Oils ain't Oils

The escalating conflict in the middle east is yet again putting pressure on an already rising price of oil. The price of fuel at the bowser is going to go above $1.50 a litre and the government will face more questions on fuel taxes. All this leads to the question what are we doing with the fuel tax and should we be looking at alternative energy to fuel our motor cars? Of course we do!! But not a dicky bird do we hear from our leaders of industry or government. This comes on a day when GMH has just launched a new Commodore car another gas guzzele.

Israelis should be allowed to live in peace.

Palestinians should be allowed to live in peace.

We have to sort it.

Woof

Sunday again

Day of rest.

Late nights bring sore heads and quiet days.
Here's a photo to ease the eyes.
Tomorrow is a new day/week.
Woof Woof

Tennis

Wet weather tennis junior style. Pouring with rain today, no hope of tennis and what do we have to do. Drive across town, only for all to agree that it is too wet to play. This weird behaviour, must of started before telephones. When you get there you stand around the wet court, under cover of the pavilion. Waiting for teams to arrive so you can sign irrelevant score sheets. Etiquette dictates this is done this way. My advice sort it out.

Soccer: 2 points:

Time to use the third umpire in the goal square for fouls too many footballers are falling to gain a penalty.

Off side: New rules need to be trialled, it just isn’t working at the moment. Ideas?

Woof

AWAs and Backs

The Australian Workplace Agreements, have made many workers worried and with good cause. I heard of one such reason the other day. A woman, I know, wont take time off work [she works in elderly care] to fix her aching back, because she is worried that if she tells her employer the reason she needs time off, she could looser her job. This is a fine example of where this government has got it so wrong. Instead of being worried about your future employment due to a sore back, you should be encouraged to get the back fixed properly and given time off or maybe light duties while your back improves. Instead paranoia reigns.

All cars should have insurance: Third party, Fire and Theft. Make it compulsory.

Commercial leases in Victoria are unfair to the leasee, more on this chestnut at another time. Any comments welcome.
Woof

Middle Class Wealth

I know a very wealthy doctor, he has a problem, [probably more than one] he can't spend money. He needed a key hole cover, it is worth $4.95. He had a minor heart attack. He makes the equivalent of hundred $4.95 key holes in a morning. I told him he needs help psychiatric help.

Someone I know needed coaxial cable he didn't have any, another friend offered him a roll he had left over. He was gob smacked couldn't believe this friend would give away his cable. This unfortunately reflects where we are at, generosity and friendship, it is easy really.

The Age newspaper has gone up another 20c so now it costs $1.40. It used to be 45c that's over a 200% rise if my income had risen the same amount I would be a millionaire.
Woof.

Firearms and Lists

Where in the hell are the firearms coming from?
This outburst is prompted by the shooting yesterday in a suburb near here [Fairfield]. A solicitor was shot dead at the back of his high street practice. [I assume solicitors have practices]. The solicitor was shot out the back of his premises by person unknown. We live in a society that does not encourage the ownership of guns [unlike America]. We periodically have gun amnesties to try and rid us of these lethal weapons. In this case the police say it looks like the situation was never meant to go this far. If there wasn't a gun involved then it would probably have been a few bruises, a life saved.

When are we going to be able to block the unsolicited phone calls, you know the ones they ask for donations, or make you offers of weekends at luxury hotels, drink more wine offers, telephone deals to die for. You can tell them straight away when you answer the phone:

Their opening line is very friendly;

"Hi how are you today?"

"Good thanks"

You answer, thinking I don't recognise the voice who's so interested in my health at dinner time on a wet Wednesday evening.

"That's good" they say, "This wont take long. Are you the account holder for the phone in your house?"

Decision time you think, do I really want to talk to you about anything as my food goes cold, especially something like a phone bill.

"No I'm not." so polite exit is executed.

Not so lucky,

"Can I speak to the account holder please?"

That is it, all over red rover.

"No.’ Place phone down.

This can happen just as the first fork load of dinner is about to be loaded upward from plate to mouth. Quite literally.
So get me on that list of barred phone numbers ASAP.

When smokers tell you they want smoking banned in pubs then it is time to bar the lot of them, or give them a dungeon to puff in.

Woof.

Deals and Bundles

If I said what I wanted to say about our Prime minister, the thought police would probably take me away. Suffice to say he has been caught out and the honest John tag has lost all credibility.

There comes a time when your time is up, unfortunately the higher up the ladder you are the less likely you are to recognise this fact. We all know of someone who had to be pushed. Is it human nature, to want to hold onto the power?

We live in a world of bundles. We have our food bundled Big Mac with the lot, Coke and fries. Etc. Etc. In trying to sort out the nightmare of a phone contract, we meet the bundle king. The have I got a bundle for you!! deal. And to cap it all off, we will cap that price for you sir. Can I just have a phone line, please.
Woof

Leaders and non Leaders

The leadership of the Liberal party? The papers are full of deals and counter deals, who said what, and did they say exactly that and when. All very important?
No not important at all.
The leadership of the Liberal party is for the liberal party to sort out, and probably only a handful of the members. So stop with the stories, tell the two school yard bullies to sort it.

I hear we have a Richard Branson in our corporate ranks. John is his name and his business goes by the name Crazy Johns. He sells mobile phones. For one person to make 300 million out of selling mobiles phones. Don't ask! The point being he can't rest having made squillions he has to find something else to market. Maybe he should take up hot air ballooning too.

Lastly; if you are a retired couple living on the pension, and one of you die, the surviving partner gets a letter from the relevant department. The letter commiserates you on your bereavement, and then informs you that your pension has been almost cut in half. I bet your bills aren't halved.
Woof

Sunday a Day of rest

Can't be grumpy everyday.
So Sunday a day to reflect.

Ice creams down Brunswick St. Thanks Sam and Matt.

Walks by the Yarra with family, rain or shine.

Home made meat pie for tea with the new Dickens production 'Bleak House', yum.

Woof, Woof

Commercial In Confidence

Commercial In Confidence

What a load of old bollocks that is; especially when it comes to government contracts to sell/lease public assets to private companies. We all own the assets that are to be used, we need to have complete transparency.

The Australian Wheat board [The AWB]. check them out; while this country went to war with Iraq, the shenanigans going on under the guise of Commercial in Confidence was tantamount to criminal. Even with a royal commission we wont get to the bottom of the bribes and corruption.

Public Transport in Victoria. Did you know you can’t catch a train back to Geelong [Victoria's second largest City] after midnight, no buses either. Again we have sold off chunks of a public asset [Commercial in Confidence] contracts, and quietly like sheep to the slaughter we put up with diminished services not a whimper. I don’t know much about South Australia, but I hear that they have free buses after midnight. Toronto [Canada] has had [I think] a 10 year study open to the public respecting the public transport users requests, and guess what usage is on the up and up.

Woof