand car lot is now closed leaving another large area ripe for development. Given the main shopping street is relatively quaint and old, I can see the whole lot going in 5-10 years in favour of a covered shopping mall as the stores slowly and surely are bought out in favour of their supremo giant cousins. I do think now is the time to leave the Central Coast before it really does turn into another Sydney burb. If they do upgrade the rail system (following the line of the freeway - the current line provides geographical impossibilities for fast trains), faster trains will cut down travel time into Sydney. Currently Woy Woy to Central is only 60 mins with the North Shore lines only adding another 15 minutes to that time so the idea that people could commute within 30-45 mins is going to attract even 'more' people to the Central Coast. The place is going to be swamped. Yes, it might have advantages for house prices in the short term but even then there is a critical mass on values and sooner or later that is going to crash. Just look at Europe and the USA housing markets to see what happens when house prices rise beyond salaries. Banks have to lend more over longer periods of time and eventually that critical loan mass can rise no more and has to come back down to earth. That halts the sales market and people have to reduce the value of their house in order to sell it. That time is 'fast' approaching in NSW (not sure about other States). I think we are on the edge of it and we'll be very lucky to get out what we put in. Fingers crossed we can get the house sold this side of Xmas.

If we do sell before Xmas we will have a few weeks where we're homeless. I've trolled around the hotel sites and there are plenty of rooms to be had. Of course the heaviest time of year is over NYE but only certain rooms have been set aside for that evening there are plenty of min 3 night rooms on offer so we'll just have to see. I'm also digging around for NYE harbour cruises. There are lots of boats and different levels of cruise. This time I'm looking for 4 places not just for the two of us, it needs to be something 'young' for Rob and Lara. This will be Rob's first Sydney NYE so there's no point in taking them somewhere alcohol free where they have to stand on a ladder to get a view of the action. We're leaning toward the Blue Room again. It was so good the first time around that it will be difficult to beat!

Anyone who had a heart!

2011-11-10T14:13:00.000+11:00

Why isn't anything just plain old 'simple' anymore? I say anymore, tongue in cheek, I'm not sure that anything simple has ever actually been well, simple. People seem to add layers of complexity to the simplest of tasks just for justification that after all people shouldn't think of these complex tasks as simple at all but in fact give them the complexity they deserve! Hence lets add layers so that people will never consider asking for that tasks to be done again. I'm twittering!

Appointment with diving doctor made. He listened about skin bends and DAN recommendations, nodded, gave me insight into DCI and then wrote a letter to Gosford requesting an investigative echo cardiograph. Simple, job done, now just ring them for an appointment. WRONG! Ring them and get the most obnoxious (I hate working here) arsehole receptionist of said ECHO lab who then said 'Which GP, well a GP can't refer you for an echo it has to be from a specialist so you can't have an appointment.' Thanks for nothing. Phone call back to GP. 'What, how preposterous, well here's a couple of specialists names to phone.' Called specialist number 1. Explained. 'That's ridiculous, of course a GP can refer you, its after you've have the echo that if they find something wrong THEN, they refer you to the specialist!' Back to GP. 'We'll call you back.'

Upshot. Gosford have introduced a new payer of bureaucracy which now means that to get an appointment one has to get referred from a GP to a specialist, the specialist then refers to the ECHO lab, the ECHO lab does the test, the results go back to the specialist, who says all good or here's what we'll do. Both the specialist and the GP thought this was the most outrageous bureaucratic layer they had heard of! Gosford said, ha ha, give me more money and less to do. Thank you now piss off. So, instead of just having the ECHO (daunting as having a camera shoved down my nose might be), I have to wait another two weeks to get to see the specialist in West Gosford just so I can get the 'right' letter, just so I can take 'that' letter (which will be the same letter as the GP gave me) to the ECHO lab. All the while of course somebody, and its not me, gets more money for this added layer of pants.

Ho de fooking hum.

Moving forward

2011-11-07T12:59:00.000+11:00

The Outlander has been given the go-ahead by the assessor and it's now with Adams Crash Repair at West Gosford, hopefully in a state of strip down. All being well, she'll be back with us on Friday afternoon. They think it is a straight forward repair. I guess it just requires parts, knowledge, skill and time to get the job done. Looking forward to a nice shiny Mitsubishi!

Open House with R&W was outstanding with 6 groups through and countless drive-by's on Sunday. According to the statistics November is the busiest time in house sales as people try to secure a new home in time for the Xmas break. I say excellent - bring them on. No offers yet but our estate agent has a lot of tracking and tracing to do of those who came through on the day.

The last race for MotoGP 2011 was held yesterday with mixed weather conditions. Both Ducati riders were swept off the track by Bautista when he ran into Dovi on the first corner - wonderful! It's hardly been a year worth bothering with for Ducati. As always the Honda's ran away with it. Of course given the talent on the track one can hardly say Dovi is of championship standards, although Pedrosa's time is fast approaching so why are the Honda's sweeping away the podium places? Simple - they have advanced traction control which means that even an amateur like Casey Stoner, basically a time trials rider, can run away with each race. If you watch him its not the skill of racing which gets him the first place, it's the balls to have the bike on the limit at every corner. Remove the traction control, and he'd bin the bike on every race as he proved when riding for Ducati. This is why the playing field evens out with the 1000cc bikes coming in for next year.

Yesterday's race started in the dry where Stoner ran away with the dry conditions but once the rain began to fall he did what he always does - bottled it. You see he shows himself up for what he is when it rains - lacking skill. Anyone watching the final laps could see that his lack of skill in the wet where the traction control of the Honda is the weakest, showed him up for the average rider that he is. He slowed down so much Spies easily flew past him. The problem with that was that Stoner then had someone to follow to test the conditions for him. So he followed like the good little puppy that he is. When Spies was over cautious on the final corner, Stoner was able to use the Honda's traction control yet again to fly past him at the final few metres when in fact he had no right to win. This pretty much sums up Casey Stoner. It proves though that whatever improvements Yamaha have made to their machines, they are going to be viable challengers for 2012 and Spies not only showed his supreme skill in the wet, but also that he is ready to have his shot at the championship.

Weather is awesome today. Up in the 30s for the third day in a row. I feel the air-con will be at work this afternoon if this continues.

On another note ..................

I've signed up for a new 'challenge'. Details to follow soon ..............

Sydney Airport best in world?

2011-11-03T17:31:00.000+11:00

I don't think so and anyone who says it is hasn't been to too many airports around the world.

For one the cost of parking is exorbitant, is there anywhere else in fact where costs of parking are higher on a per day basis? Heathrow terminal 4's own long stay is around GBP70 per 7 days, and Pink Elephant parking can be had for GBP50! Contrast that with Sydney domestic at $125 for TWO days! The airpark is $110 for 7 days I mean come on!

For those who say its easy to get - drive in drive out! Errr that's fine if all you do is collect people. We can all do that at any given airport most of them have easy directions and a collection point at arrivals. That's a no brainer. But what about getting to the airport? You think driving through Lane Cove when its busy is easy access. Actually while the signage is OK, its not brilliant. Having spent a LOT of time driving in to Sydney domestic while commuting from Goulburn I have insider knowledge on where to park and how to get to the car parks. The first time I did it though I drove around in circles. When we parked up to drop off Rob and Anneka at International indoor parking we drove past the turn in twice before being convinced that a narrow concrete bridge was in fact the entrance way! That's not what I call easy.

Now I'm not saying Heathrow is any different but at the end of the day its a much larger airport - its got FIVE terminals for goodness sake. I've got lost more than once having to fill up a hire car with petrol and then having to hunt down the A4 to get back on track.

The easiest airport car hire return / car parks I've driven into include in this order of ease: Male Maldives (arrive by boat), Norfolk Virginia, Phoenix Arizona, Port Macquarie NSW, Stanstead UK (even if the airport is the pits), Aberdeen Scotland, Miami Florida, and Reykjavik Iceland.

The worst to navigate to: JFK New York, Leeds Bradford UK (although they say access has improved), Liverpool UK (access goes on and on and on), Detroit Michigan.

The scariest were landing at: Kai Tak Hong Kong (Holy-shit), Nairobi Kenya (armed guards to get in), Lagos Nigeria (armed guards to get out and a free bottle of whisky on hand to bribe customs), Weno Truk Lagoon Micronesia (very short runway and low approach), San Fransisco California and Male Maldives for landing over water with a long low approach, Aberdeen Scotland (for the side winds), Ushuaia Argentina (for the last minute steep bank around the mountains on approach), Santiago Chile (for the buffeting from the Andes), Vancouver Canada (for almost running off the runway due to snow).

The most chaotic: Chicago O'Hare, San Diego, LAX, Heathrow.

The biggest: Chicago O'Hare, LAX, Schipol Amsterdam, Heathrow London, Hong Kong (new one).

The best for facilities: Toronto Ontario & Montreal Quebec & Vancouver BC, Norfolk Virginia, Chaangi Singapore, Doha Qatar, Abu Dhabi Dubai, Brisbane Queensland, Melbourne Victoria

The worst for facilities: Weno Truk Lagoon Micronesia (you wouldn't believe it if I told you), Mombassa Kenya, Paphos Cyprus, at one time Cairns Queensland (but its much improved in 6 years), Proserpine nr Airlie Beach Queensland, Teeside UK, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia (before the new airport was opened), Buenos Aires Argentina

Mediocre: Manchester, Gatwick, Newark NJ, Orlando Florida, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Vienna, Berlin Tegel, Paris and so many more too many to mention in this category.

My list will keep on growing because I am an avid travel nutter and feel I have at least another 20 years of international flight left in me.

Failed Eco-Warriors

2011-11-03T12:56:00.000+11:00

Are you sick of people ramming your own council dollars down your own throat and then doing something which goes against what they're preaching?

Some forms of transport are not conducive to every trip. I want to use my bike for getting round the campsite or a short flat journey around a village. If I were visiting a client wearing a suit I'd hardly be journeying in to Sydney using a bike. Similarly a person less bodily able is not capable of doing that either. It seems to me that people who design these 'plans' only think of a minority but the majority have to pay for it. Meanwhile, when it suits, the sudden approach to sustainable living and Eco-friendly activities goes out of the window in favour of something using jet fuel. You can't preach both ways, its called hypocrisy.

Most people I know when it comes down to it, no matter if they're vegetarian, if they recycle regularly, if they have water tanks, if they have solar panels, even if they drive a Prius are still living a resource intensive way of life and I challenge any one of those mini-eco-warriors to come back to me with a counter argument.

Travel Junky

2011-11-03T12:46:00.001+11:00

Here we are coming to the end of week two after our car was rammed by the idiot learner driver in Woy Woy, and its still in the very same condition as when it was hit. Is this our insurance company or there's? A phone call on Monday said we should be contacted within 48hrs about the assessor coming out - so where are they? Chris is chasing it up of course but its silence all around. Makes you wonder what insurance companies are doing for their money. Given that this is a 100% no fault claim where is the problem? The car should have been fixed by Adams of West Gosford and on its way back to us by now, instead we're still bloody waiting. This is becoming more and more urgent in that we have things we need to do and people we need to see. Not least of which at the end of the month we're off to Darwin for a week and are now wondering how we'll get Bob to Debbie and ourselves to Sydney.

Thankfully we're flying the cheap arm of Qantas - Jetstar who's budget no frills service has so far never let us down. Unlike the Virgin debacle! This is our first visit to Darwin but won't be our last of course, given the amount of traveling we intend doing over the next few years, but we thought it would be nice to see the Northernmost city in Aussie at a relatively cheap time of year.

We as you know dear reader are unashamed travelers always on the look out for the next big trip. I feel sorry for those of you (having been there myself) who are tied down to 20 days of annual leave per year. One of the top perks of my University employment was that I had 36 days paid leave per annum, plus the Christmas and Summer breaks on top of that. Life was a holiday at UK uni's but I quickly learned that this was not true of Aussie Uni jobs. They too are tied to a mandatory 20 days of annual leave and while I worked for CSU most of that was eaten up by visits home to Port Macquarie. Even with the full quota 20 days is incredibly limiting. Midweek flights become impossible as workers need the added bonus of the weekends on either side of the leave days to maximise those leave days. This then turns the 20 days into nothing more than 4 weeks off. A lot of companies I've noticed, will insist on certain shut down periods eating in to annual leave quotas too, whether you want the leave at that time of year or not. Christmas is a prime example although they may gift a few extra days as a carrot to stop dissent.So the big trips that we do over extended travel periods are near impossible for the average worker. Doesn't it make you want to change your employer?

A lot of those workers of course are stuck in mortgage traps where they can't realise enough capital from the sale of their home to be able to travel without working for support. Similarly a lot of home owners have taken fixed mortgages for certain times which means the payment of a penalty for early release would eat up too much of their released capital. It makes you wonder if the great Aussie dream is in the long run really worth the hardship. After all, by the time the mortgage is paid off most people are into their 50s (if they're lucky) or more likely into their 60s and even 70s. Is that house really worth it? To be tied to a single location for all of that time? I pity those who have just got themselves into a mortgage and are starting on the 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 year slavery of having to earn in order to pay. Even those with large blocks of equity in the home if they are tied to a mortgage and something goes wrong in the workplace, there is the dire issue that defaulting will mean that the mortgage company takes their money first from any sale price / auction in order to recover their costs. I've seen recent reports where this has meant they've sent a house to auction to realise $100k less than its true value just to recover 'their' costs! It's a sobering thought. Yet so many people are still getting in over their heads just to have the 'house' of their dreams which ultimately they are buying for their kids as most of them won't sell up to make use of all of that hard earned equity.

We realised this some time ago. We wondered what we were doing sinking most of our capital into bricks and mortar; a market which is in turmoil at the moment given the predictions for Australian housing and its imminent financial collapse. This made us think hard about what we were building towards. We made an easy conclusion after some research. NSW is far more expensive than other states and territories in Australia so why are we hanging around in it when work is a movable feast and something I can do 'anywhere'. I'm lucky in that I chose an industry which means I can be completely location independent. I don't even have to have a permanent address I can work from hotel rooms or from a live aboard boat if the need arises. Because of this I am essentially now retired from a race that really does nothing for the individual but drain them of everything and give back very little. To this end, while we don't and won't ever need a mortgage, I'd never venture into the debt market ever again due to its tying qualities. If there's a mortgage or a loan, there is a need to generate the income to pay for it. No thanks.

Location Independence also means no fixed and continuing bills for services, Internet and phone and when we do eventually re-purchase, wherever that might be, we'll have learned valuable lessons about solar energy, generators, tanked water and disconnecting from the world's grid system. We have already learned how cheaply mobile phones can be. We do top up every 28 days to keep the credit rolling over that we haven't used, which gives us a cost of $19 per month. For that all virgin to virgin calls and texts are free. It also gives us a free $50 on top of the $19 which never gets used. On top of that is the free 1gb data credit which also rolls over as it never gets used up. The goal is to find the same pay as we go service for Telstra (or better) for Internet. No costs ever for electric or gas or water or sewerage. That's the goal. Get rid of these costs and the amount which is needed in earnings each year comes down drastically - think about it. We're likely to actually be lucky and earn the same amount of money which will give us more to spend on our petrol-head pursuits! Essentially world travel.

Our list is every growing even though together we've been to every continent except Antartica, and separately our passports have been incredibly full of stamped adventures. I've been very lucky actually to have traveled the world with work and seen some incredible cities and countries. Next on the list is re-visiting California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. It's a trip I've done before, one of some 3000miles in 3 weeks, but Chris has not been to that side of the USA so it will be a wide eyed adventure for him. 2012 also has the UK locked in sometime after the Olympics. The Maldives are to be revisited and we're looking at Ark Venture plus a week on an island. April 2013 has Compass Expeditions Santiago to Macchu Picchu pencilled in and somewhere amongst that Cocos Island on board either Aggressor or one of the Undersea boats. There's 40 days of annual leave that would have been required! Of course apart from all of that we'll be on permanent 'tour'. My dear departed once pointed out to me on his 50th birthday that if we're working we only have a limited number of holidays to take. So for most people who fritter away their annual leave on a cheapie in Majorca, they don't realise what a life wasting time they're really having. I took that lesson on board. At the time I was 40 and sat down to think about how many 'weeks' of holiday I had to play with if I worked to the age of 65. It actually wasn't that many if each would be far off and expensive. Now at 50 I have a smaller total (if I were working). Yes you might think wow what a lot of weeks but think more of it as one 'big' holiday per year and suddenly those weeks disappear to perhaps 15! For some of you of course a compass expedition or a trip on MV Odyssey would take years of saving which reduced your 'years' of actual holiday. What I'm saying is that NOW is the time. Not the next year or the year after. Now is the time to travel so think hard about what you're working for!

An open letter to Alan Joyce

2011-11-03T11:56:00.001+11:00

As a Qantas Frequent Flyer - I got an email this morning from Alan Joyce stating:

"While I deeply regret the short-term impact of the fleet being grounded, following the Fair Work Australia decision we now have absolute certainty for our customers. No further industrial action can take place. No more aircraft will be grounded and no services cancelled as a result of industrial action."

Surely the Fair Work Australia ruling applies to the 'current' industrial action only and not to any different industrial action. At any future date, lets say right on Christmas time once the 21 + 21 days for the current resolution have passed, a new batch of industrial action can pop this time from disgruntled check-in staff? In which case at the very thought of losing some money you Mr. Joyce could very well just ground the fleet yet again.

"The decision to lock out some of our employees was an immensely difficult one and one that I did not want to have to make. But it was a decision that we were driven to by the industrial action of three unions, together representing less than 20 percent of Qantas employees."

Seemed to be very difficult for only a few short hours then! If the 3 unions involved represent as you say only 20% of employees, then you clearly didn't trust the other 80% of employees to carry on doing their jobs and keeping the airline safe? In other words, at the slightest thought of industrial action you are willing to shut the airline down.

But lets look at some of the items those unions are aggrieved about. Yes they are asking for a pay rise (aren't we all Mr. Joyce - you included?) and given the increased costs of living in Australia what about it? Qantas is the brand for Australia in the air. When people think of flying Australian, they think of Qantas. Its the name which is linked to the country and you just trashed it in one go. The thing is Mr. Joyce, Australian workers are paying Australian mortgages and rents and having to spend in the Australian economy. Those in Asia have the Asian economy to pay for which is much lower than in Australia. You want to ask for a premium price for your tickets but bring everything else in cheaply. Australia wants it national identity to be furnished within and by Australians. For this they are willing to pay the higher price for the tickets, if they were not you could not have posted a net profit of $250 million to June! That being NET profit!!!!! If you then ship our National identity to all intents and purposes to Asia then you'll have to bring the quality and price down accordingly and then where will your brand loyalty be? To most of us frequent flyers, we expect to get what we pay for and we expect to get the best of services and a trustworthy airline. Australian's actually might not want their national carrier looked after by the unseen faces of Asia!

National carriers around the world are supported in their own countries by their own governments to a larger or lesser extent. This prevents them from doing to their passengers what you did to us. British Airways is a case in point. Bailed out countless times by the UK government but it's kept its identity tight. The UK might be struggling to keep the whole country afloat but it still values its national carrier. You clearly only value the profit margins. Qantas should pile 'everything' into the company all of its profits returned to better the service. Instead the profits are mostly going off-shore to a bunch of faceless and rich shareholders. I think the government should buy Qantas back. It was wrong to sell it off for cash in the first place and its gained nothing but heart ache - which you personally caused.

For myself well, I have a massive number of points in my FF account and I'll continue to accrue them as my NAB Gold card is linked to Qantas FF but you can be assured that when we fly Qantas in the future, it's because we are using up those points and not having to hand over a single dollar. I would not buy a Qantas ticket now if you were the only carrier going to a destination, I'd change the destination in favour of somewhere serviced by others.

What is a PFO?

2011-11-02T12:15:00.000+11:00

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a defect in the septum (wall) between the two upper (atrial) chambers of the heart. Specifically, the defect is an incomplete closure of the atrial septum that results in the creation of a flap or a valve-like opening in the atrial septal wall. A PFO is present in everyone before birth but seals shut in about 80% of people.

With each heart beat or when a person with this defect creates pressure inside his or her chest - such as when coughing, sneezing, or straining during a bowel movement - the flap can open, and blood can flow in either direction directly between the right and left atrium. When blood moves directly from the right atrium to the left atrium, this blood bypasses the filtering system of the lungs (the lungs actually do dissolve tiny blood clots). If debris is present in the blood, such as small blood clots, it now passes through the left atrium and can lodge in the brain, causing a stroke, or another organ, such as the heart, eyes, or kidneys.

I'm sure there have been studies which analyse the link between those with a PFO and the incidence of strokes - something I don't want either - and there have also been studies which analyse the link between those who have a PFO and who have also suffered a DCI hit. Which is why it is important to have any suspicion of a PFO, checked out.

I have experienced heart flutters in the past. Something which started after I had gall bladder surgery in 1986. I visited the GP once to request more info on it and got fobbed off with an explanation that it is common and unless it manifests with pain, to ignore it! I have pretty much ignored it. In recent years I have tagged the flutters to match the same time in the month as my period - coincidence or not - that's when I get increased flutters. Again, I have ignored this. But, getting s skin bend at Truk and being told about the potential connection. I can no longer ignore it.

My first move was to contact the foremost voice on this subject from DAN Asia Pacific. I now have an appointment with a diving doctor to hopefully get a referral to the Heart Centre for a 'tranoesophageal echocardiograph with contrast'. Watch this space .....................

Blogger interface

2011-10-31T15:06:00.001+11:00

As an author its interesting now and then when the owner of the tool updates or adds features. As you can see blogger has changed. The creation tool is quite different and has built in tracking tools which are handy. What do you think? Certainly creating and editing posts is a lot easier although it is very similar now to wordpress.

Hollis from Leisure Pro online

2011-10-31T14:59:00.001+11:00

Currently I dive a ScubaPro Ladyhawk. It's been an awesome BCD. It fits well and allows all manner of attachments to be hung off it, and comes in at some 2.8kgs all in however, it does have one annoying fault. During a dive, it rides up on the body lifting the top of the shoulder harness off the shoulders and requiring adjustment by pulling down on the lower D-Rings to reposition it. As a wing, it provides good lift and a comfortable fit around the body as it's design is specifically for the female shape. But, having done some 200 dives with it the movement during the dive of the BCD has become annoying. As a result, and while onboard the MV Odyssey in Truk lagoon and having seen two in action, attention has turned to the Hollis S25 wing.

The Hollis S25 has a much slimmer profile and is designed as a single tank BCD (I only dive single tanks). It is a component based BCD system which means that it's up to the individual diver to fit it out as they require. A main aim is to keep weight down for travel. The S25 wing weighs less than 1kg, matched with a solo harness of less than 1kg (which includes built in crotch strap to eliminate in dive movement) plus an aluminium backplate. Now how this all fits together with a cam band, backplate connection and pad and some form of releasable weight pocket I've yet to work out, but I'm convinced this is the way to go.

The point of purchase is likely to be Leisure Pro unless any of the opposition come in cheaper. As we'll be making a trip to the US in the new year it might be worth hunting down a California / Nevada supplier or purchasing online and having it shipped TO our hotel. We'll be flying a US carrier to take advantage of the double hold luggage allowance so its quite feasible that we could get it back to Aussie at no import / shipping charges by using this method. Companies such as Leisure Pro very often have free mainland shipping and as we'll be buying two sets, savings on the shipping could be considerable.

Estate Agent SCUM

2011-10-27T20:11:00.000+11:00

While we were away nothing happened with the sale of our house, nope nothing! Hookers have had it for 10 weeks now and we came back to the news that our agent had been 'let go'! Only, they forgot to tell us and had not done anything about an open house for the weekend either. Chris argued the toss and got a letter releasing us from their crap contract. We've now gone with Richardson and Wrench with a very convincing sales strategy to get us what we want for it. OK they're advertising well below what we want for it but we understand where they're coming from in getting the interest and then negotiating a viable price. The other plus for us, is that they all work on commission only so there is real incentive to sell!

We both adore the house - really we do but it was a big mistake moving to the Central Coast and I take all of that on my shoulders as I was the driving force for moving here. It just has not played out at all the way I hoped so we're moving on, probably to well out of NSW for good. Its just too expensive, over-priced for what the buyer gets, well over-hyped (its nowhere near as exciting as the people who live here would have you all believe) and its full of idiots, bogans and stalkers.

Those of you following the 'other' blog know where we're going, what we're doing and for how long and its going to be bob-tastic!

-0-

Ram raiders

2011-10-27T20:02:00.000+11:00

From perfect to wrecked in one hit!

We came back to earth via Melbourne. Landing back in Aussie on Thursday we stayed in Cairns overnight then flew down to Sydney on the Friday. Enough time to unpack and hang up our diving equipment, do some washing and tidying and then hop back in the car for a Saturday flight to Melbourne and Philip Island MotoGP. Little did we know that we were watching Marco Simoncelli's last ever race. RIP Super Sic.

We returned on Monday with J7mwy who has completed his torture which was Tasmania to qualify for his second year. He had time to chill, do his washing and packing etc before heading for Dubai. We also picked up little Bob from Just Like Home where he'd had a total ball bless him.

Nothing had happened on the house sale while we were away!

On J7mwy's last day we were getting through chores and stuff and late on went out for coffee. Too late it seems at 3pm we ended up in Woy Woy Maccers. No sooner had we ordered coffee than we were hunted down by the driver of a white car who said our car had just been rammed! WTF! Out we went into the car park to find our beautiful car crumpled. An L-Plater had picked the wrong pedal she said while sitting in the back sucking on ice cream while her Mother basically said - that's life! Well its not our fucking life you bogan. She'd been driving a 4 litre XR6! WTF! How can that be sensible and legal to put a LEARNER behind the wheel of a 4 litre car? The impact had shunted our car back out of the bay some 8 foot! Well that's just soddin' fantastic! We called the police and once Chris has announced his ex-profession they all sat quiet in the car waiting for the police to turn up. Not only did she mangle our car but another car parked next to us. What a great day. In the end, after the police attended and she had reversed her hardly touched XR6 off our mangled Outlander we could see that we could drive it without issue so we could get poor J7mwy to the station and off for his overnight stop then flight.

We took the car in to Adams crash repairs in West Gosford next morning. Talk about state of the art setup. They are dealing with a lot of mangled cars by the look of it! The quote was quick and insurers are dealing with insurers etc. We have to wait for our insurers to agree the repairs then its a case of them claiming off the at fault driver. Given that we weren't even in the car at the time (thankfully as we had Bobby in there too) they are 100% at fault - eejits! We would not lose no claims anyway as its protected but we don't want any hikes in insurance costs when its someone elses fault!

Now we're waiting for the claims assessor to come out to our car to agree the damage and repairs!

-0-

Getting Ill

2011-10-27T19:49:00.001+11:00

Little did we know that we travelled 'with' whooping cough (probably). We've been helping out with some decorating and had been in contact with people who have since been diagnosed with whooping cough. I didn't even know that it was possible to get it as an adult! We were both sneezing and coughing a little while away but it did not develop into full blown gut splitting lung burning spasms of the most excruciating coughing ever until we landed back in Guam. Then it started on Chris with a vengeance but I was still relatively free from the disease. Once back in Aussie however it was a different story. We both had it by then so it was to the doctors straight away to convince him to give us antibiotics. Thankfully a week and a bit later, we're recovering.

On another note on day four, with a five dive day on the Wednesday of the diving trip, on waking I experienced the 'bends' Yes THE bends in the form of skin bends. The pain which accompanies this is excruciating. It's as if I'd done 200+ sit-ups. But the main symptom is a mottled and marbled purple rash across the abdomen. I was straight up to the Captain about this I might add. Full blown bends is life threatening and I didn't want to find out what an embolism in the blood stream means to the brain and the heart but most people do not survive without decompression in a chamber. He was pretty calm about it and wanted me back in my cabin instantly to take a look and to begin oxygen therapy.

By lunch time I'd had three hour long sessions of 100% oxygen. The pain had gone, the purple mottling had 95% gone and I felt great! Who wouldn't! No diving for 24 hours. As the next morning dive was deeper than we wanted to go the time out of the water was in fact 40 hours by which time there was little to see on my abdomen. Now then, I am a well trained and very safe diver if I do say so myself and I follow all of the rules when it comes to no-deco diving, safety stops and deep diving. This trip was no exception. We were doing extended bottom times on nitrox of 30% but we've done that before often with 5 dives per day and with no adverse affects so why me and why now?

Would having whooping cough have anything to do with it? Who knows. There is one common thread though, PFO, of Patent Foramen Ovale - basically a hole in the heart. Now then. I had a full medical including ECG and chest xray before being granted permission to enter Australia on a VISA so wouldn't it have shown up then if I had a heart defect? Maybe not. The literature on the subject (on the dive boat) does state that whatever the cause it mostly includes a shunt from one side of the heart to the other. Often this is involuntary and unnoticed but the result is increased capture of nitrogen in the blood stream.

Back to the event on the day. I have a full torso scar from when I had an emergency operation to remove my gall bladder in 1986. After the oxygen treatment we noticed swelling at the scar. By swelling I mean it looked as though there was a big bubble of water behind the scar or water or fluid or something similar.

By lunch time next day I was back in the water on a deep dive to 33 metres in the engine room of a great wreck. There were no real after effects 'except', that the scar, and only the scar turned purple and became itchy! It took 3-4 days for the swelling to go away.

I have informed the doctor and I'm booked in for an ECG. I won't dive until this has been investigated. I am after all 50 years old and that might be reason enough for a skin bend. Its not (I now know) life threatening in the way a true DCI hit is but all the same - I want to know more and if possible prevent anything like that in future.

-0-

Diving Truk Lagoon

2011-10-27T19:17:00.000+11:00

Photographing the forward section of the Betty Bomber

Access to Truk Lagoon is via Guam. In our case access is from Cairns on the only operator Continental Airlines. Approaching Weno, the main island on the lagoon is a bit hairy. The runway is the original build by the Japanese with the bomb holes filled in of course, but all the same, it's a tight short landing.

There to collect us was a driver from our hotel, Truk Stop. There are two hotels on Weno ours and the Blue Lagoon resort. Any research search on trip advisor will tell you a couple of things about these two. Both of them are basic. Truk Stop has by far the more ethical dive operation, free WiFi in the restaurant area, a great restaurant and separate bar (Hard Wreck Cafe), and very clean and spacious rooms. Can't say about the Blue Lagoon's comfort levels but the dive operators are cowboys. We saw their dive boat approach the Nippo Maru (we have divers down) and as its very deep they threw a grappling hook over the side to hook on to the main mast (of a WWII wreck mind you) with complete disregard for any divers down below!

Food in our hotel was good. There are no signs of large scale farming on Weno except for some pigs at the back kept in very small enclosures so we have to guess that everything comes in by ship, including steaks and beers. Try to put that aside though and think about the diving to come.

We arrived on Friday and stayed 2 nights before being collected late on Sunday afternoon by the Captain of the Odyssey.

The liveaboard is outstanding. Very comfortable and well appointed rooms included en-suites, DVD players and TVs in each cabin, lots of storage and wardrobe / drawer space. There is a separate TV lounge with lots of DVDs and books and a well appointed shop with the mandatory t-shirts. The TV room also has a bank of US / Aussie multi plugs which is where all batteries (camera and torch) are to be charged. The main reason is that this kind of kit can overheat and if its all in one place, its easy to keep track of. Some accommodation is below this deck level but we didn't venture down here as our room was on the main dive deck. At the back of the Odyssey is the dive deck. There are plenty of spaces for each diver to set up their equipment for the week. Below the seat is storage for fins, masks etc. Tanks are refilled in position so once the equipment is set up there it stays for the entire week. I chose to dive the 12 litre nitrox while Chris chose a 15 litre nitrox. As I suck in less we were pretty even by the time 45-50 minutes had passed.

Above the dive deck is the dining area and bar and a sun deck and BBQ area. Everything is included in the price so wandering behind the bar for snacks, soft drinks or alcohol is encouraged as there are no full time bar staff (most excellent).

We did multiple dives mostly of four dives per day.

We dived:

* Kiyosumi Maru (450' freighter)
* Yamagiri Maru (436.5' passenger cargo)
* Fumitzuki (330' destroyer)
* Shinkoku Maru (550' fleet oiler)
* Unkai Maru (305' freighter)
* Rio de Janeiro Maru (450' passenger transport and submarine tender)
* Sankisan Maru (367.5' passenger transport)
* Heian Maru (510' submarine tender)
* Betty Bomber (66' G4M Bomber)
* Kensho Maru (380' cargo ship)

I won't bore you all with the details of diving - the wrecks were eerie and amazing. All of them are war graves and all of them contain somewhere, skeletal remains of the thousands of sailors who perished during Operation Hailstone. A sobering thought when entering the gloom of a wreck that has been on the bottom for some 68 years.

-0-

PADI Wreck Diver

2011-09-20T14:28:00.000+10:00

On Sunday we finally completed the PADI Wreck Diver course with Abyss Scuba. We started this on Sunday 9th July when we managed to get all of the coursework done and the initial two dives on HMAS Adelaide. We have not been able to dive on her since due to the bookings for the moorings having to be in place so far in advance, that if the weather is bad on that booking date there is nothing they can do but delay so after two further delays, we finally, on Sunday 18th September, managed to get in the practice reel work dive and the final reel work dive - wooppee!!!! So we're qualified wreck divers, yet another specialty to our lengthy list of diving quals. Next, I would like to complete the video course and get on to the video instructors course, that is something that I can take with me on our travels.

On the diving shopping list for 2012/2013 includes Mike Balls Navigators week, plus Rodney Fox Great White expedition in Port Lincoln, Ark Venture in the Maldives, and of course Ningaloo Reef (to include Cocos and Keeling). The dive tour is soon to begin.

-0-

Keeper for a Day

2011-09-20T13:50:00.000+10:00

Hands on in the VIP area behind the scenes

For my 50th Birthday (September 12th), my darling hubbie bought me Keeper for a Day at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It was an extreme early start as I had to be at the zoo entrance for 7:45am (the keepers start at 6am), so we left home at 6:00am - ouch! The freeway at that time of day you'd think, would have reduced traffic but of course I had to get Mr.Angry behind me who was insistent on getting past and then played in the traffic, in and out, in and out and when (with the Outlander on steady cruise right down to Berowra) he ended up behind me, he turned into Mr.RoadRage.

My opinion of New South Wales drivers has not changed from the day I arrived - they're arseholes who believe they are skilled when in fact they lack basic driving skills. Mostly they tail gate, drive too fast, slam on the brakes at junctions and lights, over take at inappropriate points causing drivers behind them to take avoiding action, and spend more time on their phones than off it. I blame the state rules for learners. If they are not guided in the first place, how can they develop into competent drivers? Putting that aside. Homer on the TomTom took me down a backroad (that GPS has got to be thrown out of the window soon), but all the same I arrived at the brand new multi-story zoo carpark with two minutes to spare!

Met by our guide (there were five of us on this tour) and taken in to the briefing room to collect equipment, pick up a locker and to get the run down on the days events. We started out with the VIP area where the stars and politicians go to get hands on with the animals, an area not open to the public. We were given strict instructions on where we could and couldn't take photos and as this is a behind the scenes keeper day, most of the areas were off limits for photos for obvious reasons. Animals are cared for in strictly controlled locations and moving them out of the public enclosures in to the feeding and safe areas often means putting them in smaller areas which are not so aesthetic (for their safety and ours) for photos. The animals welfare is paramount at all times so moving them into smaller areas means they are not stressed and know that when they are allowed back in to their area there will be a food or bedding or play reward. Getting up close and personal with the chimps, the big cats, the sun bear, the seals, the little penguins, the giraffes and much more was amazing. Taronga Zoo is a well oiled machine and the people who work there are certainly not doing it for the money, but the rewards in working so closely with the animals is written on all of their faces. For the keepers, its a labour of love and what an awesome job they do.

The large chimpanzee population have been housed for a number of years in the orangutan enclosure while their own area has been fully refurbished and rebuilt. We had the chance to see the new enclosure ahead of its reopening and wow, it looks amazing and full of areas for activity. The chimps are awesome but dangerous and should be treated with respect. But seeing them lining up and awaiting the go ahead to get their food and then watching them as they made their way into the feeding area was awesome.

The day was long and full on. Breakfast and lunch were included in the cost as well as a DVD of professional photos. Would I do it again? You betcha.

-0-

Not Sony - Canon

2011-09-02T18:13:00.001+10:00

After a lot more research on using camera's for professional docu making and for working underwater, and after watching a lot of online reviews which have been kindly posted on YouTube, we've changed our opinion away from the Sony, and firmly to the Canon XA10 professional camcorder. Gates have a brand new housing on the market for it. Combine this with a professional tripod and a boat load of accessories including a professional boom mike and alu case, we've probably taken the price up to $6,000. But, it's a once in a lifetime buy so why pick a simplistic cheapie when we can invest in the best for the job. We're also eyeing up a GoPro Hero HD camera which can be fitted to the bikes, the cars, the helmets and more. Definitely a good investment for a bird's eye view!

The bikes are both sitting at the dealer now awaiting a sale. They sell them and take a commission, we don't have to have them cluttering the garage or constantly putting in adverts into the online sales sites or newsprint classifieds. More bikes in a few years although what exactly we'll end up with is anybodies guess. We're both avid sports bike fans but we both fell in love with the Beemers in Chile. Given the types of roads and the opportunity for off-roading in Aussie we are definitely leaning more and more towards the GS style. But, we won't need to worry about that for quite some time. We've emptied the house of saleable ebay stock except for some boxed set DVDs which will go on this Sunday, so now we're just playing the 'waiting' game.

J7mwy is still enduring Tasmania and the gun happy locals and Rob is booked to come out on Xmas Day! More soon ...................

-0-

Sony and Gates

2011-08-30T19:09:00.001+10:00

We were thinking about a digital video camera and underwater housing before we left the UK but only got as far as researching it all. A few years on and the cameras have changed. We asked our close friend in the Maldives about his professional outfit and he has recommended the Sony XR550. He also recommended an Ikelite housing but it looks a bit like a brick so we think we'll go with the Gates housing for it instead. The advantage of Gates is the extended warranty options and the bullet proof casing. We can also get the arms which will fit our two UK HID100 lights which will save money in not having to purchase specific video lighting. At the moment we're digging around for reviews as a lot of the cameras are now obsolete! When we're looking at spending a couple of thousand on the camera and the same on the housing and then extras on top of that, there needs to be quite a lot of research.

I've wanted to get into underwater video for some time but now I have real incentive and motivation to go do it. I'm going to book on to a video course myself up in Nelson Bay so I can get used to the equipment (when we get it) and then I should be able to offer my own version of the training for others under the PADI guise. I'd also like some professional training on videography for land based filming too. That's a bit harder to source. For that we'll need a professional tripod and a boom mike and some kind of editing software on the laptop(s).

Ebay is going well. Off-loaded the rower (for what I bought it for), the Wii, the paddock stand (we brought that out from the UK for the R1s) and a spare 5mm Scubapro. Having the 7mm for the colder waters and a brand new Bare 3mm for tropical waters a 5mm is just going to sit in the wardrobe forever. I last used it to dive the Zenobia in Cyprus and I've never worn it since. Those sales put some $1600 into the Paypal account with some video sets still to go on, this weekend. There isn't too much else to sell at the moment as we haven't had the time to accumulate the junk we gathered in the UK.

It's a tough call

2011-08-26T11:24:00.001+10:00

There is so much happening at the moment I can hardly keep up with all of my planning!

QBE have settled the insurance claim. They repaid everything except for the claim for Just Like Home. Never mind. Can't have it all! I'm just glad we're off again at the end of September. Round two.

Still no diving on the Adelaide. Its a tough one as the mooring bookings have to be made so far in advance that when the seas and swell are down it's never our mooring booking that fits in with it! Tutt! Sooner or later then - here's hoping.

Managed to get the Galaxy up to date last weekend. Downloaded the latest version of Android. Well had to download 3 versions actually in the right sequence to get to the final Gingerbread 2.3.2. All went well except that it lost the 4G connection. Hmmm. In the end after some google trawling I found that it had over written and lost the Virgin settings. Once I re-installed those, it was all back up and running and much, much, much faster too. The down side is that it loses the 4G connection incertain parts of the house. Tutt! Still it's nice to know Samsung users that its possible to update when connecting to Kies, when the upgrade has been tested, and keep up with the very latest changes for the phone. It seems a much better deal than having to ditch the iPhone every time Apple decides to bring out a latest version. As for the guise of getting it free with the contract for the phone, at a cost of another 12-24 months added on to the contract yeah right. We're sticking with Virgin and everyone we know is going / has gone across to them to take advantage of the free text and talk that comes with the top-up.

Please read the 'other' blog for updates on happenings this week or take a look at Facebook.

-0-

Social Networking

2011-08-11T14:20:00.000+10:00

Here's the intelligent part. A social network is a space where people can interact. Most social networks are public unless you apply privacy settings. To get inside those privacy settings is no doubt illegal (isn't it). To allow the 'world' and it's dog to view anything you write on a social networking site - just create it, photo it, write it and publish it on the internet. If you don't want the 'world' and it's dog to see it - apply privacy settings or don't write anything on the internet.

Simple?

Obviously not simple enough for some!

-0-

Thanks for the compliment

2011-08-11T14:17:00.000+10:00

A person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to their own opinions (does anyone have a reasoned argument to prove otherwise) and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs (innacurate - ALL belief systems not just differing).

The predominant usage in modern English refers to persons hostile to those of differing race (does not affect me have many real friends from many countries), ethnicity (see previous), religion or spirituality (you're all idiots but I won't tell you that to your face), nationality (wrong), inter-regional prejudice (wrong), gender and sexual orientation (can prove otherwise), homelessness (WTF!), various medical disorders particularly behavioral disorders and addictive disorders.

Got a personal opinion or belief? Then you are exactly the 'same' as me.

-0-

Just because I have a brain

2011-08-11T13:57:00.007+10:00

And an opinion, does that mean I have to keep it to myself?

So my opinion differs from your own, so what? For example, I think the publicity and crap surrounding Cadel Evans is complete bollox. Why? Because he's just another sportsman doing exactly what 'he' wants, which is hardly for the nation is it? Or is that all that Australia needs, people who are good at their sport? If he is going through hardship of any sort, it's down to his own ambition and nothing else. If he spends his life living out of a suitcase, it's HIS choice. No-one said he has to ride a bike, no-one says he has to keep doing it - it's a matter of personal choice.

If I have an opinion, that people who participate in sport are overrated as individuals and that there are far greater issues happening in this world than who can or can't ride a ferking bicycle - I am entitled to that opinion because I happen to live in this world too. If you think that's cruel or spiteful - then all you can see is your own limited and narrow viewpoint, (hello, isn't that what you're accusing me of donkey?) but the opposing side (same, same) which in my world, counts for fuck all anyway.

I don't care that you want to change the way I think by telling me that what I say doesn't matter. What I say at least makes sense! Come to me with a reasoned argument. Provide some evidence to back up the ideal or belief otherwise don't bother challenging my opinion. If you don't want to hear an answer which differs from your own way of thinking why be in the twitterverse or my blogspace? Not got OCD have you?

If you have a valued argument for why a sportsman should get showered with gold then please explain the reasoning. But then I suspect the same kind of reasoning can be applied to why God exists in your limited world, with the answer 'because' and little else. Show me an intelligent argument for why suddenly said cyclist deserves the status of hero?

When after all, the event has had an annual winner since it started in 1903, and there is nothing even remote, about cycling being heroic.

(Oh and anonymous comments are still switched off, as is auto-posting, but tracking is still switched on.)

-0-

Are you aware of the following?

2011-08-11T13:14:00.000+10:00

The British Government provides the following financial assistance:

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER (bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions to the British government all their working life) Weekly allowance: £106.00
IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN (No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution whatsoever) Weekly allowance: £250.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Weekly Spouse allowance: £25.00
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Weekly Spouse allowance: £225.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Additional weekly hardship allowance £0.00
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Additional weekly hardship allowance £100.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT - £6,000
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT £29,900

Is that criminal - or what?

Considering after all, the average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the growth of the country for the last 40 to 60 years.

Isn't it about time UK Government put their own people first.

-0-

Coming soon ..........................

2011-08-08T20:17:00.003+10:00

Actually I did post something here earlier on a second blog I wanted to set up which is password protected so the stalkers, bogans, penis enlargement sellers and iPhone app people can not just happen upon the blog and follow our life. I've tried to do said protected blog but it will not work unless I invite people on to it. Given there are some 100 people in the invitation list - bugger that. So - this blog will be a bit generalist which is the way it's gone now given the arseholes who pretend they're not watching but then tweet about whatever we buy, do, travel too - and I'm going inside facebook for everything else.

The stalkers out there who can't stay off my blog or my twitter account can go and ferk-off. You're not finding anything out from this point onwards.

Update: I have now created the new blog. The blog does not have our names on it anywhere and the personal information used to set it up is protected (as a paid service) so try as you might, you won't just happen upon it no matter how hard you Google.

To access and view the new link look inside my facebook page (linked badge to the right). To get into facebook you will need to be listed as a friend, and also have an account.

Enjoy.
-0-

Education - UK Style

2011-08-02T12:13:00.000+10:00

The following questions were set in last year's GED examination.

These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)!

Q. Name the four seasons.
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans?
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election

Q. What are steroids?
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs

Q. What happens to your body as you age?
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A. Premature death

Q. What is artificial insemination?
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour?
A. Keep it in the cow

Q. How are the main 20 parts of the body categorized (e.g. The abdomen)?
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A, E, I,O,U

Q. What is the fibula?
A. A small lie

Q. What does 'varicose' mean?
A. Nearby

Q. What is the most common form of birth control?
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium

Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'.
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome

Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor

Q. What is a terminal illness?
A. When you are sick at the airport

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas

Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you understand its meaning

A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face

Q. What does the word 'benign' mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head

Where for art thou J7mwy

2011-07-28T13:24:00.000+10:00

We're up and running with Qantas and Jetstar and now have 2 $100 vouchers for Choice Hotels. The insurance claim is in - valid and real with nothing manipulated or added - unlike some people's insurance claims. No wonder it costs so much for insurance with the number of people who are trying to defraud their insurance on a daily basis.

Some would call themselves squeaky clean yet still they'll add a few hundred for that leaking roof or extras they supposedly added to their car. Yes, its fraud. The problem is that insurers can't be bothered or don't have the resources to track and trace all of the elements of a claim.

I have on many occassions questioned the need for such expensive insurance knowing that even the smallest claim would result in a fight. Yet still for as long as I can remember, I've had insurance for everything, with up till now only one claim and that was for a burglary (while we were asleep upstairs). My problem is though that its never certain what is, and what isn't covered on these policies. Take the QBE Annual Multi-Trip as an example. Only while standing at the check-in counter while trying to get out of Virgin a response on why the aircraft had been delayed did we find out from QBE that had the aircraft broken down or gone unserviceable, any claim would be null and void - WHAT! Yes its true. Our cover kicked in because the incoming aircraft had been severely delayed by fog in Canberra. Had it been a fault we would not have been covered at all. How many people have flights cancelled due to mechanical faults? It's a scary thought. I read the insurance docs inside and out and still missed the fine print which in a roundabout way says 'mechanical breakdown'.

I've spent some hours this week looking at alternatives and there seems to be no insurer which covers everything at a level we need. Apart from medical cover in countries where it takes a mortgage to pay for treatment such as the US, is travel insurance worth it? Well, I think about the cover I took out on a Detroit to Chicago trip one year where the car was side swiped by an Elk which demolished the front wing. At the time I was grateful to have taken the full extras cover from Hertz! I drove up to the drop-off desk, they looked at the damage, looked at the hire docs and said thank you have a good flight! Our current policy covers us for excess on rental vehicles. Would this have covered the BMW in Chile/Argentine? NO why? Because the vehicle has to be fully comprehensively insured by the owner for that cover to kick in.

There are SO many loopholes in policies, so many pitfalls and missing joints. We have separate diving cover which is all important in a diving emergency requires evacuation by air. For diving this invokes helicopter recovery as the pressure in standard aircraft can kill someone who's recently been to depth. This does not cover our equipment so we have to rely on bumping up the named items on the standard travel insurance to gain cover for dive computers and expensive BCDs. Our current cover runs to 1st December then I'll be on the hunt for something which covers everything. Again though its not simple. Do we go for annual multi-trip again (as that is the only way to get frequent cover for domestic travel) or single trip cover on an as needed basis?

-0-

Virgin DUMPED

2011-07-25T13:38:00.001+10:00

Thank you National for swapping out our Velocity card for a new sparkling Qantas Gold card. Rocking. I've just cashed in 35,000 points for $200 Quality hotel vouchers (we'll be using those for the outbound and inbound Cairns hotels) plus we got a couple of adult Hoyts tickets (you can keep the rest).

VIRGIN - thanks for nothing much, goodnight and good bye. With so much competition in the airlines market we can, and will live without you. You've given us consistently poor customer service and we've given you thousands and thousands of dollars - so fook off!

Qantas and Jetstar from now on, you get it all. Better customer service, more aircraft and are willing to invoke the old adage that the customer pays their wages so give them what they want! Plus, as I've said all along - in this life / world - you get what you pay for. See those booked on Tiger flights as a testament to that one.

All is rebooked and then some. Guam stopover wasn't in the original schedule but WTF so be it. We're booked in to the Hilton for post diving R&R.

Already have the tropical BARE diving 3mm suits and new 7mm diving kit is coming from LeisurePro in the States so we can dive all year round in Aussie waters and watch the Adelaide deteriorate some more. The end of the wreck diving course is coming up in August and then the start of the Instructor course and a change of career direction is on the cards too.

-0-

Virgin VELOCITY linked NAB card

2011-07-21T20:57:00.001+10:00

Being avid airmiles savers in the UK we have tried to do the same with frequent flyer cards here. We have been using a NAB linked Velocity (Virgin Australia) card for all payments and banking. We walked in to NAB yesterday and requested a transfer onto the NAB linked Qantas Gold card instead. Easy as. Goodbye Virgin Australia. I don't give a shit how much extra it costs to fly 'anywhere' in the world. We're never flying with you lot again and as soon as we decide what to do with the current 40,000 points we currently have - your schemes and cards and everything else will be history in this household.

It was getting so that every flight had something to complain about. Delays, cancellations, schedule changes - always something. Its almost become acceptable now that when the aircraft isn't full they bung a cancellation notice up for it! People, look long and hard at what it is you're booking. We have chosen a flight at stupid o'clock in the morning departing Sydney. It's more than 14 hours ahead of our connection and its on an Airbus A320. Why you ask? Well apart from trying to ensure that we actually GET there this time its obvious that the flight is international which means that its dropping in to Cairns to pick up other passengers. My guess, its going on to Tokyo otherwise why put on such a large aircraft for a domestic service. Also, its going out of the international terminal, another tell tale sign. With an ongoing international leg there is less likelihood that the flight will be delayed - too many passengers. Of course there is no accounting for the weather at either end! This will be our most stressful flight ever I think! Watch the airwaves for comments. If anything goes wrong this time there will be a murder!

-0-

Truk Odyssey is Reborn

2011-07-21T20:48:00.001+10:00

It started with Qantas who said we could get a refund on everything but 5000 points each. Because our emergency return flight from Cairns set us back some $1200+ we could not have both the points refunded and the extra flight cost refunded so we're going with the extra flight cost refund.

Continental offered 100% credit against new flights. Odyssey offered a letter for our insurance company OR a re booking! Do you need to ask which one we took? New dates are the beginning of October. Kennel fees were refunded by the wonderful Debbie. Accor cancelled the Mercure for no cost. Truk Stop hotel cancelled the 3 nights for no cost.

So .............. we are out of pocket for new Jetstar return flights to Cairns as any frequent flyer seats are not available so close to the flight date. We have to rebook the Truk Stop and the Cairns hotel but that cost we already had set aside. Unfortunately, if you look at it that way, the schedules have changed from CNS - GUM - TKK so the flights are now off-peak so they are cheaper which gives us some $500 credit still by way of a voucher for Continental. Interestingly they do fly out of Sydney to San Fransisco!!!!! The extra cost due to schedule changes will be a stop-over in Guam for 3 nights. By then, after diving our arses off we'll be needing the break. By the time we land back in Sydney after a night in Cairns, we have time to get home, shovel the dive kit into the storage boxes, get a nights sleep and then drive to Sydney domestic for a flight to Melbourne for the MotoGP!!!!!

Finally .........................

Light is shining (amongst the massive rain) and we have the glimmer of a smile on our faces once more.

-0-

2011-07-18T17:30:00.003+10:00

-0-

Truk Lagoon?

2011-07-18T17:07:00.001+10:00

How expensive can a holiday be? USD$6200 diving liveaboard on the world's best Truk Lagoon 5 star vessel for 7 nights. Add $2500 Continental flights Cairns-Guam-Truk return. Add Virgin Australia points flights Sydney to Cairns. Add Qantas FF flights Cairns to Sydney. Add hotel in Cairns. Add hotel in Truk. Total - some $10,000. But how expensive is it when you're first flight is delayed? Well, according to the insurance company QBE, we have to take the first flights as the delay is under 6 hours. If we didn't the insurance wouldn't kick in. So knowing this, we got on the aircraft in Sydney expecting a delayed arrival into Cairns landing 11:50pm. Our Continental flight was due out at 12:20am! We missed the connection. Add salt to the wound can you? The Continental desk were quick to put cancelled on our tickets which would kick in refund procedures. Now it was 1:00am and we were looking for a taxi and a bed for the night. Fortunately, Quality Inn is just round the corner ($150 incl. international phone calls). Now, getting back to Sydney? Qantas flights on the 2:30pm = $1213 for two seats in ECONOMY! With airport food, taxis and train fares that's $1600 for less than 24 hours away from home (plus the original cost of the holiday).

Where are we now? We cancelled Truk Stop hotel at no charge. We cancelled Mercure Cairns which was booked for our return, at no charge. Our Virgin-crappest-airline in the world tickets were used so they are gone and good riddance - never again. Our Continental flights have a full 100% value credit against them meaning we can rebook between now and March the same trip at a $75 rebooking fee! MV Odyssey - we don't know about yet but the paperwork says no refund if cancellation is within 60 days. So that is not looking good. Qantas return flights were mostly miles with payment of taxes only but we need to hold off on that one to see about the actual flights we took! We might lose those, not sure at all yet.

Watch this space ...................

-0-

The motley crew

2011-07-11T17:57:00.000+10:00

PADI Wreck Specialty course

9-10th July 2011

diving HMAS Adelaide

-0-

Diving HMAS Adelaide

2011-07-10T23:38:00.000+10:00

The GREEN Adelaide!

I'd talk about the 'Chris' incident but those in the know already know and the rest of you will have to remain curiously ignorant.

Work = excellent, brilliant, in for the long stay. Silence is the key. Confidentiality is a must so its a stone wall of no information people, sorry.

So, what can I talk about? Jamie has sold the Blade almost as quickly as he bought it - on ebay. He's ready for Tasmania via Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perisher, Melbourne. I ordered and got three days later a new BARE elastiprene 3mm tropical wetsuit which is a dream to put on. LeisurePro is the company for dive products. It might include a hefty international shipping charge but everything still comes in at way below Aussie stiff retail prices. Rob (good man) acquired and shipped the Rossi Donkey and Chicken helmets! The GP Tech is so much more comfy than the TiTech or it could be that we've worn the old helmets out but didn't want to admit it! Thank you son - its much appreciated. We're almost on first name terms with the Fedex driver from Sydney.

Friday - has to drive up to flipping Newcastle to the Suunto main service agent so that we could get a new battery in Chris' dive computer - it showing a completely blank screen. Changed them both as a precaution.

Saturday - up at 5:30am (no seriously) and off, via Maccers for a coffee, to Terrigal boat ramp to dive with Abyss Dive on their wreck diver course. Dive one = green water and surge. Didn't see much at all. There is a lot of movement on the smaller structures such as railings. It's not going to be too long at all and the railings are going to be off! Messed around a bit. Swam through the wheel house - nice chair! Safety stop, surfaced - boat quite far away and current against the swim direction. Inflate BCD and head down to go for it - eh - hello what's that hissing sound? Oh its my BCD whistling in my left ear and I'm sinking! Swim for the boat, not going anywhere, inflate BCD, sink a bit more! Errr Chris, can you come over here please. What says Chris. Keep still I need to hang on to you to try and stop the air escaping my BCD or I'm going to drown! What? Meanwhile, Sam the instructor swims over, me totally out of breath can only say 'air' so Sam drags me to the boat with a tow! What happened? Trapped the quick release maybe? Stuck quick deflate valve? What? Inflated to full load and held the air, WTF?

Time for a coffee and a bit of sunshine. Back on the boat for dive two - mapping the wreck. Green water, low vis and massive surge and wreck suction and I mean on the limits of safe diving. Not so bad as we've got one or two dives in - but after a few rail bashings and finding it hard to even get the sodding pencil out of the slate - fook this - up! On the surface, up and down, up and down, head down and swim. Air escaping the BCD? NO. Nothing. Not an easy swim but with plenty of air being held in the BCD no worries. What's that about then?

Chris snapped a BCD shoulder buckle, flooded his secondary torch and popped a chest infection! Hmmm all this just before the big trip. WTF? Repairs overnight included scraping the acid off the inside of the LED lamp and cable tying the shoulder harness shut.

Sunday. We're at the ramp for 7am kitting up, sorting the tanks etc but! Bob turns up with the ProDive boat and announces - the surge is well up on Saturday, diving is cancelled. Bugger! We're out of time for the rest of the course. The last two dives will have to be rebooked for the end of the month after we've been to the Pacific. Never mind. By the end of the month we might have A1 equipment! One thing is for sure. Must get a personal 7mm for continued NSW diving. A 3mm bombed out no-stretch-left-in-it Oceanic titanium is not working. Even with a toasty Pinnacle Lavacore underneath the surface interval is a killer of hypothermia proportions.

Sunday PM. Off to Parramatta and a new find, an awesome dive shop with excellent resources and a lot of equipment and a good business idea! Got me thinking. In fact - I don't need to think about it. Next stop - Open Water Instructor rating before Jamie gets back from the UK! Found out some 'very' interesting info on Terrigal dive and the shape of the business for any future buyers. Apart from being over priced - how long would the building lease last once the current owners depart? Seems the relationship between them and the current Mayor is the reason for the centre commanding such a key location. The word is that once they go and the business is under new owners, the support for the lease will disappear and the 'business' will have to move somewhere else. What then of the $1.5m for sale tag? Sold as seen but with a few skeletons.

-0-

A tyre is a tyre is a tyre - isn't it?

2011-07-04T14:34:00.000+10:00

Over recent years the powers in control of the big named sports - F1 and MotoGP have tried to go some way to even up the field of play. They've done it in F1 by saying teams can change their tyres throughout the course of a race a number of times using specified compounds, but no longer can they take on board fuel. Similar restrictions have come in within MotoGP.

Teams only have a certain number of engines per season and they must ALL use the same type of tyre although they can choose whether to ride a soft or harder compound. The fact remains however that everyone is on the same rubber. So it never ceases to amaze me why people like Hamilton (as much as I think he's a great UK asset) continue to blame the tool when in fact if they go off from the start of a race like a scalded cat and stuff the rubber, why in the later stages of the race they moan about having no grip.

The same is true of Bilby Stoner. He left the start line yesterday as though he'd been shot out of a cannon and then bleated after the race about being over taken by two 'better' and faster riders. The fact remains he screwed up the tread on his tyres and they de-laminated and hence reduced his grip. If he had been more conservative at the start he would have protected that rubber for the end of the race. In the end he was beaten by riders who played a better game of chess. Bilby Stoner is not the world's greatest rider. Honda however, might be the world's greatest development team at the moment. Stoner goes out and jumps on his bike and rides flat out. That's his skills. His ability to throw the bike at corners. It is not that he is the world's greatest rider. When troubled or challenged in the main he shits it. The world's greatest rider is Valentino Rossi. When someone has held the championship title MORE times than Rossi then they will advance to the world's greatest rider. Until then, they are challengers and nothing more!

-0-

Morbid Mortality

2011-07-02T00:06:00.001+10:00

I am reminded again of my own mortality. Every now and again I skip off in to wonderland thinking I am immortal only to be hauled back with a reminder from my own past of those lost and those still here who are hanging on by thin threads. Well maybe not so thin threads, thin ropes. One thing I do know is that when the spring stretches too far, or the clock runs down and you drift off into eternal sleep, you dear reader won't actually know anything about it. Well hopefully you won't see it coming. I've thought about this as I've been about to go under the surgeons knife which has been more often than I'd hoped given I'm still, only just, under 50. What if I die I've thought as the nurse has been counting backwards from 100! It dawned on me, third time around, that I wouldn't actually know I was dead because well, I'd be dead. It's not as though I would wake up and say wow, I'm dead. I'd have drifted off into painless anaesthesia land and would know no more. It's those around who feel the pain of death. The one's left behind who have to face the fact that they are now alone. Of course I can tell you all about that too having been on that side of the fence also. It's an amazing conflict of thought. First you realise that your loved one would have known nothing about it, a blessing for them but what about me? Still here but now, alone.

But I digress........................

I have thought many many times about past loss. Yet never does it actually hit home that I too am following that same thin thread towards the end. My Grandmother never saw her stomach cancer coming. My Mother never saw her stroke coming. My Dad certainly never saw his prostrate cancer coming. My Uncle never saw his brain cancer coming. John never saw his heart attack coming. That's just it isn't it. One day we're feeling one hundred percent with nothing more than a few aches and pains and the next, we've got some terrible illness that suddenly brings mortality right to the forefront of our mind. While we feel good, while we have no discernible problems, we are immortal and feel nothing can touch us. Yet tomorrow, any one of use can wake up with a ticking time bomb in our bodies. It's like a game of Russian roulette isn't it. We know that sooner or later it will be our turn, we just won't see it coming.

-0-

In the news

2011-07-01T21:21:00.003+10:00

Ah yes the news is always a joy to read - NOT! Harp harp harp about Diana and the fact she would have been 50. Yes and? She's dead and gone and that's the end of it. Hers boys will miss her more than anyone who didn't even know her so why are people so hung up on the fact she would have been 50! The past is the fricking past when are people going to realise there is no going back. Not even for her sons who's loss is greater than simpleton reporters, media and people who believe she was a great person will ever know until they lose their own parents. The sadness is that two 'young' boys did not have the benefit of their mother's love when they were growing up - that's the true sadness. Look at them now though? Aren't they fine young men with their heads screwed on probably more screwed on than their mother's head would have been. Not sure who that is down to mind you. Who their greatest influence will have been. Anyway, its nice to see the British monarchy rejeuvenated and they're the best thing that has happened to Britain in my lifetime full stop!

Gosford and Wyong councils have back tracked on their second Sydney airport plan. For now that is. Don't think this one is going away oh no it's just on the shelf until they get some weight behind the argument. Then it will be back to haunt us all at which point we'll probably sell up and move to Perth. Judging by the price of property around us we'll come close to 600k right now so it might go up some more in the next few years and then who knows. It's a certainty though that we'll end up on a block of land with no neighbours and in some sort of downsized mini-house / cabin or park home. That will free up the capital from the house for travel. If I have to work I'll be staying with these guys for the next ten years - there's no way I'm giving up a gig like this unless its for another gig like this! I will be retiring at 60 - there's no question about that. Everything is in place for aged 60 retirement end of story - rock on the next ten years.

My boy has been busy sorting out all kinds of biking stuff for J7mwy and the two of us. A helmet, brake pads and plugs are coming for James. A Rossi special ed Chicken for me, and a Rossi special ed Donkey for Chris are on their way. At GBP320 ($480) for the chicken and GBP380 ($570) for the Donkey that's a massive saving off Australia retail prices. The cheapest the chicken is going for online in Aussie is $789 and the same for the Donkey except the latter is in very short supply. We thought we were moving from from rip-off Britain but we moved out to rip-off Australia!

-0-

Robot in disguise

2011-06-30T10:46:00.000+10:00

Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime

There were only a dozen or so people in the cinema last night to see Transformers 3 in 3D! I have to say though it started well using footage of Kennedy and the oval office, switching between fuzzy archive and fuzzy new and manipulating the story of the moon landings with Armstrong and Aldrin. Then it slowed right down with Witwicky back fill. Telling us how the previous girlfriend is gone and the new one who is seriously butt ugly (what has she done to those lips!), especially when there are close-ups which make her cheekbones look like an alien, who is rich is now on the scene wasting valuable transformer butt kicking action. Sam is driving some heap of rust and Bumblebee is nowhere to be seen. There seems to be quite a bit of scene setting for possible later movies. Sam is not on the inside of the govt. handling of the Autobots which seems to be telling us that in the next movie he's going to be a man in black! All this means that the plot is way too thin for the 2.5hours of movie time.

On the up side once it gets going it is full on but again the plot is too thin and there is too much 'almost dying' of the major autobot characters. The slowmo shots of the transformers as they are blown apart and people skydiving on wing suits is all good. Masses and masses of detail is excellent and then we get Sentinel Prime. His voice is instantly recognisable - Leonard Nimoy - and they've even morphed his features onto the robot so that the Prime really does look like Nimoy! He even gets in there one of his old Spock lines from Wrath of Khan - 'the needs of the many outweigh, the needs of the few' guffaw guffaw! He does bring a heavyweight voice to the movie which lifts it way above its otherwise mediocre position.

I'd say cut out an hour and it would be a half decent action movie. If you're going to do more of them Michael Bay - you have to get some decent script and plot in there!

-0-

2011-06-30T10:20:00.002+10:00

The Green Thing

2011-06-29T10:45:00.001+10:00

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained,

“We didn't have the green thing back in my day.”

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation didn't care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

-0-

Happiness is egg shaped!

2011-06-28T22:12:00.000+10:00

Actually its lemon shaped.

With the help of two generous lemons from Val's tree plus our own lemons I made a very nice lemon curd at the weekend. I even remembered my grandmothers recipe!

Whisk two whole eggs, with two eggs yolks
Add 3/4 cup of castor sugar and whisk to a smooth paste in a pan
Add 80gs unsalted butter
Add grated zest and juice of 4 lemons
Whisk coninuously over low heat until thickened
Sieve into a standard marmalade pot

-0-

Volcanic ash

2011-06-26T22:47:00.001+10:00

Less than three weeks to go now! How will we fair with the ash cloud floating over the Pacific? The only problem leg will be Sydney to Cairns. If we are delayed we have no chance of catching our joining flight out of Cairns as we have a 120 minute window as it is! It takes a good 36 hours to 'drive' there so wow, what a claim on the insurance that would be of some $15,000 to come back. I hope not. The chances of pulling this one off again are extremely limited.

This weekend has been chill central. A really sweet bike ride up to Mount White cafe yesterday. Cold but still very nice. A little shopping. A few movies. A bit of Bobby walking. Just the thing to chill.

This week we have Transformers 3 on Wednesday! Can't wait.

-0-

No second airport

2011-06-25T21:43:00.001+10:00

Gosford and Wyong without public consultation are suggesting to the NSW government that we would like a second (Sydney satellite) airport on our doorstep. Errr what happened to public consultation? Yes Sydney airport is a tad overcrowded but tough, restricting air traffic is good for the environment isn't it? The infrastructure is at its maximum levels now and is handling everything fine for Sydney flights in and out. Why would we need a second airport? To increase inbound traffic? To improve the overall bank balances of the share holders? To improve the economy of the central coast?
Let's think about Sheffield UK. After local government pressure to the public they built the airport. The operators didn't back it and as a result with only a few flights in and out during the weak five years or so later it closed and is now a business park. Leeds Bradford is the worst international airport in the world to drive to. Stanstead is a holiday and European flight airport. Gatwick is used by the tour companies while Heathrow gets the main business from BA and Virgin. Yes, its very easy to create a white elephant.

The local government are talking about putting in an airport between Mangrove mountain and Sommersby which is actually west of the F3. This means that as the central coast is east of the F3 there will hardly be any increase in business TO the central coast. They're saying of course that a fast rail link will have to be built. Hello, the current rail runs along the water course and up and down hill. A beautiful scenic journey indeed but it can never be made fast due to the limits on cornering and safety who are they kidding. This means that a new fast line has to go in somewhere else which means on or west of the F3 - well away from the central coast. Even if you used the line of the F3 building new rail lines next to it, or better still under or above it, it still means this will not be of benefit to the people of the central coast at all.

Where is the evidence that a second airport would work? Where is the commitment from the government to fund the infrastructure? Where is the data that shows the operators would use it? Where is the evidence that there will be any benefit at all for the central coast? Guess what? There isn't any. Why not? Because this is a Mayoral cruise for personal kudos that's all. There is no evidence or it would have been put forward wouldn't it? Same as always. Council idiots making decisions for the little people. I know one thing. The value of the houses all over the central coast will plummet. Values don't go up because people can now access their airport. They fall because of increased noise and pollution.

It would not attract international flights it would be used as a domestic satellite airport which means that it will attract the budget airlines who will like the idea of cheaper landing fees, but the people on board will in the main be wanting to go to Sydney not Gosford!

-0-

Queen Anne's revenge

2011-06-21T13:55:00.001+10:00

Yikes a few parts then!

The little people are easy to build!

That's the hull done

A day later - doesn't she look magnificant?

-0-

Winter sure is here. The nights are fairly cool now and the heating is on more and more. While Chris was in Perth, Jamie and I experienced a lengthy power cut on the Saturday night. Given the extremes in weather that evening it was not surprising that they might have had a higher than normal demand for heating. Strangely though Saturday gone we had yet another 'event'! Around 11pm the air con suddenly switched itself to diagnostic mode and displayed a fault on the master unit. We were busy watching Transformers at the time so had another beer and thought we'd have to call an engineer on Monday. As a last resort I checked the internet to see what was on there for our Daikin system. The fault code pointed to an electricity supply fault. Strange! So Chris and J7mwy had a look at the consumer box. Two of the meters were on (digital) and a third wasn't! Now we know that the air con is on the third meter which also means that during peak load that the electric supply companies can switch off the air con without interrupting main services such as lighting. How interesting! Of course by morning the whole thing was back to normal!

J7mwy was trying to get his dives in on Sunday but the swells yet again, were too strong. So we went shopping instead. I got a Pirates of the Carribean Queen Anne's Revenge LEGO ship to build, and a BumbleBee transformers model. How lucky am I! So guess what fun I had at the weekend! Yep - you're right - sure did. The pirate ship looks awesome.

My new work Dell Lattitude arrived at the weekend too. Had to pop out and get a new keyboard and headset. The old keyboard is a UK GBP10 job which has seen enough action and started to stick. The microphone and headphone is a single jack instead of the dual jack so had to replace with a USB headset for Skype use. Everything else is awesome. My ASUS is not getting much use these days! Everything is getting smaller. Micro USB dongles for keyboard and mouse save heaps of desk space. Most excellent.

Our crimsafe doors front and back have now been fitted too. The side door matches the rest of the windows and doors but as the main front door is wooden and requires painting we have gone for a complimentary colour of dark grey. We'll be hunting out some paint to match that to finish off the porch. The door number also needs finishing - must do that this weekend.

Bob has had his spa treatment today - he looks so sweet but I'm sure he'll be a little chilly for a few days bless him.

We also had Enviro Pest out today to check and charge the termite barrier to keep that under warranty. All is more than good there.

I think we're bang up to date on everything for now. Just counting down to the big trip!

-0-

2011-06-21T13:32:00.000+10:00

It's me - Bob the shaggy sheep dog!
'Yes I do sleep on Mum and Dad's bed.'

Sometimes it's just too hot and I have to snuggle zebra.

Has anyone seen Bob?

If its a public holiday and it's pouring down
what is a dog to do but snuggle on a fav cushion!

Washed out Public Holiday

2011-06-14T22:12:00.002+10:00

Home sweet home

-0-

So now we have a Honda Fireblade squeezed in to our already overfull garage. It won't be there for too long once new tyres are added and its re-registered and serviced. It will be running around Sydney until mid July and then it's off on the Spirit of Tasmania! OK so it has to get there first but the route is planned - allegedly. Nutz or what riding a Fireblade close to the snow fields mid-winter!

Chris had a fab weekend although he came back on the Virgin red-eye to cancelled train services so he had to get the bus back to Woy Woy from Central. With next to no sleep his day was a wash-out. Mind you the whole weekend has been a complete wash-out. The Central Coast and the whole of the east coast of NSW has had the most incredible rain and storms. It started on Saturday morning and never stopped. I thought today it would get a little better. Well in fact this morning there was a gap actually of a few hours but by the afternoon it had closed in again and we've been blasted with water ever since. I'm really pleased we chose a house with extra drains and a slightly sloping rear patio, coupled with a front of house which slopes away from the house. There is a lot of water passing in to the storm drains and on to the stream but at least it's flowing without obstruction or collection straight to the ocean. Northern NSW are not so lucky with the Hastings, the Manning, Macleay and the Bellinger rivers all on extreme flood alert. There was even a mini tornado which hit north of Coffs Harbour today taking roofs off buildings and leaving a wave of destruction behind it.

The Crimsafe guys are coming tomorrow to install our two new security doors to the side and front of the house. The front is not so important, although it will be very nice to know that in summer we can leave that door open but locked and not have to worry about anyone kicking in the thin metal (which is what is there now) screen. The rear door though will have the pet door in it. Our current security door is the type which is a common security door / screen. It locks but I mean it's not that secure. At last we will have the bullet proof thief proof versions. They'll both have full on locks at numerous points on to the frame instead of the flimsy versions we currently have. Deep joy. The house will still be a bit of an IGLOO though given we allow the air in during the day leaving Bob's door open for him. Well, the dog's comfort is paramount. Having said all that when necessary the reverse cycle is on and thank goodness for it being ducted.

My Animals Australia membership pack arrived today. I have a new plush beanie Bobby cow for starters and an interesting link to Cruelty Free Super to think about. Working full time for an Irish company means I am the one to manage my own Superannuation. They pay me the 9% and I choose where to invest that. So I'm looking at moving away from my current Super fund and transferring the bulk of the super into a new ethical alternative. Watch this spot.

That's the update for now.....................

-0-

2011-06-11T21:50:00.001+10:00

Our old BP monitor told me this morning:
1st go: 190/110
2nd go: 95/60
Therefore I am already dead!

So I went out and bought a new one - current BP 117/70.

Moral of this tale
- if at first your BP monitor does not tell you what you want to see -
BUY ANOTHER ONE!

-0-

Downton Abbey et al

2011-06-10T21:28:00.001+10:00

Watching the fabulous Downton Abbey on Channel 7 here in Aussie. Great interlaced storylines in a wonderful setting. Very famous place Highclere Castle but not somewhere I have visited. Might have to change that next year. Along with a visit to Heston's restaurant and St.Pancras Champagne Bar. Oh yeah, and I'll be dragging my Mother away for a few days to our wedding hotel, the Lodore Falls because quite frankly, the North-East is just too depressing! Got to also see Tracey and Jeff, Norah and of course Rob and Anneka. Not sure just how many people we can get too. Not even sure of the length of time we'll be over there. Two weeks maybe.

Work is wonderful but full on. Deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines. Most excellent to be so busy while looking out of the study window! Got my first full months pay today - and another laptop is on its way from Canada.

Jetstar are having a 7th Birthday 2 for 1 sale. Book a flight and get a second seat free. Too good to be true? Nope - just booked a little weekend jaunt for November. Booked the MotoGP in Melbourne last weekend well, booked the flights and the hotel still waiting for the Catch-a-coach ticket link to open up before I book the circuit tickets.

Chris has bought me a fantastic 50th birthday present - going to be a Keeper for a day at Taronga Zoo. How totally cool is THAT going to be!

For Chris' 50th I surprised him with a lot of visitors from all over the UK and two days of fun. I have to say, I'm not into surprise birthday parties. Given that my family are in the UK anyway - I will be keeping my head down and doing something intimate with Chris and Bobby. Besides, for parties to work all of the guests need to be on the same wavelength and pretty much enjoy the same lunacy. It just takes one sober straight laced clot to mess up a perfectly good evening although Marie sharp sorted him out :-)

2012 is actually going to be a strange year. We won't be away so much as we're stacking money away for the new Outlander and what should have been the Olympic trip will now be the BBC coverage on whatever TV channel Aussie can push it out on armchair version. Although having said that the TV coverage will be way better than a single viewing spot. Which makes working from home an even better proposition given that the UK is way behind us so viewing hours are going to be mostly after midnight!

Chris is away today to Perth and to the Australian National Judo championships. Well it's his scene. I'm sure he'll bore everyone with lots of Judo speak and meet lot's on interesting Judo people. So it's me and Bobby this weekend and possibly J7MWY if he manages to find something thicker than a Fitness First track top to wear on his newly purchased Honda Fireblade!!!!

-0-

2011-06-01T19:55:00.001+10:00

Life's gut punches

2011-05-31T18:10:00.000+10:00

In 31st January 2001 I lost my best friend, my soul mate and my other half - John. It was sudden, unexpected, and pushed me to the edge of an abyss I thought no-one could recover from. My son was my lifeline. At the time I was not talking to my Mother, and hadn't for the previous 8 years. There were four people who drew me back from the edge of that abyss. My brother in law who phoned me every single day without fail for a year, and my three best girl friends. They would just drop by, they would phone, sometimes they brought dinner, sometimes they brought coffee, often they dragged me out for some fresh air. After a month or so I would go out on the motorbike. I would ride over to one of them for a bacon sandwich and pot of tea and spend time tinkering with her ancient PC. You know the sort of friends I'm talking about don't you? You don't live in each other's pockets. Sometimes you don't speak for months and months. But they're there in the background waiting, being, always a part of you.

Yesterday, I found out that I'd lost one of them. I hadn't heard from her since Xmas which wasn't unusual at all actually. I sent her pictures of the Chile trip but didn't get anything back but I wasn't worried. Then I sent out a joke email - a rarity for me - and it went to an 'old' email address of hers which her other half happened to pick up. He'd lost my current email address and hadn't known how to get in touch. She'd died on 15th March this year. Her cancer had returned but this time with no way back.

I'm not yet 50 and I've lost five of the most influential people in my life. My grandparents, my father, and two of my best friends. OK so we expect to outlive our immediate family. But we hope to see our friends at least make the same ball park old age as we would hope to make.

I am reminded yet again of the thin string which holds our fragile relationships and the devastating effect when it breaks. Do you know about loss?

2011-05-31T16:21:00.005+10:00

-0-

The cagewarrior that misses the point

2011-05-31T16:02:00.001+10:00

I actually think products like this are well worth having. Here's the scenario. I've just bought some fresh chicken breast which I've just chopped up for a stir fry. I can hold my hands underneath the dispenser and get soap out of it without having to contaminate a push pump or a bar of soap (I hate bars of soap in kitchens anyway). This seems far preferable to me than covering everything in sight in chicken germs. So why the movement to get it banned? I've got FOUR of them (3 bathrooms, 1 kitchen). I don't give a shit how much they cost.

They only dispense when required and they're not sitting on the side of my wash basin becoming festering soap goo. Other liquid hand cleaners, over time become a thick congealed mass which looses the ability to foam up anyway. As for you cage warrior. Why bother washing your hands at all if you're so against new product developments. Just use water. As for the trap of falling in to the NASA spent millions developing the space pen while the Russians used a pencil - gullible or what! It's an URBAN MYTH mate. You know what one of those is don't you? Myth! The Fisher space pen is a legend. The rest of the story is myth. Not everything that glitters is gold. Sometimes it's coal.

-0-

2011-05-31T13:20:00.001+10:00

If it's not steam - then what is it?

-0-

This is my forum

2011-05-31T12:23:00.000+10:00

This is my blog, so this is my voice to the world, not that the world reads much of it although if I look at the stats for it I have readers (dear reader) in South America and in North America and a lot in Russia! Anyway, I digress.

This is my forum and my voice for how I see the world and how it affects ME. What affects me is aggression. I shy away from confrontation and after confrontation I will be the one who walks in the other direction. I have a right to say what I want where I want and I will do that. I'm not influenced by anyone's thoughts on that subject - not anyone's thoughts on that subject. What I don't do is 'name' people on any forum. It hardly constitutes a discussion. How people behave is up to them but if that behaviour, in a street brawl as an example, suddenly ends up on TV and being discussed in Q&A, should they complain about it? After all it was their bad behaviour that was captured on the cameras and the world loves to bitch about stuff. If you read my blog then you know I love to bitch about stuff.

Here's my position dear reader - I hate confrontation. I've only ever once sat in a pub when a fight kicked off and it wasn't the fear that upset me, it was the anger on the faces of the two men going at each other. Anger is stressful for the observer because the cause of the anger is unknown and as a result, what happens next is also unknown.

What are the stressors in life? Divorce rates high, house removals a close second, funerals are not good either. Wedding receptions must be up there too depending on the role of the guest. What I need is less stress, not more of it. So from this point I will actively be dipping out of anything which might cause any form of stress, I'm in the danger zone now. At the right age for increased problems and some events just add to the risk of increased blood pressure. High BP causes stroke and heart attacks and heart failure and awful diseases so forget it - if it's stressful I won't be there.

I've often wondered if diving is stressful. I guess it is in a way. I mean at the bottom of the thought process should be the worry of drowning but it never enters my mind. I don't worry about the risks or the likelihood of an emergency when I jump in the water. It was the same with skydiving. If I jumped out of a plane my thoughts were not on dying! Managing the risk is the key to a successful and long life I reckon. Manage the risk of a stressful event and reducing the stress itself and its associated risks.

So if you don't see me in the near future - you know it's because I would find it too stressful!

-0-

2011-05-30T23:48:00.003+10:00

That's me above - apparently!

There's nowt so queer as folk! Sometimes people try to do the decent thing and it blows up in their face. But you know what? What goes around comes around. Take my mother as an example. She's managed to alienate so many people with her quite rude tongue that now in her elderly years she has very few friends. That rudeness almost resulted in a second divorce. In fact sometimes, how my Dad put up with the tongue lashings amazes me. But I know that his strength and resillience was a testiment to his amazing personality. I've just discovered that every family has one. A nasty person with a streak of rudeness that is. They say we all become our mothers. Is that true? I am my mother - and therefore I must be the biggest bitch out. But you know what dear reader, my conscience is well and truly clear, and you know what else - there isn't anyone who won't agree with me. Oh well on the other hand there might be three.

Other news - storms and downpours are the order of the new week. The rabbits played Penrith tonight and lost. This weekend is the Storm. Celtic FC are coming to play a couple of exhibitions. One of which is against the Central Coast Mariners at the ANZ. I'm undecided on that one. Well I'm counting down now to the July holidays. Chris has a little jaunt before then. After that I'll just be acruing leave for another adventure. I have a week off at Xmas so might plan a 'trip' for that, we'll see what we can sort.

-0-

2011-05-30T23:33:00.000+10:00

I think the wrong person got the bullet!

-0-

A week in May

2011-05-22T22:36:00.001+10:00

T-Rex Mum and Jr - Walking with Dinosaurs
Acer Arena Sydney - Friday 20th May

Work is going extremely well. I'm playing with new technology and new software and building some fabulous learning. Loving it. This might be my last company I reckon. Freedom, working from home, my own hours, work when I like as long as I fit in 40 hrs per week. Happiness.

We still haven't managed to fit in the Adelaide diving yet. Possibly this week. Definitely before 15th July - it's a must. I get the feeling though from the various websites that activity is still quite manic on weekends so a weekday would be better. Less crowded and far more relaxed. Will have to watch the weather and the sea reports for the next couple of weeks.

Did I mention we'd had the Fazers serviced? Mine on 13,000 and Chris' on 3,000 - we both had a standard 10k service done on each with changes in filters and fluids and a run on the Yamaha computer to read out the telemetry. All is well in Fazer land and for the privilege of that peace of mind the dealer relieved me of $500 for the two.

Bobby had a hair cut - with hydro dog. A winter cut this time so he's not too cold bless him.

We've been to the Rabbitohs games at the ANZ. The last one was amazing and an awesome win for the Rabbits too.

Thursday was Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides in 3D at Erina. What can I say. I was kind of wondering if the pace and the story lines would be slowing down or fading a little. We were without a few regulars - 4 at least, that I could see - but it's easier to say who's in rather than who's out. Of course we have Captain Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa, Joshamee Gibbs and the shortest ever cameo from Keith Richards - after that - you won't find any of the regulars they've all gone to the bottom of Davy Jones locker. Of course Geoffrey Rush is as magical as always, Johnny is as camp as he was in the first movie and still a pleasure to watch and they are joined by an incidental Penelope Cruz as the love object but by far stealing the story line - Ian McShane as Blackbeard. It's a great movie, full of brilliant effects and even more exciting watching it in 3D.

To try and top this was Friday's drive to the Acer Arena and Walking with Dinosaurs. Amazing family entertainment. Larger than life and a real hoot. To say this is a children's show would be incorrect. There were just as many couples and older adults there as there were kids. 20 life sized dinosaurs strut their stuff around the arena. There are inflating trees and greenery and tropical plants - flying dinosaur, raptors, stegosaurus and more. When the baby T-Rex is cornered by a couple of larger dinosaurs everyone knows what's coming as it lets out a pitiful cry and the massive mother T-Rex which emerges from the back of the arena does not disappoint. Incredible engineering and a flawless performance from all. Excellent value for money. A great evening's entertainment.

The rest of the week: various walks on Bobby's beach, had breakfast at Sassy's couple of times, did some 'dinner party' shopping at Erina, researched where to get some French pate, shopped at Spotlight for French tableware, sent off to the Party people for streamers and assorted table goodies, bought a French flag off eBay, got some wormers for Bobby, paid the rates and phone bill, booked EnviroPest to do the annual service on the termite barrier, took delivery of the Dell Lattitude from Ireland / Canada, worked out daily on the Concept 2, got the complete Allo Allo from Amazon UK, bought the alcohol and some of the ingredients for the coming weekend.

Wonder what this week is going to bring? Well for a starter I'll be paying Debbie for our July trip - in fact I'll be off to do that right now - and Chris will be handing over some cash for his June accommodation. Right now for the F1!

-0-

2011-05-22T21:05:00.002+10:00

Bin Laden never stood a chance!

2011-05-18T20:25:00.002+10:00

My fav from 2011 so far
Rob and Anneka hit the Rocks in Sydney

-0-

2011-05-18T19:28:00.001+10:00

Early evening on Pearl Beach, NSW

High swells and rolling surf

-0-

Space the final frontier

2011-05-17T13:24:00.002+10:00

When Rob was 7 in 1992 we stood on the banks of the Banana River in Florida and watched the live launch of Space Shuttle Columbia from the Kennedy space centre. I can still remember this orange streak rising into the clear blue sky and the massive roar as the sound reached our ears. It seems quite sad that the program is coming to an end. I guess the massive cost of throwing away solid fuel tanks and other assorted fall off bits over the years is just counter cost productive. I don't know if the rockets which will be used to ferry supplies and people back and forth to the space station will have re-use value or not, is the cost lower or higher long term? Like everything else that flies though, the life of the equipment no matter how well maintained is not limitless. It will be interesting to see the expected life of the Virgin Galactic sub-space plane once it has passed through the high temperatures and massive traumas of getting in and out of an orbit skimming presense in space.

Is it just me or does space exploration seem to have been going on and on forever without massive progress. I was eight when Neil Armstrong stepped on to the surface of the moon. Apart from inter galactic satellites, nothing really has happened since. Yes, a few rovers have touched down on Mars and a few have burnt or blown up on Saturn and Jupiter but what progress has really been made? I doubt in my lifetime at this level of endeavour, no-one will step foot on Mars. But I have used the by-products and been grateful for them. Space pens, disposable nappies, teflon pans and more. While I was in the final stages of my Masters degree the postgraduate publicity department used my course and me, as marketing for future students. they asked me what I hoped to do with my MSc - I answered - work for NASA. They took a photo of me standing next to a monitor on which was an image of a shuttle launch. I eventually went to work for SAIC (based in McLean, Virginia) and fulfilled the dream - I did work for NASA albeit on a short term infrastructure contract - but at least I touched the rainbow.

On a lighter note - my Dell lattitude has arrived from Canada / Ireland with a UK plug! Now where did I put all of those adapters!

-0-

What causes RF interference?

2011-05-16T11:57:00.001+10:00

It's a puzzle isn't it? Yesterday, neither the door bell, (the smoke alarm the previous day) or any of the garage door remotes would work correctly. The most puzzling were the garage remotes. The batteries were changed in all handsets and all three worked inside the house but none of them would work once outside the garage. So what is the cause of this sudden short range? Interference - but from what? Someone installed and using new Internet technology? A ham radio installation. Someone with some kind of new remote technology or military / telecoms / other industry? Anything is possible isn't it. Definitely Sunday is a day of relaxation or system upgrades don't you think so anyone could be doing anything with their wireless systems, including some little shit with a home radio birthday kit! Anyway for now its all back to normal.

Also back to normal - my blood pressure. I have severe pain in the hip which I think is an inflammation - bursitis, arthritis or similar and have been taking codeine / paracetamol mix pain killers. I have put up with the pain for two days pill free and as a result my blood pressure has dropped from 148/88 at it's highest, down to 128/78 today. My usual level is 117/70 so it's slowly coming down. Now then, is the increased BOP solely due to the pain killers or in part due to the pain. I'll give it a week and re-check to find out.

MotoGP was a great fight Sunday evening. It was LeMans - the French round. There seems to be a lot more controversy these days. Remember the bashes and comings together Rossi and Gibernau had? There were some stern glances in the paddock and that's as far as it went. These days they have the Ferrari moaning mentality. Stoner is just going way too far. This is bike racing after all. Suddenly people are not allowed to be in front of him and if someone manages to crash nearby then watch out for the complaint to race control. Come on man-up. Come out of a bend and a slower rider is in front then swing wide to avoid that rider. As for race incidents - that what racing is about. I'd like to roll back the clock to the time when Stoner and Pedrosa were new. They were wild and spent most of their time taking themselves and other people off the track in race incidents and suddenly now that they've got more at stake - like the championship title - everyone else is supposed to leave them alone to win! I don't think so!

The wider world - don't forget about Japan. Those nuclear power plants are not suddenly all nice and cool and back to normal. The truth? At least one if not all have melted through the containment walls - pretty much the same as Chernobyl and there is nothing underneath containment to stop them from melting further. Remember the basics of nuclear fission is to start a chemical reaction which generates heat indefinitely. That's the beauty and the tragedy of it all. The problem, once the reaction has started nothing can stop it. In order to keep the heat under control, sea water is normally pumped through heat exchangers, the hot water passed through cooling systems and the water returned to the sea - in theory. The half life of fissionable material runs in to decades and that's how long the reactors have to be cooled. The result is cheap energy but the problem is when something goes wrong, it really goes wrong. Now that the containment is damaged the sea water cooling system is not operating and therefore nothing is cooling that process. The melted rods are generating massive heat and melting everything in its path. At Chernobyl the only way to stop it was to tunnel underneath the reactors and pump in massive amounts of concrete and re-start cooling. What is happening in Japan? It's not a problem which will solve itself - it needs intervention or it really will be the 'China Syndrome'.

What's on the cards this week? Sitting at my desk in my study working of course. I am lucky to work from home and have some top projects to work on.

-0-

A weekend in May

2011-05-15T22:40:00.002+10:00

Million Paws Walk - Gosford

Another weekend over and done with. Wow has it been cold! Saturday - out with the boy for coffee at Ettalong and a very tasty spinach pie and then leaving lights and TV on for the boy off we went to the ANZ to watch the Rabbitohs stuff the Tigers - what a game. They cooled off in he second half and the Tigers almost had a revival but the Rabbits held on for a famous win.

Sunday - up early to get over to Gosford for the RSPCA Million Paws Walk 2011. Lots of dogs - I mean LOTs of dogs to sniff and greet. Bob was bored after 30 minutes and just sat there, good little boy that he is, waiting for the walk to start - then he was off. He completed the whole 4.74kms walk. Well done to little Bob who hardly has the longest legs in the world. He's been tuckered out ever since mind you!

The smoke alarm decided to beep on Saturday which required a quick visit to Woollies to restock the battery supply. We thought that would cure the problem. It didn't. Then the door bell started to set itself off with no-one outside pressing it! Then this morning the garage remote fobs have stopped working from outside the house. They all work in the garage and inside the house but not outside the house - what is going on !!!!!!

The Atheist Foundation of Australia have announced that the Four Horsemen will be coming to Melbourne in April 2012. WOW. That's Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, Sam Harris and all being well Christopher Hitchens. It's going to be a sell-out as soon as they release the tickets. At the moment I'm watching flights. Watch this space.

-0-

Immigration Review

2011-05-15T22:29:00.001+10:00

The new immigration review! Let’s look back to November 2007. There we were landing on Australian shores – well qualified I might add – and expected to find work in regional Australia. It’s a great theory isn’t it? We value your skills and to prove it here’s a VISA but with a few strings attached. One string being that you must work in a none-metro area and you have to live outside of a metro area too. Now off you go and find work.

Remember that far back blog readers?

Remember how it actually panned out?

I might have arrived well skilled in my field but getting a job in my own field proved impossible. Why? Because regional Australia is not geared up to doing business. It doesn’t have the infrastructure – the roads, the technology the access. But more importantly, it doesn’t have the commitment or the interest of the employers to offer the same level of employment as they would in the city. Look at the size of Australia and think how goods and services move around a continent so vast. Then think where the airports are and the roads. To get employers further out there have to be incentives to the businesses not to the individuals.

I couldn’t find work in regional Australia because there was precious little in my own field. No, let’s be honest, there were NO jobs in my field. Remember I came out with 10 years in senior management at a University eLearning level. Transfer of those skills should have been in to education. There are no rural University level roles in eLearning – the only take up for eLearning roles are City based where companies and infrastructure are already well established. Rural Australia employment opportunities are for rural roles – farms, mines, services and the occasional CSIRO department. Yes the mines might be having a boom time but look at the roles available within the rural areas themselves, and the roles available at the mine HQ – which is usually city based. Perhaps there should be more incentives for current residents to up sticks and move to where the jobs are if there are skills gaps. Handing out a VISA is no guarantee that once a migrant has met the conditions of that VISA that they will stay where they first set up home. WE are prime examples of that. Australia welcomed us but we had a vast amount of money coming with us. Once we had met the terms of the VISA we had no choice but to move to get back to the standard of life we had in the UK. The only way to get that standard, is to go where the jobs are, and those jobs are in the cities not in regional Australia.

Burke is just that a Burke. Blinkered. If he thinks that getting people in on regional VISAs and keeping them there is easy then he really is blind. People will come in, work for less money to meet the terms of their VISA and then move to where they can get a better lifestyle. Just as we did. We had to try and find work in regional Australia as that WAS the condition of the VISA but we couldn’t sustain it. The ONLY way to get acceptable work was to MOVE to it. We are now living in a post code area which was not available to us in the first two years. I’m working for a company which is Sydney based which was also closed off to me in the first two years. No-one can say that I did not give regional Australia the very best shot. We only just broke even moving away from Port Macquarie and had there been job opportunities open to me we would have stayed there. But, I hardly consider that making someone with my skills, experience and qualifications work in a job which anyone could actually do, shovel chicken breasts around in Woolworths, is helping Australia’s skills shortage. All that says to me is that Australia wants the skilled work force but hasn’t got a clue what to do with it once they get here.

Burke – you are blinkered – take it from someone who knows and who has had to go through the stupid regional VISA process and can tell you your policy will FAIL. Advertise REAL jobs overseas not empty promises. If there are jobs open in regional Australia – roles which unemployed Australians can’t fill – then offer VISAs as permanent regional VISAs, where individuals cannot move in to the cities. Might seem harsh but let’s face it, it’s the only way to keep the workforce regional.

-0-

Missing children

2011-05-12T17:14:00.000+10:00

One has to ask, at the end of the day, who should bare the responsibility of allowing a child to be in such a position that they are abducted? Yes, I am concerned about the 'letter' to the British PM which asks him to spend yet more of the tax payers money to pull together the information held by the Portuguese and British police forces in relationship to the disappearance of their daughter. For close to four years, with the help of donations from the British public, the McCanns have paid countless sums of money to private investigators to find leads to the whereabouts of their daughter. Those private investigators are likely to be ex-police officers and have the same skills that a serving officer is likely to have. Is it really necessary to tie up yet more money in the search for someone who disappeared on foreign soil? I don't think so. To search for one child opens the flood gates to search for them all. Yes, all of the missing children who have been taken by absent parents, friends, criminals and who have taken children against the will of their guardians. Its not just about one child is it? Its about all of the missing children. Why are the McCanns so special? Point of fact - THEY and only THEY are responsible for what has happened to their daughter. They left her unattended. In fact they should consider themselves so very lucky that only one of their children was abducted and not all of them.

Do they think she is alive? What are the odds of that? Small I would say. She could be living somewhere in Africa. Libya might be an interesting place to start. Perhaps she has been indoctrinated in to a family who do not have connections with the outside world and don't even know that the child they no doubt paid for, belongs to a family still living. Is it possible? Don't you think that by now, with such a huge value on her safe return that someone would have cashed in on that reward. There is always someone with financial interests far greater than supposed loyalty. By now someone would have tried to claim that bounty had she been living. Sadly, she is more likely to be in a shallow grave to be found years and years later. No its not a nice thought but it is a realistic one.

Why are the McCann's continuing to cash in on the disappearance of their daughter? What about all of the other poor parents who have neither the resources nor the skills to sit down and write about their experiences and their loss. I can't actually feel sorry for the McCanns. At the end of the day, they left their children alone unwatched so that they could eat with friends at a restaurant.

Where has their religion got them?
No too far so it seems.
Perhaps their God does not see fit to forgive them their sins!

-0-

RSPCA Million Paws Walk

2011-05-10T20:15:00.001+10:00

Lyons Park, GOSFORD - Sunday 15 May 2011

* BBQ
* Merchandise stalls
* Million Paws Walk merchandise
* Jumping castle
* Face painting
* Dog washing
* Fancy dress competition
* Largest Dog / smallest dog competitions
* Obedience
* Raffles
* Local Radio Commentators Paddy & Ciel from SEAFM

Walk Location: Lyons Park
Address: Mason's Parade, Gosford
Parking: Free parking at the venue
On Day Registration: 8:30am
Walk Commences: 10:15am
Length of walk: 4.75kms
Event Concludes: 2:30pm

-0-

2011-05-10T12:33:00.001+10:00

Whale Watching Season is here!

Whale watching season is upon us. Palm Beach Ferry have released this years dates (whales travelling north) starting 13th June, through to 12th July. Dates for the returning whales will be published later in the year. Pick up is from Palm Beach and Ettalong Public Wharf - and the cost (snacks etc can be bought on board) is $65 per adult. The estimated times on the water are 4 hours for those joining at Palm Beach and 3 hours for those joining at Ettalong. Advance bookings are advised.

-0-

2011-05-08T18:11:00.001+10:00

HAPPY MOTHERs DAY
from my boys - Bobby and Fissofer

Caffe Jam - East Gosford
Situated behind the Consultancy - handy for coffee and lunch

-0-

The Adelaide and Benadryl

2011-05-06T16:28:00.002+10:00

Let's start with diving HMAS Adelaide. The government has now set the fee for divers entering the marine park at $18 per day. The rest of the costs are born by the dive operators or anyone with a boat wanting a time slot to moor off the wreck. There appear to be six buoys available on the wreck, two of which are permanent. One permanent mooring has been allocated to Terrigal Dive centre and another to ProDive. The other buoys are up for grabs on the Central Coast Tourism's website. They've allocated 2 hour and 4 hour time slots to the buoys. Dive clubs get a 2 hour buoy for some $60 and commercial operators / dive boats get 2 hours for $80. We've been watching closely to see the reaction and check out who will be the best choice for diving.

When they sank Adelaide we were onboard Scuba Shack Charters dive boat. A very nice and roomy purpose built diving cat which is nice and stable. The other operators, ProDive - seem to have a couple of ribs, and Terrigal Dive has a couple of boats neither of which look the largest! However, when making dive choices you have to look deeper than this.

Some background for the none divers.

The wreck sits in 32m of water at the bottom of the hull. A diver, diving on air would enter the water and swim to the bottom (probably) either to enter the wreck or swim the length of it looking in to the wreck - depending on qualification levels. Over the course of the dive the diver will come shallower ending up on the mast at 6m for a 3 minute safety stop before surfacing. If a diver were to stay at 32m for the entire dive they would probably only get some 15-18 minutes in the water in total. Of course diving these days is not that well defined as most if not all divers have wrist computers which calculate and recalculate constantly based on the divers changing depth. The reality of completing a deep sport dive is that a diver would start at 32m, weave in and out of the wreck coming shallower, ending up on the top deck and coming up the shot line of the buoy they started on, with a dive profile affording a more comfortable 45-50 minutes in the water.

Let's match the dive profile to what's on offer from the dive operators. A commercial operator can fit how many dives - SAFELY - in to a two hour time slot? Let's say the operator arrives on site at dead on 9:00am and ties on to the buoy. Even if all of the divers were kitted up (very difficult and often unsafe on a moving boat) and ready to jump in, the likelihood is that the last diver will exit the boat some 10-15 minutes after tying on to the buoy. we're already at 9:15am. A short dive profile of 30 minutes sees the first diver out of the water at 9:30am and the last diver out at 9:45am. Every diver must have a surface interval when diving at depth. The longer the better but the minimum for a 32m dive of some 30 minutes water time is going to be 15-20 mins. That is probably the amount of time it will take to replace the air tanks. The diver now jumps in to the water for a second dive. Due to the build up of nitrogen in the body the second dive must be shallower than the first and the time will be less as a result of having completed a deep dive to start with. So this diver is back in the water for 9:45am the last diver in the water for 10:00am. Divers who stay shallow, lets say at 15-18m could in theory get another 30-40 mins dive in as their second dive. In theory - two dives fit well within the two hour time frame but consider this. Who is to know how many dives that diver has already done that day? Diving is about risk management and safety. The more time spent out of the water in-between dives the safer the operation becomes. The mean standard for surface intervals is an hour. Offering an hour between dives ensures that enough nitrogen has exited the body to allow safely for two dives of an hour each. Reducing that surface interval, while staying within safe diving practices which all divers are trained in might be possible, but should it be promoted? My answer is absolutely not. I am a divemaster and I'm well trained in safety issues and in what happens to people when they push the envelope. It's very easy to drop into decompression time on the dive computer, ignore it then bounce dive and end up with deco-sickness. Think it can't happen to you? Think you're the safest in the water? Then you're an idiot. A moment too long and suddenly no-deco time is down to ZERO and you now have a mandatory deco stop of some 5 minutes. How is that going to go down with your scuba operator? If the government thinks that by offering two hour time slots dive operators will be sensible enough to only do a single dive then they are fools. The minimum time slot needs to be 3 hours. 2 comfortable one hour dives and an hour surface interval. Then there can be NO accidents. Promoting 2 hour slots is just going to make the operators push the diving to the limit and that is where accidents are CERTAIN to happen.

In my view a two hour time slot gets you one dive end of story. I have no idea what ProDive are offering as I don't like the look of their rib. I don't much like the look of Terrigal dive centres boats either BUT! Yes, here's the BUT. Terrigal dive are offering an unlimited dive (that's time) out on the wreck (of course they can do this with a permanent mooring off the wreck), back on the boat and back to shore to change tanks, have a coffee and off-gas for the surface interval. That's going to be an hour out of the water - very safe indeed. Then back on the boat and out for the second dive. All this for $110 (own equipment) plus the $18 park entry fee. Scuba Shack are offering a 2 hour dive slot (2 dive - oh dear) for $140 all in. Hang-on. Less diving time, less surface interval time - arguably less safe and they are charging $30 per trip more! You do the maths!

They will start diving this weekend although the swells and tides are expected to be high so they might postpone that for more favourable first time visits - we'll see. Getting back in the boat will be interesting for certain.

We, will wait until the Q diminishes a little. We're thinking - mid week diving. Less stressful. Much more possible that the boat will only be half full and fewer divers from all of the operators moored up. We prefer stress-less in all things.

Now for the Benadryl. In the UK, suffering from allergies and hay fever I took Benadryl (Acrivastine) every day. It was fast and did the job. None of the others seemed to hit the mark. Coming out to Aussie the only Benadryl available out here is a cough syrup! Errr not the same thing at all! So I've had to put up with the highest strength of fexofenadrine boxed as Telfast 180mg. It's OK but its not Benadryl. I've tried and tried, but I can't get hold of anything which contains acrivastine. I don't think it's banned in Aussie just no-one seems to use the stuff!

My problem? Exercise. Always has been. Big cardio exercise makes me sweat (doesn't it you?) and the sweat gives me large red itchy allergy spots. Whether this is the body salt, the heat who knows. I've had it since I was a kid distance running for the county. It's something I've managed all of my life but its returned with avengence since I got the rower. Swimming rarely bothered me probably because my outer skin was being cooled by the water at the same time. Rowing however, heats me up. Good for fitness, bad for my allergic reaction. So the upshot is if I can't get the benadryl equivalent over the shelf, its the docs for me for something stronger. The good news. My heel has almost returned to 100% and I'm able to again do the full 20 minute workouts every day. I fell in love with the Concept 2 rower when I was doing physio in Lincoln after they screwed my ACL back together after the snowboarder took me out in France. It was the best form of none impact exercise they could recommend but at $1800-$2000 per rower it was pushing the home exercise envelope a bit far. Until that is, I spotted one for sale on ebay. There were definitely a few dodgy versions on display by sellers but this one was an ex-school boy rower who's parents were clearly well able to buy him anything and after some 4 hours in total he was bored with it. Up it went on ebay and I got it for $600 off retail value. BARGAIN. I love it! Anyway, will keep you posted.

-0-

Vibram FIVEFINGERS

2011-05-03T19:33:00.000+10:00

I got mine on the Internet (of course) and beware, there are many many scam sites out there trying to sell these to the unsuspecting buyer for what seems like half the price (usual price $159). Most of these strange sites are Chinese in origin & without even basic eBay and Paypal protection! Watch out.

There is only ONE official Aussie importer - Barefoot Inc.

"We are designed to walk, run and play.. barefoot. There is no secret that allows the Masai to move with such effortless grace, just a lifetime of barefoot movement. With this understanding of how we are made, we can liberate ourselves from the ideology that has most of us wearing shoes before we can stand."

I ordered my KSOs and they were out of stock with the importer. They phoned me to tell me they were on back order and could take up to 3 months to arrive. Five minutes later she phoned me back to say they had found a pair at one of their stockists - FAR OUT! Two days later and I'm wearing them. How cool and awesome is that kind of service? I also ordered some injinji five finger sox. They are 'mad' but also comfy to wear and will be nice in the winter. Since they arrived I've tried the KSOs at the club and in Woollies. I don't think anyone's noticed as yet! I'm sure when they do, this being Oz, someone is bound to say something about them. It is just like walking barefoot. It's amazing how protected the foot is when wearing thongs. We all think we're almost barefoot wearing them but you know what - we're nowhere near bare foot wearing thongs.

Injuring my heel on the Concept 2 the other week meant I've struggled big time with shoes. It was so bad at the last Rabbitohs game that I had to take the Chuck Taylors off and walk in sox back to the car park the pain was that bad. Since then I've not been able to wear shoes with backs. The back of my heel was so damaged that I've had 10 days of plasters and padded protection just to keep the crap out of the wound. I've tried everything. Padded plasters, full wraps, silver elasto's you name it. To be sure I wasn't in massive pain at the Q-Station I had to put a full padded strapping around the ankle. Thankfully it didn't move during the walk. Since then I've been back on silver healing plasters and a special wipe from the chemist which adds a micro film under the plaster to stop the wound healing. Finally, finally I'm on the recovery side of this horrid injury. So when the KSOs arrived I expected them to rub but the heel is higher and so the wound has not been touched. There is no seem on the heel either so I've felt nothing (thank you).

Back on the concept 2 tomorrow. A full 10 weeks to train instead of 12 - better than nothing!

As for the Q-Station Investigator - it was a total waste of time. It was not as it was billed and a severed complaint is in to Mirvac hotels as a result of it. More on that when we get the feedback. Having said that the pre-walk meal at the Boilerhouse was again - to die for. Awesome quality and perfectly cooked.

We now have everything we need for camping too! Just need to decide when and choose a weekend which is not likely to wash us out of the tent or blow us off the hillside!

-0-

On this day

2011-05-02T14:19:00.001+10:00

President Barak Obama announces that OSAMA BIN LADAN, the most wanted man in the world, has been killed by a US black ops on Pakistan territory. Justice for 9/11? Not really. For ten years Bin Ladan has had liberty and freedom (of sorts) within a secure 'palace' close to Islamabad. Who grieves today for this terrorist mad man?

Now it makes sense. No Royal Honeymoon. Not with this kind of crap going off. Who knows what will happen once the Middle East wakes up to this news. For sure there 'will' be reprisals. The word came from the US, no doubt about it, that this was going off and that the newly weds would be better off on home territory for some weeks and months. A sensible move indeed.

The news unfolds in the US with crowds of cheering people massing at the White House cheering the death of Bin Laden. All news channels (7, 9, ABC) are broadcasting the same 'historic' news as details of the operation unfolds. It is a strange thing to see people cheering about someone's death. Well, he wanted to be a martyr! Will they give the same quarter for Gaddafi? Cos for sure - he's on the 'next' list!

-0-

2011-04-29T14:40:00.001+10:00

Maybe not quite just 2 ppl in love!

Congratulations
to
William and Kate

-0-

The News

2011-04-29T12:48:00.000+10:00

So what's new?

I gave the RES tickets that I won to Jamie so he and Emily could trot along as we had already done the deed and another day would have meant getting Bob into Deb's place over Easter! I think Mission Impossible would have been the answer.

The cinema TV blew up last night! Its 3 years old and the warranty ran out in December 2010. Do you think these companies have inbuilt self destruct chips inside their products? $3500 worth of mind blowing full on HD-everythingD TV just went blip, turned itself off and on and then would not respond to the remote commands. Switched off at the wall expecting it to reboot and it didn't. Call the LG service centre this morning and they redirected to Gosford service centre who said take aerial out of the wall, unplug the TV from the mains, then turn on the TV and make sure it's not on channel 9 (turn it over in other words) then turn it off again, replug in the aerial and then turn on the TV again. Magical. It came on and rebooted! Back to normal. Apparently there are known glitches with the LG firmware which conflicts with Channel 9 (usually but can be other channels). Deep joy. The upshot is? We have to have a firmware upgrade at about $120 per pop per TV!

Is it just me or is everything suddenly a shit load more expensive?

Just paid a raft of bills this month (how many contracts can I do at once to pay for it all?). Rates, water rates, gas, electric. Separately they're quite cheap but together they've taken a whack out. Also the bikes were both due their insurances. The CTP and Rego stacked up at $420 ea and fully comp insurance stacked up at $300 for me and $350 for Chris (go figure!). Got to sort out 24/7 Road Services for recovery but actually not at all sure if that's worth the money given the bikes are only 2 yrs old today! Then we paid out for Bob at the VETs for his brief interlude with kennel cough. Still to come is Chris' dive medical and two double dives with Jimwy plus the cost of the firmware upgrade to the main TV - oh and the bikes do need an annual service so the costs for consumables. Bob's hair cut with Hydro dog coming in a couple of Mondays. It's never ending! Oh yes and then there is the end of month 'bit of a do' to sort out.

The Rabbitohs have been performing terribly over the past few weeks. So badly in fact they are second off the bottom of the league DOH! The best player is Chris Sandow - he's a real wonder but with talent as good as his other teams are snapping away to catch him for their own and with little incentive to keep him playing for the Rabbits - who can blame him for moving on to fresher grass.

April it seems has been alive with activity. It started with Bundanoon, had the Adelaide sinking in the middle of it followed by the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and tonight we're rounding off with another visit to the Boilerhouse restaurant at the Q-Station at Manly. Oh and we're also doing the Investigator session. Now that should be a real hoot! Of course being April 29th, it's also Royal Wedding day (bad planning on my part?), and a Rabbits game but can't do everything! The wedding well, I'll set up the TV recorder for that and watch it in the early hours while relaxing with beer!

Coming up! Lots of work (not talking about that as have two confidentiality agreements in place so its a need2know thang). Some diving, some visits to the ANZ for the rabbits, the RSPCA Million Paws walk (Bob has announced he wants to go to that), Pirates - on Stranger Tides, Walking with Dinosaurs and much more.

-0-

2011-04-25T12:43:00.000+10:00

ANZAC DAY 25th April 2011

-0-

2011-04-21T23:19:00.002+10:00

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" --Epicurus

Enjoy the Holiday Weekend

Boil lots of eggs

Eat lots of CHOCOLATE

Drink lots of beer

It's all meaningful!

-0-