December the 18th or thereabouts
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Hot weather, extra stress at work, school uniform production at a peak, loss of appetite causing me to pull my belt in a notch or two just to keep my pants on (back to the minimum of my weight range) must be getting close to Christmas. Children at Christmas is way over-rated. Seeing their eyes light up as they open their presents is nothing compared to when they first smile, or start taking their first steps, or watch them sleep peacefully. It might be my upbringing, but I actually dread Christmas with children. One cannot give any one child enough attention through the day, for them to get any fun from their presents, because we are just too busy with getting everything organised. And the one thing that I want for Christmas is the one thing I know I'm not going to get - some peace and quiet relaxing playing some computer games by myself - even 5 minutes would be good. I would try and get up really early to get 5 minutes but that's just cutting back on my valuable sleeping time.
Back to blogging -
Work - The continuing saga of employee-employer relations continues. With the Union man involved it inevitably becomes more like war over the imaginary spoils that are left, than a team effort to improve the viability and success of local manufacture. Employees (and some in management for that matter), become mere pawns in a power game which is as much what the unions can screw out of the employers, or what the employers can screw out the employees as it is what we all want as individuals, compared to what we want collectively. I still believe in myself to have the moral high ground (even though nobody else thinks I do) in that I am trying to steer the whole process in a general direction which is better for the company - in which turn will also benefit employees in the long run. Strangely, what I think is the best strategy often conflicts directly with other management ideas.
Volleyball
We have won back to back first division competitions now. This season, there are a few more good teams, so it will be a lot more interesting from week to week.
Solomon Islands
The Australian peacekeeping mission in the Solomon Islands once again proves to me the superiority of our ADF tactics, efficiency and exceedingly high standing especially in the Pacific. Just a few points:
Gun control: One of the first things done in Bougainville, East Timor & Solomon Islands, was to confiscate as many weapons as possible. In contrast, the Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq, like in their own country have made it a personal right for anybody to have them.
Society: The inclusion of considerable civilian personnel, especially in the Solomons where it is almost entirely a civilian type mission, and in general, the civilian type duties that so many soldiers perform as well, being inclusive of local populations. The US military seems incapable of any meaningful relationships with the local populace in the countries it has waged war upon, seeing them all as potential terrorists rather than as people they could try to win over. This is clearly a problem with the US military attitude, training and culture, which although capable of winning wars, is incapable of winning the peace, or winning over the populace. The US has seemed to fail in the Phillipines or Liberia, where clearly they are easy missions, while even in Indonesia, Australia has been able to fight terrorism without confrontation with the Indonesian government.
I've got an idea, why don't PNG, Fiji etc.also ask Australia to improve their policing/security issues.
Novel reading month
Since Dave and Andrew seem to be writing more novels, I have decided that this will be the month that I start reading them!
Please don't try to understand this
Since the tube got inserted to the arm, Karla has gone missing, as well as Lexy. Poor Felicity has no-one to take her to uncle Ferdie's (Ferdinand) Castle to play. Isabella is no help, because all she does is babble in Italian. Mr. man will play marbles with Felicity sometimes, but otherwise he's no help either. Maybe mr. man has lost his marbles too!
Friday, December 12, 2003
Friday, September 05, 2003
Woe is me
I am fighting a fit of depression due to being in small business management. The main source of depression is the lack of a positive cash flow. Adding to this is a recent award increase, which psychologically is a huge pay decrease for the business owner. ( in reality it is a lot more complicated than that - Economists I trust in "The Economist" magazine tell me that it is the whole economy which suffers due to the reduced wage flexibility in the lower end of the spectrum, increasing the inflation required to keep the same growth - therefore *you* suffer just as much as I do, economically speaking - but it sure doesn't *feel* that way). On top of this, a union "friend" from down South decided to pay us an uninvited visit. Nobody in our factory is a member of that union; everybody in the factory seemed to ignore him, including me, but he took it upon himself to tell us everybody's been underpaid since x date and need to be back-paid etc. etc. It all seems to have been done from up high, some kind of deal without anybody really taking any interest from our factory. Union reps give me a completely fatalistic view on life. I would rather go bankrupt than to even be forced to talk to such reps; let alone do as he says we're supposed to. I'm not sure if unions give employees protection anymore, but sure as anything, the only protection a small business has is called bankruptcy protection from creditors, and only when their bankrupt.
I am fighting a fit of depression due to being in small business management. The main source of depression is the lack of a positive cash flow. Adding to this is a recent award increase, which psychologically is a huge pay decrease for the business owner. ( in reality it is a lot more complicated than that - Economists I trust in "The Economist" magazine tell me that it is the whole economy which suffers due to the reduced wage flexibility in the lower end of the spectrum, increasing the inflation required to keep the same growth - therefore *you* suffer just as much as I do, economically speaking - but it sure doesn't *feel* that way). On top of this, a union "friend" from down South decided to pay us an uninvited visit. Nobody in our factory is a member of that union; everybody in the factory seemed to ignore him, including me, but he took it upon himself to tell us everybody's been underpaid since x date and need to be back-paid etc. etc. It all seems to have been done from up high, some kind of deal without anybody really taking any interest from our factory. Union reps give me a completely fatalistic view on life. I would rather go bankrupt than to even be forced to talk to such reps; let alone do as he says we're supposed to. I'm not sure if unions give employees protection anymore, but sure as anything, the only protection a small business has is called bankruptcy protection from creditors, and only when their bankrupt.
Friday, August 22, 2003
Masochists and such
One recent event has recently convinced me that Sandor is continuing a trend of masochistic adventures that me and Chris F. were partners in crime originally. Last Year, he decided to climb up the front face of Mt. Stuart with seven children under the age of 13 including his own first born son 9 yo at the time. The eldest of this bunch happened to be a girl to boot. They started out early in the afternoon and by nightfall they had reached through nearly impenetrable jungle to the base of the cliffs near the lookout. Number of torches - zero, number of mobile phones - zero. Full moon - one. Walkie-Talkies - one. Water - running out. Realising that going up the cliff-face was suicide, they contacted a truck driver with the walkie-talkies. Got them to phone one of the kid's parents to come up to the top to help guide them the rest of the way. Hours and hours later after inching their way up one by one, they got to the top. This year, a small group of teenage males got stuck in a similar position (with mobile phones). They got "rescued" by Emergency service helicopters - wimps.
Did I hear Right
I was watching Susey Maroney ultra-marathon swimmer on TV. My wife tells me that her twin Brother died falling off a balcony at a hotel in Honolulu. She told me that it wasn't suicide but some kind of horseplay that went wrong. The height of stupidity! One should carefully calculate how to climb down safely before going near the edge.
One recent event has recently convinced me that Sandor is continuing a trend of masochistic adventures that me and Chris F. were partners in crime originally. Last Year, he decided to climb up the front face of Mt. Stuart with seven children under the age of 13 including his own first born son 9 yo at the time. The eldest of this bunch happened to be a girl to boot. They started out early in the afternoon and by nightfall they had reached through nearly impenetrable jungle to the base of the cliffs near the lookout. Number of torches - zero, number of mobile phones - zero. Full moon - one. Walkie-Talkies - one. Water - running out. Realising that going up the cliff-face was suicide, they contacted a truck driver with the walkie-talkies. Got them to phone one of the kid's parents to come up to the top to help guide them the rest of the way. Hours and hours later after inching their way up one by one, they got to the top. This year, a small group of teenage males got stuck in a similar position (with mobile phones). They got "rescued" by Emergency service helicopters - wimps.
Did I hear Right
I was watching Susey Maroney ultra-marathon swimmer on TV. My wife tells me that her twin Brother died falling off a balcony at a hotel in Honolulu. She told me that it wasn't suicide but some kind of horseplay that went wrong. The height of stupidity! One should carefully calculate how to climb down safely before going near the edge.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Presentation
Incidentally, I bought a cd labelling kit including software from Harvey Norman (Fellowes brand incidentally) and it makes cd's look absolutely marvellous. It cost less than $40 and has some clip-art ready to go. I think it is a must to label demo single cd's. (I labelled a cd with a guitar picture and named it Apple Sauce - at a pinch it will do nicely).
Incidentally, I bought a cd labelling kit including software from Harvey Norman (Fellowes brand incidentally) and it makes cd's look absolutely marvellous. It cost less than $40 and has some clip-art ready to go. I think it is a must to label demo single cd's. (I labelled a cd with a guitar picture and named it Apple Sauce - at a pinch it will do nicely).
Strategy
First rule of chess that I read about recently - This is how you play the game, you try to predict what the opponent's best move is and work out what moves you can do to best thwart his plan. You don't just play a move that looks good and hope that the opponent is equally unthinking and it's just a game of chance. Common sense, you might say, but it took me years to teach my kids that chess is about strategy. Equally, I have been applying strategic thinking in vanquishin vermin, and in business to try to actually make a profit (having eluded us for a couple of years).
So I simulate being a radio DJ:-----> and every day, I look at the pile of incoming music and requests. The CD at the top, I notice has ten new songs from a band I've never heard before, the next one I see is a new looking CD single. Now, should I play one of these on the air straight away, or listen to one of them first. Ok, I don't want to get sued, I better hear it first, I'll play the single, I don't have enough time to go through a whole album to see if there's something I like on it without any unsavoury content.
Thus, it is not really about quality which gets an unknown song onto the radio, but convenience for the DJ. I am convinced that none of the demo CD's with more than one Title ever hit the airwaves (for a lesser known band). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. CHOOSE ONE SONG AT A TIME BEFORE SENDING TO RADIO STATIONS. That is what my strategic thinking is screaming into my ear for Spit.
First rule of chess that I read about recently - This is how you play the game, you try to predict what the opponent's best move is and work out what moves you can do to best thwart his plan. You don't just play a move that looks good and hope that the opponent is equally unthinking and it's just a game of chance. Common sense, you might say, but it took me years to teach my kids that chess is about strategy. Equally, I have been applying strategic thinking in vanquishin vermin, and in business to try to actually make a profit (having eluded us for a couple of years).
So I simulate being a radio DJ:-----> and every day, I look at the pile of incoming music and requests. The CD at the top, I notice has ten new songs from a band I've never heard before, the next one I see is a new looking CD single. Now, should I play one of these on the air straight away, or listen to one of them first. Ok, I don't want to get sued, I better hear it first, I'll play the single, I don't have enough time to go through a whole album to see if there's something I like on it without any unsavoury content.
Thus, it is not really about quality which gets an unknown song onto the radio, but convenience for the DJ. I am convinced that none of the demo CD's with more than one Title ever hit the airwaves (for a lesser known band). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. CHOOSE ONE SONG AT A TIME BEFORE SENDING TO RADIO STATIONS. That is what my strategic thinking is screaming into my ear for Spit.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Ants and Such
Over the years, I have discovered some astoundingly cheap strategies for vanquishing vermin of all kinds. Starting with mice, I realised that, rather than getting a better mouse trap, the real secret for my situation was to find out where their nest was and block it off. Plugging the hole in the wall near the washing machine just made them dissappear. Cockoroaches, were a perennial problem until my Kylie's crazy uncle told me a simple statement that, in Townsville, the big dark breed of cocky's is predominant, and they are outdoor roaches and only come indoors to feed. Barrier spray along under the doors that lead outside (at my house that's only the front door, garage & back door), and there is no sign of them for months! Ants were a problem for years, and the barrier technique just wasn't working, because of their sheer numbers and small size. I coincidentally bought "SIMANT" computer game for the kids (ant simulator), and the solution was there in front of me. Find the queen ant in the patch that's causing the trouble, and just spray that small area. I have declared my house 100% ant free indoors. In all these cases, I had spent months in frustration before the light bulb appeared. Now if there was just the thing for head lice - I must keep thinking.
Things to do
Well, I'm expecting to send a promotional single CD of Spit to local radio stations timed to coincide with a new album coming out soon. So in the meantime there is plenty of preparation for me. I would like to see if any of my father's friends in the graphics art industry has done cd covers. Since dj's like everyone else judge a book by its cover, it seems important for the cd to have the semblance of professionalism. Otherwise, I will have to take my chances with whatever I've got when the timing is right. One of our former employees now works for 4TO FM. Maybe she could pull a couple of strings to see that the music gets on the air somewhat. I am hoping to at least get an airing on the "Hit or Shit" segment (Sea FM?) or the "Hot or Not" (Hot FM?) evening sessions where new music is aired first to be cheered or flushed down the toilet, metaphorically. I am also hoping to "request" the songs somewhere in the request times.
Over the years, I have discovered some astoundingly cheap strategies for vanquishing vermin of all kinds. Starting with mice, I realised that, rather than getting a better mouse trap, the real secret for my situation was to find out where their nest was and block it off. Plugging the hole in the wall near the washing machine just made them dissappear. Cockoroaches, were a perennial problem until my Kylie's crazy uncle told me a simple statement that, in Townsville, the big dark breed of cocky's is predominant, and they are outdoor roaches and only come indoors to feed. Barrier spray along under the doors that lead outside (at my house that's only the front door, garage & back door), and there is no sign of them for months! Ants were a problem for years, and the barrier technique just wasn't working, because of their sheer numbers and small size. I coincidentally bought "SIMANT" computer game for the kids (ant simulator), and the solution was there in front of me. Find the queen ant in the patch that's causing the trouble, and just spray that small area. I have declared my house 100% ant free indoors. In all these cases, I had spent months in frustration before the light bulb appeared. Now if there was just the thing for head lice - I must keep thinking.
Things to do
Well, I'm expecting to send a promotional single CD of Spit to local radio stations timed to coincide with a new album coming out soon. So in the meantime there is plenty of preparation for me. I would like to see if any of my father's friends in the graphics art industry has done cd covers. Since dj's like everyone else judge a book by its cover, it seems important for the cd to have the semblance of professionalism. Otherwise, I will have to take my chances with whatever I've got when the timing is right. One of our former employees now works for 4TO FM. Maybe she could pull a couple of strings to see that the music gets on the air somewhat. I am hoping to at least get an airing on the "Hit or Shit" segment (Sea FM?) or the "Hot or Not" (Hot FM?) evening sessions where new music is aired first to be cheered or flushed down the toilet, metaphorically. I am also hoping to "request" the songs somewhere in the request times.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Movies
Oh no. I've seen another one. I took Kylie out to the mooovies to see Jim Carey's new movie... How did I get talked into that one. Not only did I live a lie and pretend convincingly that I enjoyed myself, I found that the kids movies that I'd seen recently were distinctly better! My main problem was that the popular characters in the movie were already so stereotyped as other people in my mind, that I just couldn't believe their characters. This is not a problem in movies like Monsters Inc. , which I thoroughly enjoyed (on TV).
Oh no. I've seen another one. I took Kylie out to the mooovies to see Jim Carey's new movie... How did I get talked into that one. Not only did I live a lie and pretend convincingly that I enjoyed myself, I found that the kids movies that I'd seen recently were distinctly better! My main problem was that the popular characters in the movie were already so stereotyped as other people in my mind, that I just couldn't believe their characters. This is not a problem in movies like Monsters Inc. , which I thoroughly enjoyed (on TV).
Make time you fool!
As I say so often to my employee underlings - It is not true that you don't have enough time - It's that you don't think that it is important enough to make the time.
So to hell with it - everything can rot for another half an hour.
Music
I want those spit CD's!! I know I could download the music and help to pick out suitable candidates for a CD Single. But, I would rather grandstand about what should happen rather than offer selective opinions about which is best.
Obviously a CD single must have a good song, a second song, and a couple of variations on the theme of the first song (dance version, karaeoke version). And rather than a demo CD, It should be presented as a shop-ready product to radio stations. Desktop publishing of CD covers and inserts have come of age. You can buy the paper and software for not a lot of money at your local Harvey Norman store and print it on your friendly inkjet printer. I am planning to go through the motions of that anyway.
I was thinking that "Apple Sauce" was an ideal single song - but, assuming that your recent work is a lot better, it could probably be a good second song.
As I say so often to my employee underlings - It is not true that you don't have enough time - It's that you don't think that it is important enough to make the time.
So to hell with it - everything can rot for another half an hour.
Music
I want those spit CD's!! I know I could download the music and help to pick out suitable candidates for a CD Single. But, I would rather grandstand about what should happen rather than offer selective opinions about which is best.
Obviously a CD single must have a good song, a second song, and a couple of variations on the theme of the first song (dance version, karaeoke version). And rather than a demo CD, It should be presented as a shop-ready product to radio stations. Desktop publishing of CD covers and inserts have come of age. You can buy the paper and software for not a lot of money at your local Harvey Norman store and print it on your friendly inkjet printer. I am planning to go through the motions of that anyway.
I was thinking that "Apple Sauce" was an ideal single song - but, assuming that your recent work is a lot better, it could probably be a good second song.
Monday, June 16, 2003
US/Iraq
Yes, I believe that practically all WMD were removed/destroyed before the US invaded. I also have always thought that the US military is in some ways a tool for economic/political gain for the US government. I also accept that it is quite likely that either the US gov departments or spy agencies exaggerated wherever possible evidence and claims of WMD. I also accept that al queda probably has not had that much support from Iraq. It is also dubious whether the war concurs with the spirit of international law as it stands (even though technically, it "might" be legal by the letter of the law). But I still think on balance that the war is better than the foreseeable alternatives - both for the Iraqi people, the new world order, and American (and Australian) foreign policy in general. I can't see how any more Iraqis died with the war than would have died at the hands of a dictator, or even just because the economy was completely ruined (different people would have died of course but certainly not less).
To be fair to the US, they could hardly have known whether the WMD's were removed, destroyed or still there somewhere, until they invaded; given Iraq's regime complete and successful secrecy regarding WMD's.
The war and aftermath do however show a distinct weakness in the US with regards to trained peacekeepers, diplomats etc. There is nowhere near enough of the types of personnel they need, and way too many that they don't. Australia seems to have a better balance, but we've got more important issues closer to home (e.g. Solomon Islands). Country building should really become a new industry, and needs a different mix of personnell to kick start the process than the US military has. Hopefully private enterprise can take over once a feeling of general security presides again.
Volleyball
Yay. We won our first division final on Saturday. However, the opposition let us down by only fielding two of their four players.
Yes, I believe that practically all WMD were removed/destroyed before the US invaded. I also have always thought that the US military is in some ways a tool for economic/political gain for the US government. I also accept that it is quite likely that either the US gov departments or spy agencies exaggerated wherever possible evidence and claims of WMD. I also accept that al queda probably has not had that much support from Iraq. It is also dubious whether the war concurs with the spirit of international law as it stands (even though technically, it "might" be legal by the letter of the law). But I still think on balance that the war is better than the foreseeable alternatives - both for the Iraqi people, the new world order, and American (and Australian) foreign policy in general. I can't see how any more Iraqis died with the war than would have died at the hands of a dictator, or even just because the economy was completely ruined (different people would have died of course but certainly not less).
To be fair to the US, they could hardly have known whether the WMD's were removed, destroyed or still there somewhere, until they invaded; given Iraq's regime complete and successful secrecy regarding WMD's.
The war and aftermath do however show a distinct weakness in the US with regards to trained peacekeepers, diplomats etc. There is nowhere near enough of the types of personnel they need, and way too many that they don't. Australia seems to have a better balance, but we've got more important issues closer to home (e.g. Solomon Islands). Country building should really become a new industry, and needs a different mix of personnell to kick start the process than the US military has. Hopefully private enterprise can take over once a feeling of general security presides again.
Volleyball
Yay. We won our first division final on Saturday. However, the opposition let us down by only fielding two of their four players.
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Howards way
Here are my brazen, self-defeating predictions on Australian politics:
1) Labor will have a leadership challenge, probably being won by someone other than Simon Crean or Beasley.
2) In a similar fashion, after Howard fails to retire gracefully, a successful leadership challenge is made by Peter Costello (Keating style) for leadership of the Liberals.
3) In the run up to the election, the electorate will be fairly polarised (ie. Bi-polar as against multi-polar) because of the new faces being offered for PM, will avoid the minor parties somewhat.
4) The election will not be a landslide either way, with neither major party proposing a raft of popular policies - rather, both will have a mixture of popular and unpopular policies.
5) Protest votes will be fairly rare, though there will be a reasonable block of votes swinging away from the incumbents due to the "It's time" view, that comes around after a few elections.
6) I will not predict the actual outcome of the election, other than what I've already mentioned, because the deal between the major parties is to avoid landslides and keep down the minor party votes, not as to actually which side gets in: that is left up to us:- This is the beauty of the two party-preferred compulsory voting system we have. Evolution of politics under our voting principles bring us inevitably to this equilibrium of two major parties/coalitions taking turns in power.
Here are my brazen, self-defeating predictions on Australian politics:
1) Labor will have a leadership challenge, probably being won by someone other than Simon Crean or Beasley.
2) In a similar fashion, after Howard fails to retire gracefully, a successful leadership challenge is made by Peter Costello (Keating style) for leadership of the Liberals.
3) In the run up to the election, the electorate will be fairly polarised (ie. Bi-polar as against multi-polar) because of the new faces being offered for PM, will avoid the minor parties somewhat.
4) The election will not be a landslide either way, with neither major party proposing a raft of popular policies - rather, both will have a mixture of popular and unpopular policies.
5) Protest votes will be fairly rare, though there will be a reasonable block of votes swinging away from the incumbents due to the "It's time" view, that comes around after a few elections.
6) I will not predict the actual outcome of the election, other than what I've already mentioned, because the deal between the major parties is to avoid landslides and keep down the minor party votes, not as to actually which side gets in: that is left up to us:- This is the beauty of the two party-preferred compulsory voting system we have. Evolution of politics under our voting principles bring us inevitably to this equilibrium of two major parties/coalitions taking turns in power.
Monday, June 02, 2003
Monday 2nd June 2003
Matteo
Is the name of a cousin (friend?) from Italy requiring a place to stay sunday night 8th of June in Sydney.
Handyman
Feeling pretty good with myself having fixed a leaky tap, changed the washers in our shower, and replaced the thermostat in our old fridge. But what about putting up the curtains, cleaning the ceiling fans and tidying the pantry, I hear my wifes evil alterego Karla say. Ahhh that can wait.
Star Wars Return of the Jedi
Watched most of this on tv. Noted that the subplot of befriending the local Ewoks to help with the effort against the empire is strikingly similar to what Australians did in World War II against the Japanese empire. Befriending locals in East Timor, PNG and Borneo was critical to the success of many an Australian campaign in World War II, especially when sabotaging an enemy position.
Big Brother
Though some of my friends discount this show as pure trash - It has been a great teacher of group dynamics and associated psychology, that I use in working out how our employees think, predicting their moves, and obtaining the best possible result for all (usually trying for win-win situations where possible)
Friday 30th May
Kids
We get a lot of people who tell us that Zachary looks just like Nikolas did at that age; or that Felicia looks like Belinda did at her age. Me & Kylie are in a unique position to test that theory out. We are going to take "replica" photos of Felicia & Zachary in the same clothes, poses and lighting as some of the numerous pictures of Nikolas & Belinda 6 and a quarter years previously. Since our children are fairly evenly spaced apart (Girl,boy,girl,boy) this should confuse a lot of people as to which is which (If it is to be believed that they were so similar)
Matteo
Is the name of a cousin (friend?) from Italy requiring a place to stay sunday night 8th of June in Sydney.
Handyman
Feeling pretty good with myself having fixed a leaky tap, changed the washers in our shower, and replaced the thermostat in our old fridge. But what about putting up the curtains, cleaning the ceiling fans and tidying the pantry, I hear my wifes evil alterego Karla say. Ahhh that can wait.
Star Wars Return of the Jedi
Watched most of this on tv. Noted that the subplot of befriending the local Ewoks to help with the effort against the empire is strikingly similar to what Australians did in World War II against the Japanese empire. Befriending locals in East Timor, PNG and Borneo was critical to the success of many an Australian campaign in World War II, especially when sabotaging an enemy position.
Big Brother
Though some of my friends discount this show as pure trash - It has been a great teacher of group dynamics and associated psychology, that I use in working out how our employees think, predicting their moves, and obtaining the best possible result for all (usually trying for win-win situations where possible)
Friday 30th May
Kids
We get a lot of people who tell us that Zachary looks just like Nikolas did at that age; or that Felicia looks like Belinda did at her age. Me & Kylie are in a unique position to test that theory out. We are going to take "replica" photos of Felicia & Zachary in the same clothes, poses and lighting as some of the numerous pictures of Nikolas & Belinda 6 and a quarter years previously. Since our children are fairly evenly spaced apart (Girl,boy,girl,boy) this should confuse a lot of people as to which is which (If it is to be believed that they were so similar)
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Wednesday 28 May 2003
Spit's Youngest Fan
Felicia (turning 4 next month) is officially declared Spit's youngest fan. Occasionally I have the chance to take her to kindy, so that we are the only ones in the car. One day I was casually driving along listening to the radio, when Felicia shouts out "I want a Porrint!" Not understanding, I get her to repeat what she is saying. Anyway, she repeats it verbatim, getting angrier each time, until she is in incoherent rage in a full kicking and screaming tantrum finally saying "Put On ABHORRENT". By which of course she meant the short but lyrical and stereo-dynamic Spit song that I have on tape in that car. Why on earth she likes "that" song in particular I'm not really sure - maybe its because I manually fade out for the bit which I prefer her not to repeat too often, substituting the word "Beard" for the word "Dic". Maybe Its just a good song for three-year-olds. "Yes silly daddy, play the song "Abhorrent"". Ok, I will.......
Spit's Youngest Fan
Felicia (turning 4 next month) is officially declared Spit's youngest fan. Occasionally I have the chance to take her to kindy, so that we are the only ones in the car. One day I was casually driving along listening to the radio, when Felicia shouts out "I want a Porrint!" Not understanding, I get her to repeat what she is saying. Anyway, she repeats it verbatim, getting angrier each time, until she is in incoherent rage in a full kicking and screaming tantrum finally saying "Put On ABHORRENT". By which of course she meant the short but lyrical and stereo-dynamic Spit song that I have on tape in that car. Why on earth she likes "that" song in particular I'm not really sure - maybe its because I manually fade out for the bit which I prefer her not to repeat too often, substituting the word "Beard" for the word "Dic". Maybe Its just a good song for three-year-olds. "Yes silly daddy, play the song "Abhorrent"". Ok, I will.......
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Monday 26th May 2003
Back into the habit
Hard to give myself some time every day to it!
Volleyball
After what seemed an amazing runs of victories in first division, we seem to have hit a couple of teams that have suddenly improved. I'm sure we beat them handsomely the last time we played them...
Workplace injuries
I always get a scare when someone comes to tell me that someones had an accident (see I'm the first aid officer), I always expect the worst. The sorts of things they say are the same if they've grazed their knee or if they're unconcious bleeding to death. Mental note - look at the colour of their skin. A pale face is always a dead giveaway of a really scary accident.
Political argument
Sure, that was good while it lasted - but it's always hard to incite people into enough rage to actually respond - so I'll continue on where my thoughts are completely against the grain - The Australian military...
Points to note
1) Australian SAS reconnoisance experts are tightly integrated into US operations since they managed to save the skins of many US soldiers in operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.
2) Australian logistics operations were singled out for special commendation by Rumsfeld by moving double the equipment per man used than the US & British counterparts, while being completely accident free.
3) Australian minesweeper operations have continued through from Gulf War I, through policing operations in between wars, and then on through the second Gulf War with little or no other minesweepers to help.
4) The US continuously asked for our trained peacekeepers to be used in Iraqi missions, because they have done such a good job in East Timor, even though they have been scheduled to go to East Timor.
5) Casualty rates per soldier in direct operations has continuously decreased over the decades from World War I, right through until now. We were initially considered "cannon fodder" in the first world war. We are now considered the most valuable of combatants. One in two Aus soldiers died in WWI, one in 4 in WWII, One in 17 in Vietnam, One died in Afghanistan, Two badly injured in East Timor (No battle deaths) and none at all in Iraq.
6) Our involvement in Coalition operations have enabled us to get real battle experience without there being a direct military threat to our country. Many other countries with modern equipment have little or no battlefield experience, putting them in an inferior position to ours. Conversely, most of the other countries fighting wars have experience but outdated equipment.
7) The amazing rescue of yachtsmen, baloonists, etc. are a tribute to the long range search and rescue capabilities of our military, that have not been demonstrated by other countries.
8) The skills of our military are not just about winning wars. They are also about winning the peace, and warming relations with potential enemies. One clear example is with the Indonesian military. After a shootout and standoff with the Indonesians near the border of East Timor, instead of a show of force and leaving diplomacy to higher officers, intelligence and bravery were shown in approaching the unit commanders on the ground and sorting the misunderstanding there and then. There was a mistake made on the Indonesian side about the exact point of the border, and there was no need for violence, just ground level diplomacy. Even cameras recorded part of the exchange for the record.
9) The number of US troops in Iraq, was excessive to win the battle, but way too few to restore order. The conclusion I come to is that there are way too many US combatants, and way too few peacekeepers and civilian roles (And although not export-ready, these exist in quantity in Australia).The balance is quite clearly wrong and is more about using and justifying the types of forces they already had, rather than concentrating more heavily on achieving the types of personnel they needed (and will need in the future).
These are the types of reasons I come to the conclusions I do about the Australian military being "the best", being necessary for the US missions they are involved in, and being quite capable of doing equivalent jobs on their own.
Back into the habit
Hard to give myself some time every day to it!
Volleyball
After what seemed an amazing runs of victories in first division, we seem to have hit a couple of teams that have suddenly improved. I'm sure we beat them handsomely the last time we played them...
Workplace injuries
I always get a scare when someone comes to tell me that someones had an accident (see I'm the first aid officer), I always expect the worst. The sorts of things they say are the same if they've grazed their knee or if they're unconcious bleeding to death. Mental note - look at the colour of their skin. A pale face is always a dead giveaway of a really scary accident.
Political argument
Sure, that was good while it lasted - but it's always hard to incite people into enough rage to actually respond - so I'll continue on where my thoughts are completely against the grain - The Australian military...
Points to note
1) Australian SAS reconnoisance experts are tightly integrated into US operations since they managed to save the skins of many US soldiers in operation Anaconda in Afghanistan.
2) Australian logistics operations were singled out for special commendation by Rumsfeld by moving double the equipment per man used than the US & British counterparts, while being completely accident free.
3) Australian minesweeper operations have continued through from Gulf War I, through policing operations in between wars, and then on through the second Gulf War with little or no other minesweepers to help.
4) The US continuously asked for our trained peacekeepers to be used in Iraqi missions, because they have done such a good job in East Timor, even though they have been scheduled to go to East Timor.
5) Casualty rates per soldier in direct operations has continuously decreased over the decades from World War I, right through until now. We were initially considered "cannon fodder" in the first world war. We are now considered the most valuable of combatants. One in two Aus soldiers died in WWI, one in 4 in WWII, One in 17 in Vietnam, One died in Afghanistan, Two badly injured in East Timor (No battle deaths) and none at all in Iraq.
6) Our involvement in Coalition operations have enabled us to get real battle experience without there being a direct military threat to our country. Many other countries with modern equipment have little or no battlefield experience, putting them in an inferior position to ours. Conversely, most of the other countries fighting wars have experience but outdated equipment.
7) The amazing rescue of yachtsmen, baloonists, etc. are a tribute to the long range search and rescue capabilities of our military, that have not been demonstrated by other countries.
8) The skills of our military are not just about winning wars. They are also about winning the peace, and warming relations with potential enemies. One clear example is with the Indonesian military. After a shootout and standoff with the Indonesians near the border of East Timor, instead of a show of force and leaving diplomacy to higher officers, intelligence and bravery were shown in approaching the unit commanders on the ground and sorting the misunderstanding there and then. There was a mistake made on the Indonesian side about the exact point of the border, and there was no need for violence, just ground level diplomacy. Even cameras recorded part of the exchange for the record.
9) The number of US troops in Iraq, was excessive to win the battle, but way too few to restore order. The conclusion I come to is that there are way too many US combatants, and way too few peacekeepers and civilian roles (And although not export-ready, these exist in quantity in Australia).The balance is quite clearly wrong and is more about using and justifying the types of forces they already had, rather than concentrating more heavily on achieving the types of personnel they needed (and will need in the future).
These are the types of reasons I come to the conclusions I do about the Australian military being "the best", being necessary for the US missions they are involved in, and being quite capable of doing equivalent jobs on their own.
Monday, May 12, 2003
Thursday May 8th 2003
Catching Up
My brother is finally back from holidays so I finally can get back into this blogging again - I missed it so much. I have been going around for a month imagining all the things I would write about.
Mooovies
I went to see a movie at the cinema for the first time in years early in April. I remember distinctly last time it was "Moulin Rouge". I can only assume it was pre 9/11 and I remember that Tiffany Hamilton just happened to go to the same screening. Why would a moviephobe like me go to the mooovies? Well, Belinda's class at school won an easter egg decorating competition and got free passes for four to the new Nickolodeon movie - the Thornberrys. So being the masochist I decided to go with my three oldest children. I expected that Felicia, the youngest of the three, would cause the most trouble, but although she decided to sit on my lap the whole time, she was no trouble. Belinda, now ten years old decided she would sit next to me and the gap to our left reserved for Felicia if she wanted to hop off me quickly got taken by someone else. Half an hour before the mooovie finishes, Belinda tells me she is busting and so I have to take her to the toilet leaving the younger ones to take care of themselves. After the mooovie finishes, she is busting again. Worlds smallest bladder there. What about the movie?
what movie?
Cooking
One of the nights during April, I was left home alone with the 4 kids. Deciding I should cook something, I mentioned pasta. Belinda immediately starts whingeing and whining "We always have pasta, we had pasta last week!". So I look into the pantry and mention what about rice? Nikolas suddenly overhears and starts to whinge himself "Rice?! I don't want rice. Why do we have to have rice?".
It was basically a Whinge - Whinge situation.
Tampa
I know that basically the political and media line on this is either biased towards the statement "John Howard stole the election through lies and exaggeration regarding Asylum seekers arriving in boats" - or on the other side of the spectrum "John Howard finally stood up for Australians and said enough is enough and implemented policies to completely deter anymore illegals arriving by boat"
I have quite a different view on the whole drama from a tactical perspective from both sides of parliament starting back a few elections before the one in question. It also doesn't rule out some kind of "gentleman's agreement" between major political parties as to which "policy mix" they were going to sell to the electorate. In John Hewson's Fighback election loss debacle, one striking feature of the election was how polarised the voting was due the huge looming GST issue, which meant that minor parties and independents did rather poorly. In the following election, John Howard had not advertised any significant policy changes and got in on a tide of "It's Time" and independants and minor parties did rather well - including significantly Pauline Hansen.
The next election, the GST came up again as an issue. Many observers, such as myself, were wondering why they "needed" to include the GST in the package of policies. A large number of small details has convinced me that the idea was to completely polarise the electorate so that One Nation would be completely squeezed out of the running. Economic benefits of the GST are way too long term for the electorate to ever be sold on it being a good idea just for that, and the opposition had a number of unpopular policies in the mix as well. Certainly not your conventional "promise the world" kind of electioneering that is the norm in democracies. The first priority of the major parties was to marginalise One Nation. Winning government at that moment came as a distant second priority compared with snuffing out the evil flames of an inexperienced, populist new party.
In the most recent election - suddenly it seemed that Pauline Hansen's original prediction of being "invaded" by "Asians" seemed to be coming to a head. Had the major parties stuck to their original policies on boat people, One Nation would have been rewarded hansomely with a huge increase in popularity. This would have been a much worse signal to the rest of the world than what actually happened. So, in each of the major parties looking after their long term interests in keeping One Nation at bay, required the sort of extreme measures to lurch towards Xenophobia at least until after the election. Presumably, after the next election, I would suspect Labor would get back in power, and perhaps increase our legal refugee intake, or resoften up our policy again somewhat. Hopefully, One Nation might have been completely discredited by then, and the major parties will have political room to maneuvre back to the middle ground.
To summarise (it may have sounded long winded), Tampa policy was guided by considerations on which party should be marginalised the most, as much as on getting the most votes oneself. This explains the lurch to the right of both main parties/coalitions, to ensure a populist right wing party was snuffed out if possible, through a period of general xenophobia in the public. Not as the way it is made out, that the general xenophobia was abused competitively in a thrust for power. I am not particularly pleased that there are no boat people now - I think the diplomatic cost was very high. But I am pleased that One Nation didn't get the benefit of the Xenophobia - The political and diplomatic cost of them getting the balance of power would have been disastrous for the country. I think the major parties colluded (either by accident or by full-blown conspiracy) to achieve the result that they did.
Catching Up
My brother is finally back from holidays so I finally can get back into this blogging again - I missed it so much. I have been going around for a month imagining all the things I would write about.
Mooovies
I went to see a movie at the cinema for the first time in years early in April. I remember distinctly last time it was "Moulin Rouge". I can only assume it was pre 9/11 and I remember that Tiffany Hamilton just happened to go to the same screening. Why would a moviephobe like me go to the mooovies? Well, Belinda's class at school won an easter egg decorating competition and got free passes for four to the new Nickolodeon movie - the Thornberrys. So being the masochist I decided to go with my three oldest children. I expected that Felicia, the youngest of the three, would cause the most trouble, but although she decided to sit on my lap the whole time, she was no trouble. Belinda, now ten years old decided she would sit next to me and the gap to our left reserved for Felicia if she wanted to hop off me quickly got taken by someone else. Half an hour before the mooovie finishes, Belinda tells me she is busting and so I have to take her to the toilet leaving the younger ones to take care of themselves. After the mooovie finishes, she is busting again. Worlds smallest bladder there. What about the movie?
what movie?
Cooking
One of the nights during April, I was left home alone with the 4 kids. Deciding I should cook something, I mentioned pasta. Belinda immediately starts whingeing and whining "We always have pasta, we had pasta last week!". So I look into the pantry and mention what about rice? Nikolas suddenly overhears and starts to whinge himself "Rice?! I don't want rice. Why do we have to have rice?".
It was basically a Whinge - Whinge situation.
Tampa
I know that basically the political and media line on this is either biased towards the statement "John Howard stole the election through lies and exaggeration regarding Asylum seekers arriving in boats" - or on the other side of the spectrum "John Howard finally stood up for Australians and said enough is enough and implemented policies to completely deter anymore illegals arriving by boat"
I have quite a different view on the whole drama from a tactical perspective from both sides of parliament starting back a few elections before the one in question. It also doesn't rule out some kind of "gentleman's agreement" between major political parties as to which "policy mix" they were going to sell to the electorate. In John Hewson's Fighback election loss debacle, one striking feature of the election was how polarised the voting was due the huge looming GST issue, which meant that minor parties and independents did rather poorly. In the following election, John Howard had not advertised any significant policy changes and got in on a tide of "It's Time" and independants and minor parties did rather well - including significantly Pauline Hansen.
The next election, the GST came up again as an issue. Many observers, such as myself, were wondering why they "needed" to include the GST in the package of policies. A large number of small details has convinced me that the idea was to completely polarise the electorate so that One Nation would be completely squeezed out of the running. Economic benefits of the GST are way too long term for the electorate to ever be sold on it being a good idea just for that, and the opposition had a number of unpopular policies in the mix as well. Certainly not your conventional "promise the world" kind of electioneering that is the norm in democracies. The first priority of the major parties was to marginalise One Nation. Winning government at that moment came as a distant second priority compared with snuffing out the evil flames of an inexperienced, populist new party.
In the most recent election - suddenly it seemed that Pauline Hansen's original prediction of being "invaded" by "Asians" seemed to be coming to a head. Had the major parties stuck to their original policies on boat people, One Nation would have been rewarded hansomely with a huge increase in popularity. This would have been a much worse signal to the rest of the world than what actually happened. So, in each of the major parties looking after their long term interests in keeping One Nation at bay, required the sort of extreme measures to lurch towards Xenophobia at least until after the election. Presumably, after the next election, I would suspect Labor would get back in power, and perhaps increase our legal refugee intake, or resoften up our policy again somewhat. Hopefully, One Nation might have been completely discredited by then, and the major parties will have political room to maneuvre back to the middle ground.
To summarise (it may have sounded long winded), Tampa policy was guided by considerations on which party should be marginalised the most, as much as on getting the most votes oneself. This explains the lurch to the right of both main parties/coalitions, to ensure a populist right wing party was snuffed out if possible, through a period of general xenophobia in the public. Not as the way it is made out, that the general xenophobia was abused competitively in a thrust for power. I am not particularly pleased that there are no boat people now - I think the diplomatic cost was very high. But I am pleased that One Nation didn't get the benefit of the Xenophobia - The political and diplomatic cost of them getting the balance of power would have been disastrous for the country. I think the major parties colluded (either by accident or by full-blown conspiracy) to achieve the result that they did.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
4/3/2003
Well, I've been listening to spit songs in the car now for two months nearly everyday. I then find myself, emailing happily away to these same people re the war. All of a sudden I've discovered something really spooky - when I'm reading those e-mails, I *hear* the words as if they are being spoken by the person that wrote it. The accents & tonality are all there. I could swear you were right in front of me talking....
Anyway, as far as the arguments go - these are the most enjoyable discussions I've had on the war without exception. I've found I am also less inclined to hold back on my minority views on the net. I am not usually so open and honest about my opinions...
Well, I've been listening to spit songs in the car now for two months nearly everyday. I then find myself, emailing happily away to these same people re the war. All of a sudden I've discovered something really spooky - when I'm reading those e-mails, I *hear* the words as if they are being spoken by the person that wrote it. The accents & tonality are all there. I could swear you were right in front of me talking....
Anyway, as far as the arguments go - these are the most enjoyable discussions I've had on the war without exception. I've found I am also less inclined to hold back on my minority views on the net. I am not usually so open and honest about my opinions...
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Here's my reply to Chris's Incisive ultimatum...
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 9:25 PM
Subject: 48 Hour Ultimatum
>Okay, my blogging friends, you have all been pretty silent since the collapse
> of the Post-WWII order began in earnest last week.
>Is Andrew's participation in anti-war rallies motivated purely by ennui?
>Has Marco's contrarian philosophy caused him to turn about
>180 degrees in response to new poll results?
Yes. I am afraid so. If an election were held today, I would vote against the govenment (probably democrat with labor preferences) against my other instincts that are in general pro-business, right side of centre.
Back in August 2002, Me and Sandor were talking about the developing situation in Iraq. It was even before the UN resolution recommencing inspections took place. We were both convinced (and continued to be convinced right through until March) that war was all but inevitable given the circumstances. Our only difference in opinion was the matter of when hostilities would begin. We therefore decided to make a little wager (20c or something) as to the dates of the war starting. To enable us to remember the dates, I picked the due date for Zachary (7th of November) while Sandor picked his wedding anniversary (17th of February). As it happened Sandor was right, and possibly for the right reasons as well (he figured it would take that long to move everthing into place, which I think was the main stalling factor - the UN thing was just a diversion which in the long run wouldn't harm the war effort) As it Happens, he wins, and the date hostilities started was very close to my wedding anniversary, and amazingly, both me and Kylie forgot all about it, due to the war and all that distracting us! Anyway, that sort of puts me out of the really bad books, because she forgot as well, which is better than what normally happens.
Apart from the obvious instincts, there are few other points I would like to make.
1) Peace protests essentially are "batting for the opposition". It essentially tells Iraq that it still has a chance of winning, and that it should be encouraged to keep on killing as much as possible. The obvious exception is violent protests for peace - these obviously encourage our troops who have to be violent to some extent, and strengthen the incumbent government on top of that, by making it look like the victim.
2) In general, I think wars are a matter primarily for governments. People like to think they can control the governments strategic decisions, but essentially, all they can change is the game and the shape of the board, not the mind of the person playing the game.
3) The war involves a lot of secretive information and intelligence that the ordinary voter is not privvy to. Therefore, I think we can easily jump to completely wrong conclusions about a whole heap of matters with regards to strategy. For instance, I believe that spies whose identities need to be protected know a whole heap more than can be public knowledge. To have a chance of winning, the US cannot afford to show any of its spying network information at this stage.
4) I think some of the reasons for this war are not very noble, but I don't think we'll ever find out about those for sure in our lifetime.
5) I think Australia's troops battling in the gulf are the worlds best, and the US could not win the war without them. They could even have a chance of winning the war by themselves, given enough equipment, money and time.
6) If you have to ask me in general if I am for or against this war in general, I would have to say that I'm for it, on the grounds that essentially, it forces Iraq to finally show its hand with regards to WMD and its link to terrorism. Networks of terrorists associated with the middle east will find it much harder to operate now, without putting their whole network at risk of disintegration. Every terrorist attack provides vital information about its network, and with fewer countries willing to protect them, they will find it near impossible to both hide and be an aggressive influence.
7) I have decided to make a personal boycott of French products. This means that I'm going to have to find a replacement for my "Drakkar Noir" products.
>Is Dave only making fun of Dick Cheney because it is *sooooo* easy?
> Androoo knows my opinions, reasoning and motivations, a little, but
> I am in the dark about the rest of you guys. Surely it is the duty of you
> lot as bloggers to provide moral and intellectual leadership to the world
>by clearly stating where you stand and why.
>Therefore, I am giving you all exactly 48 hours to provide a reasoned response to the *Jerusalem Post* op-ed piece below.
Sorry, I'm not going to refer to that piece directly, because I can't relate to its general assumptions.
Gee, I hope I made the 48 hr deadline!
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 9:25 PM
Subject: 48 Hour Ultimatum
>Okay, my blogging friends, you have all been pretty silent since the collapse
> of the Post-WWII order began in earnest last week.
>Is Andrew's participation in anti-war rallies motivated purely by ennui?
>Has Marco's contrarian philosophy caused him to turn about
>180 degrees in response to new poll results?
Yes. I am afraid so. If an election were held today, I would vote against the govenment (probably democrat with labor preferences) against my other instincts that are in general pro-business, right side of centre.
Back in August 2002, Me and Sandor were talking about the developing situation in Iraq. It was even before the UN resolution recommencing inspections took place. We were both convinced (and continued to be convinced right through until March) that war was all but inevitable given the circumstances. Our only difference in opinion was the matter of when hostilities would begin. We therefore decided to make a little wager (20c or something) as to the dates of the war starting. To enable us to remember the dates, I picked the due date for Zachary (7th of November) while Sandor picked his wedding anniversary (17th of February). As it happened Sandor was right, and possibly for the right reasons as well (he figured it would take that long to move everthing into place, which I think was the main stalling factor - the UN thing was just a diversion which in the long run wouldn't harm the war effort) As it Happens, he wins, and the date hostilities started was very close to my wedding anniversary, and amazingly, both me and Kylie forgot all about it, due to the war and all that distracting us! Anyway, that sort of puts me out of the really bad books, because she forgot as well, which is better than what normally happens.
Apart from the obvious instincts, there are few other points I would like to make.
1) Peace protests essentially are "batting for the opposition". It essentially tells Iraq that it still has a chance of winning, and that it should be encouraged to keep on killing as much as possible. The obvious exception is violent protests for peace - these obviously encourage our troops who have to be violent to some extent, and strengthen the incumbent government on top of that, by making it look like the victim.
2) In general, I think wars are a matter primarily for governments. People like to think they can control the governments strategic decisions, but essentially, all they can change is the game and the shape of the board, not the mind of the person playing the game.
3) The war involves a lot of secretive information and intelligence that the ordinary voter is not privvy to. Therefore, I think we can easily jump to completely wrong conclusions about a whole heap of matters with regards to strategy. For instance, I believe that spies whose identities need to be protected know a whole heap more than can be public knowledge. To have a chance of winning, the US cannot afford to show any of its spying network information at this stage.
4) I think some of the reasons for this war are not very noble, but I don't think we'll ever find out about those for sure in our lifetime.
5) I think Australia's troops battling in the gulf are the worlds best, and the US could not win the war without them. They could even have a chance of winning the war by themselves, given enough equipment, money and time.
6) If you have to ask me in general if I am for or against this war in general, I would have to say that I'm for it, on the grounds that essentially, it forces Iraq to finally show its hand with regards to WMD and its link to terrorism. Networks of terrorists associated with the middle east will find it much harder to operate now, without putting their whole network at risk of disintegration. Every terrorist attack provides vital information about its network, and with fewer countries willing to protect them, they will find it near impossible to both hide and be an aggressive influence.
7) I have decided to make a personal boycott of French products. This means that I'm going to have to find a replacement for my "Drakkar Noir" products.
>Is Dave only making fun of Dick Cheney because it is *sooooo* easy?
> Androoo knows my opinions, reasoning and motivations, a little, but
> I am in the dark about the rest of you guys. Surely it is the duty of you
> lot as bloggers to provide moral and intellectual leadership to the world
>by clearly stating where you stand and why.
>Therefore, I am giving you all exactly 48 hours to provide a reasoned response to the *Jerusalem Post* op-ed piece below.
Sorry, I'm not going to refer to that piece directly, because I can't relate to its general assumptions.
Gee, I hope I made the 48 hr deadline!
Monday, March 17, 2003
Monday, 17th March 2003
Philosophy
Both my political and personal philosophies are decidedly 'Contrarian'. My convictions on marginal matters side completelely with minority opinion, precisely because it is minority opinion! For instance if the leader of a *DEMOCRATIC* country makes a decision fairly early in their term, and the (even large) majority think it a very wrong move, it makes me think it must have been the correct decision. My reasoning goes that leaders only priorities are staying in power, which means public opinion. The only possible pragmatic reason a leader would do it If they can see long term benefits (admittedly, for votes) despite short term public disapproval. This argument only really works for democracies, however. This is the clear difference between democracies and dictatorships. Democratic leaders have to be accountable in the short or long term, so sooner or later they are going to make decisions *only* because they are popular - they no longer have the privilege of making unpopular choices that are good for a country. Decisions that are both good for a country and popular are no-brainers. All democratically elected governments do those anyway. It is only the marginal decisions that have a chance of being unpopular but good for the country.
Extended 1987 trip diary
First plane trip - TSV - SYD - HNL. Customs telling me I would need a temp visa to get back in. I remember taking a walk around during our hours of stopover in Sydney. Crossing the dateline as well as the equator. Starting a trend of eating as much as possible during flights, because we didn't know when our next meal was coming. Arrival at Honolulu and the "show me the money" incident at the customs there. Wearing silly ribbon badges to catch a Taxi. Nearly getting run over because I looked the wrong way instinctively when crossing the first road. Checking in at the hotel, noting the free light breakfast from our "host" holiday packager. Staggering around Waikiki waiting until it was time to check into our hotel like the walking dead since we soooo jetlagged. Checking out Waikiki. Me & Sandor tasting our first ever Big Mac (being disappointed). Next day take 60c bus ride to Sunset Beach ignoring all the discounts booklet. Watch the world championship surfing, while listening to the beach boys. Surfing gets cancelled because waves are too big, one surfer coming back in with a surfboard broken in half - we decide to go swimming at Weimea Bay. Quite a serious washing machine action at the surf break, filling your pockets with sand instantly. Noting sunset at Waikiki is into the ocean unlike in Tsv. Taking our tape recorder up to the restaurant on top of the fancy Hotel. Recording the waitress saying we were dressed inappropriately. Returning later we left a large tip but failed to make a clean escape. How everybody we asked for directions either (i) was a foreign tourist who didn't speak english or (ii) offered us marijuana instead. Buying Hawaiian shirts which we proceeded to wear non-stop for the next three months, especially anywhere it was -20 C or less. Going to the top of every hotel we could see along Waikiki. Taking a bus ride to the extinct crater to climb up Diamond Head. Strange incident where I thought I'd lost you guys, but you were just sneakily following me. Balcony incident. Locking some luggage at the airport as we fly to the Big Island. Part of the engine block of the plane looking very wobbly. First day of hitchhiking- almost all uphill. Sleep at the shelter near the National park. Much colder up here - Chris has no sleeping bag. Next day we start out hiking through the "lunar" landscape of solidified lava of a recent (2 yr previous) eruption. We had but a large tin of baked beans (supposedly with pork) between us for food. Listening to "Walking on the moon" by "The Police" appropriately. Saw and smelt the acrid yellow sulphur emanating from the fairly recent crater. Walked through the acid rain desert. Walked up to the ranger's building to check it out. By mistake we walked into this "staff only" room, and saw covering a whole 2*4 meter wall an impressively accurate map of the whole island, with special references to the currently active volcano bits. We sat staring at this map for a good few minutes after we realised we weren't supposed to be in this 'control' room. Restart hiking back along the main road after noting the point where the lava flow had gone straight over it, damaging it irretrievably. Start realising that there is coins on the road ( apparently people would throw out their spare coins for good luck!) Caught Chris & Sandor fighting over a penny. After many long hours, we get picked up by this Canadian woman and a man who claimed to a direct male line descendant of the Hawaiian native Royal family (it was probably true). Being it took a long time to get this lift it was of good quality. They showed us some of the sights. Drove us past the supposedly "green" beach (It looked pretty grey to me), and eventually dropped us off at another beach. Apparently the cliffs near the beach were supposed to be haunted - so we slept there. After looking around, we realised that there was no shops in the beachfront community of Ho'okena beach .being desperately thirsty that night, where we slept on a concrete picnic table, Chris under a string hammock for the second night - and the fantastic way the beach was made up of equal numbers of black and white stones. Therefore, on top of spending a hungry and thirsty night and morning, we realised that we had made a profit of around $1 for the day! The next day's hike back onto the main road, I realised that all these yellow-skinned, pink-fleshed fruits all over the side of the road were guavas. So I ate a couple. My two friends seemed dubious about picking up fruit from the side of the road and eating it. After finding a shop and restocking our food & drink, we started hiking again. We stopped at Cook, and tried to make our way down to the beach where we knew there was a memorial for where James Cook had been killed by natives. Alas, the track was completely overgrown by tall grass and banana plantations, so we headed back for the main road. We decided not to hitchhike up to the observatory on Mauna Kea, because if we were too delayed in catching rides, we may have missed our connecting flights. Next lift was quite quick - quite poor quality. He dropped us off about 1 k down the road and told us to stop there to get a ride because it was a much better spot than where we were. Ten hours later we realised we weren't going to get a ride that night and slept at a church site.While we slept outside the church at Kona-Kailua this car pulled up in the middle of the night and people who may have been cops, or crazed killers, got out and shone torches on us, but we were too tired to care and just waited for them to arrest us or stab us and then they went away. The next day was for me perhaps the defining day of the whole trip. We finally got a ride that morning after deciding to hike if we didn't get a lift. The loveliest Japanese American man you can imagine, who discussed philosophy & family etc. and then bought us breakfast - I had an eggs benedicte, the first of three meals that were bought for us that day! After saying our goodbyes and getting packed again. Our ride from hell was beckoning. Probably the first car that passed us after we stuck our thumbs out stopped. Maybe there was only 4 dogs on the back of the ute, but the front of the ute was full, and the back of the ute wasn't empty, but was flat. Chris remembers quite vividly how high all the people in the front of the ute looked and how even so one of them told me to take off his pack, otherwise he *would* fall off the ute backwards and die. Every roller coaster ride we have been on since then has seemed so tame. We got dropped off somewhere at an intersection back in Hilo. Somewhere along the line we went to the airport to check in for our connecting flight. We learnt that a hand signal similar to the hitch-hiking thumb out + little finger is a kind of greeting. We also changed to a flight that stopped over at another of the islands in the Hawaii chain so we could see more sights from the air. Somewhere along the line, we also went to a macadamia nut factory. That day we stopped for a meal, and some other gentlemen there kindly paid for us. That evening we were considering where to sleep. The place we had in mind near the shore, we were told someone had been murdered there recently. Although, that didn't concern us much, because the people that told us were (concerned), we decided to look around some more. Somewhere along the line, we nearly got run over by a police motorcycle (looking the wrong way again) who checked our passports etc. There just happened to be a beauty/talent contest going on in a building we passed. It was miss America junior or someting like that. Anyway, there was this guy there trying to peek in, but it wasn't as much fun as he'd imagined so he started talking to us. Anyway, he says he would buy us dinner. We were so delighted that he didn't offer us drugs like practically everybody else. I remember having quite a bit of raw fish amongst other Japanese delicacies. Later he offered us a place to sleep for the night. We didn't think anything of the fact that his blue ute looked rather new (with sides as well!), that his furnishings were rather plush. That he thought nothing of buying expensive takeaway food. That his girlfriend was wrapping up some seeds that looked suspiciously like Pakalolo seeds. He said that he had a good relationship with his girlfriend. He grew it - she smoked it. He personally didn't touch the stuff. Next day we flew back to Honolulu, on our rescheduled flight path. I can't remember wether we slept at the airport or on the plane, or on the way to LA. At LA, our plan was to visit Universal studios, and then move on. Our taxi ride took us to a hotel near Universal Studios (Universal Sheraton). Our taxi driver assured us that it was the best value for staying near U. S. It was very late at night and we were flabbergasted at the cost. US$ 120 a night between us. This was going to lift our average dollar a day kind of trip we'd been having so far. Anyway, we dropped off our bags and went to a nearby SUBway restaurant to eat. Nice lady (with big um.... ears) at reception told us she had tucked us in already (it was 3am in the morning), what were we doing still up? Had she ever heard of Jetlaaaag. Anyway, we stayed in the hotel as long as possible to get our maximum value for dollar, and headed off to Universal studios. Ho, hum don't remember anything really exciting - sure there was camera tricks, tunnels, King Kong, fake floods, fake fires, Huuuge backdrops, as we rode a train through the place, but all of this was a step backwards as far as holiday enjoyment went. Back at the hotel, we asked for a taxi to go to the bus station. Limo driver overheard us and said he was on his way there anyway and would give us a lift for about the same price as for a taxi. This was more like it. We were being treated like one of the *stars*. The first bus ride did not go so well, however. After having a few conversations with various interesting people (one who was working on a prototype for a perpetual motion machine!) we forgot that we were supposed to check in our luggage well before the bus was about to leave to Tucson. As a result, we lost our tape player/recorder. Some of Our luggage also got off at the wrong place and it took another day to retrieve some of it. Chris's grandparents etc. were there to greet us. We spent quite a lot of time in Tucson. I remember going ten pin bowling, playing pool, swimming at the nearby pool/Jaccuzi, showing off juggling tricks to friends. Me & Sandor played golf, once hiring a cart, another time playing the turtle course.
Philosophy
Both my political and personal philosophies are decidedly 'Contrarian'. My convictions on marginal matters side completelely with minority opinion, precisely because it is minority opinion! For instance if the leader of a *DEMOCRATIC* country makes a decision fairly early in their term, and the (even large) majority think it a very wrong move, it makes me think it must have been the correct decision. My reasoning goes that leaders only priorities are staying in power, which means public opinion. The only possible pragmatic reason a leader would do it If they can see long term benefits (admittedly, for votes) despite short term public disapproval. This argument only really works for democracies, however. This is the clear difference between democracies and dictatorships. Democratic leaders have to be accountable in the short or long term, so sooner or later they are going to make decisions *only* because they are popular - they no longer have the privilege of making unpopular choices that are good for a country. Decisions that are both good for a country and popular are no-brainers. All democratically elected governments do those anyway. It is only the marginal decisions that have a chance of being unpopular but good for the country.
Extended 1987 trip diary
First plane trip - TSV - SYD - HNL. Customs telling me I would need a temp visa to get back in. I remember taking a walk around during our hours of stopover in Sydney. Crossing the dateline as well as the equator. Starting a trend of eating as much as possible during flights, because we didn't know when our next meal was coming. Arrival at Honolulu and the "show me the money" incident at the customs there. Wearing silly ribbon badges to catch a Taxi. Nearly getting run over because I looked the wrong way instinctively when crossing the first road. Checking in at the hotel, noting the free light breakfast from our "host" holiday packager. Staggering around Waikiki waiting until it was time to check into our hotel like the walking dead since we soooo jetlagged. Checking out Waikiki. Me & Sandor tasting our first ever Big Mac (being disappointed). Next day take 60c bus ride to Sunset Beach ignoring all the discounts booklet. Watch the world championship surfing, while listening to the beach boys. Surfing gets cancelled because waves are too big, one surfer coming back in with a surfboard broken in half - we decide to go swimming at Weimea Bay. Quite a serious washing machine action at the surf break, filling your pockets with sand instantly. Noting sunset at Waikiki is into the ocean unlike in Tsv. Taking our tape recorder up to the restaurant on top of the fancy Hotel. Recording the waitress saying we were dressed inappropriately. Returning later we left a large tip but failed to make a clean escape. How everybody we asked for directions either (i) was a foreign tourist who didn't speak english or (ii) offered us marijuana instead. Buying Hawaiian shirts which we proceeded to wear non-stop for the next three months, especially anywhere it was -20 C or less. Going to the top of every hotel we could see along Waikiki. Taking a bus ride to the extinct crater to climb up Diamond Head. Strange incident where I thought I'd lost you guys, but you were just sneakily following me. Balcony incident. Locking some luggage at the airport as we fly to the Big Island. Part of the engine block of the plane looking very wobbly. First day of hitchhiking- almost all uphill. Sleep at the shelter near the National park. Much colder up here - Chris has no sleeping bag. Next day we start out hiking through the "lunar" landscape of solidified lava of a recent (2 yr previous) eruption. We had but a large tin of baked beans (supposedly with pork) between us for food. Listening to "Walking on the moon" by "The Police" appropriately. Saw and smelt the acrid yellow sulphur emanating from the fairly recent crater. Walked through the acid rain desert. Walked up to the ranger's building to check it out. By mistake we walked into this "staff only" room, and saw covering a whole 2*4 meter wall an impressively accurate map of the whole island, with special references to the currently active volcano bits. We sat staring at this map for a good few minutes after we realised we weren't supposed to be in this 'control' room. Restart hiking back along the main road after noting the point where the lava flow had gone straight over it, damaging it irretrievably. Start realising that there is coins on the road ( apparently people would throw out their spare coins for good luck!) Caught Chris & Sandor fighting over a penny. After many long hours, we get picked up by this Canadian woman and a man who claimed to a direct male line descendant of the Hawaiian native Royal family (it was probably true). Being it took a long time to get this lift it was of good quality. They showed us some of the sights. Drove us past the supposedly "green" beach (It looked pretty grey to me), and eventually dropped us off at another beach. Apparently the cliffs near the beach were supposed to be haunted - so we slept there. After looking around, we realised that there was no shops in the beachfront community of Ho'okena beach .being desperately thirsty that night, where we slept on a concrete picnic table, Chris under a string hammock for the second night - and the fantastic way the beach was made up of equal numbers of black and white stones. Therefore, on top of spending a hungry and thirsty night and morning, we realised that we had made a profit of around $1 for the day! The next day's hike back onto the main road, I realised that all these yellow-skinned, pink-fleshed fruits all over the side of the road were guavas. So I ate a couple. My two friends seemed dubious about picking up fruit from the side of the road and eating it. After finding a shop and restocking our food & drink, we started hiking again. We stopped at Cook, and tried to make our way down to the beach where we knew there was a memorial for where James Cook had been killed by natives. Alas, the track was completely overgrown by tall grass and banana plantations, so we headed back for the main road. We decided not to hitchhike up to the observatory on Mauna Kea, because if we were too delayed in catching rides, we may have missed our connecting flights. Next lift was quite quick - quite poor quality. He dropped us off about 1 k down the road and told us to stop there to get a ride because it was a much better spot than where we were. Ten hours later we realised we weren't going to get a ride that night and slept at a church site.While we slept outside the church at Kona-Kailua this car pulled up in the middle of the night and people who may have been cops, or crazed killers, got out and shone torches on us, but we were too tired to care and just waited for them to arrest us or stab us and then they went away. The next day was for me perhaps the defining day of the whole trip. We finally got a ride that morning after deciding to hike if we didn't get a lift. The loveliest Japanese American man you can imagine, who discussed philosophy & family etc. and then bought us breakfast - I had an eggs benedicte, the first of three meals that were bought for us that day! After saying our goodbyes and getting packed again. Our ride from hell was beckoning. Probably the first car that passed us after we stuck our thumbs out stopped. Maybe there was only 4 dogs on the back of the ute, but the front of the ute was full, and the back of the ute wasn't empty, but was flat. Chris remembers quite vividly how high all the people in the front of the ute looked and how even so one of them told me to take off his pack, otherwise he *would* fall off the ute backwards and die. Every roller coaster ride we have been on since then has seemed so tame. We got dropped off somewhere at an intersection back in Hilo. Somewhere along the line we went to the airport to check in for our connecting flight. We learnt that a hand signal similar to the hitch-hiking thumb out + little finger is a kind of greeting. We also changed to a flight that stopped over at another of the islands in the Hawaii chain so we could see more sights from the air. Somewhere along the line, we also went to a macadamia nut factory. That day we stopped for a meal, and some other gentlemen there kindly paid for us. That evening we were considering where to sleep. The place we had in mind near the shore, we were told someone had been murdered there recently. Although, that didn't concern us much, because the people that told us were (concerned), we decided to look around some more. Somewhere along the line, we nearly got run over by a police motorcycle (looking the wrong way again) who checked our passports etc. There just happened to be a beauty/talent contest going on in a building we passed. It was miss America junior or someting like that. Anyway, there was this guy there trying to peek in, but it wasn't as much fun as he'd imagined so he started talking to us. Anyway, he says he would buy us dinner. We were so delighted that he didn't offer us drugs like practically everybody else. I remember having quite a bit of raw fish amongst other Japanese delicacies. Later he offered us a place to sleep for the night. We didn't think anything of the fact that his blue ute looked rather new (with sides as well!), that his furnishings were rather plush. That he thought nothing of buying expensive takeaway food. That his girlfriend was wrapping up some seeds that looked suspiciously like Pakalolo seeds. He said that he had a good relationship with his girlfriend. He grew it - she smoked it. He personally didn't touch the stuff. Next day we flew back to Honolulu, on our rescheduled flight path. I can't remember wether we slept at the airport or on the plane, or on the way to LA. At LA, our plan was to visit Universal studios, and then move on. Our taxi ride took us to a hotel near Universal Studios (Universal Sheraton). Our taxi driver assured us that it was the best value for staying near U. S. It was very late at night and we were flabbergasted at the cost. US$ 120 a night between us. This was going to lift our average dollar a day kind of trip we'd been having so far. Anyway, we dropped off our bags and went to a nearby SUBway restaurant to eat. Nice lady (with big um.... ears) at reception told us she had tucked us in already (it was 3am in the morning), what were we doing still up? Had she ever heard of Jetlaaaag. Anyway, we stayed in the hotel as long as possible to get our maximum value for dollar, and headed off to Universal studios. Ho, hum don't remember anything really exciting - sure there was camera tricks, tunnels, King Kong, fake floods, fake fires, Huuuge backdrops, as we rode a train through the place, but all of this was a step backwards as far as holiday enjoyment went. Back at the hotel, we asked for a taxi to go to the bus station. Limo driver overheard us and said he was on his way there anyway and would give us a lift for about the same price as for a taxi. This was more like it. We were being treated like one of the *stars*. The first bus ride did not go so well, however. After having a few conversations with various interesting people (one who was working on a prototype for a perpetual motion machine!) we forgot that we were supposed to check in our luggage well before the bus was about to leave to Tucson. As a result, we lost our tape player/recorder. Some of Our luggage also got off at the wrong place and it took another day to retrieve some of it. Chris's grandparents etc. were there to greet us. We spent quite a lot of time in Tucson. I remember going ten pin bowling, playing pool, swimming at the nearby pool/Jaccuzi, showing off juggling tricks to friends. Me & Sandor played golf, once hiring a cart, another time playing the turtle course.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Thursday, 13th March 2003
Metabolism
Well, I've checked my bathroom scales and Since the end of February I'be been steadily gaining weight. Now, over the years my weight seems to go up and down quite consistently over a 5 kg range, but to remain stable over the long run. I must come to the conclusion therefore that I'm fattening up for the winter!
The Past
Well I decided that for nostalgia's sake, I would start to piece together our overseas trip methodogically/chronologically. Hopefully if Chris and Sandor check out my blog occasionally they can add to it, correct and/or expand it into a working diary. I guess I could use email for this, but hey this is good too.
First plane trip - TSV - SYD - HNL. Customs telling me I would need a temp visa to get back in. Crossing the dateline as well as the equator. Starting a trend of eating as much as possible during flights, because we didn't know when our next meal was coming. Arrival at Honolulu and the "show me the money" incident at the customs there. Wearing silly ribbon badges to catch a Taxi. Nearly getting run over because I looked the wrong way instinctively when crossing the first road. Checking in at the hotel, noting the free light breakfast from our "host" holiday packager. Checking out Waikiki. Me & Sandor tasting our first ever Big Mac (being disappointed). Next day take 60c bus ride to Sunset Beach ignoring all the discounts booklet. Watch the world championship surfing, while listening to the beach boys. Surfing gets cancelled because waves are too big, one surfer coming back in with a surfboard broken in half - we decide to go swimming at Weimea Bay. Quite a serious washing machine action at the surf break, filling your pockets with sand instantly. Noting sunset at Waikiki is into the ocean unlike in Tsv. Taking our tape recorder up to the restaurant on top of the fancy Hotel. Recording the waitress saying we were dressed inappropriately. Returning later we left a large tip but failed to make a clean escape. Buying Tropical shirt to match everybody else in the place. Taking a bus ride to the extinct crater to climb up Diamond Head. Strange incident where I thought I'd lost you guys, but you were just sneakily following me. Balcony incident. Locking some luggage at the airport as we fly to the Big Island. Part of the engine block of the plane looking very wobbly. First day of hitchhiking- almost all uphill. Sleep at the shelter near the National park. Much colder up here - Chris has no sleeping bag. Next day we start out hiking through the "lunar" landscape of solidified lava of a recent (2 yr previous) eruption. We had but a large tin of baked beans (supposedly with pork) between us for food. Listening to "Walking on the moon" by "The Police" appropriately. Saw and smelt the acrid yellow sulphur emanating from the fairly recent crater. Walked through the acid rain desert. Walked up to the ranger's building to check it out. By mistake we walked into this "staff only" room, and saw covering a whole 2*4 meter wall an impressively accurate map of the whole island, with special references to the currently active volcano bits. We sat staring at this map for a good few minutes after we realised we weren't supposed to be in this 'control' room. Restart hiking back along the main road after noting the point where the lava flow had gone straight over it, damaging it irretrievably. Start realising that there is coins on the road ( apparently people would throw out their spare coins for good luck!) Caught Chris & Sandor fighting over a penny. After many long hours, we get picked up by this Canadian woman and a man who claimed to a direct male line descendant of the Hawaiian native Royal family (it was probably true). Being it took a long time to get this lift it was of good quality. They showed us some of the sights. Drove us past the supposedly "green" beach (It looked pretty grey to me), and eventually dropped us off at another beach. Apparently the cliffs near the beach were supposed to be haunted - so we slept there. After looking around, we realised that there was no shops in the beachfront community. Therefore, on top of spending a hungry night and morning, we realised that we had made a profit of around $1 for the day! The next day's hike back onto the main road, I realised that all these yellow-skinned, pink-fleshed fruits all over the side of the road were guavas. So I ate a couple. My two friends seemed dubious about picking up fruit from the side of the road and eating it. After finding a shop and restocking our food & drink, we started hiking again. We stopped at Cook, and tried to make our way down to the beach where we knew there was a memorial for where James Cook had been killed by natives. Alas, the track was completely overgrown by tall grass and banana plantations, so we headed back for the main road. We decided not to hitchhike up to the observatory on Mauna Kea, because if we were too delayed in catching rides, we may have missed our connecting flights. Next lift was quite quick - quite poor quality. He dropped us off about 1 k down the road and told us to stop there to get a ride because it was a much better spot than where we were. Ten hours later we realised we weren't going to get a ride that night and slept at a church site......
Metabolism
Well, I've checked my bathroom scales and Since the end of February I'be been steadily gaining weight. Now, over the years my weight seems to go up and down quite consistently over a 5 kg range, but to remain stable over the long run. I must come to the conclusion therefore that I'm fattening up for the winter!
The Past
Well I decided that for nostalgia's sake, I would start to piece together our overseas trip methodogically/chronologically. Hopefully if Chris and Sandor check out my blog occasionally they can add to it, correct and/or expand it into a working diary. I guess I could use email for this, but hey this is good too.
First plane trip - TSV - SYD - HNL. Customs telling me I would need a temp visa to get back in. Crossing the dateline as well as the equator. Starting a trend of eating as much as possible during flights, because we didn't know when our next meal was coming. Arrival at Honolulu and the "show me the money" incident at the customs there. Wearing silly ribbon badges to catch a Taxi. Nearly getting run over because I looked the wrong way instinctively when crossing the first road. Checking in at the hotel, noting the free light breakfast from our "host" holiday packager. Checking out Waikiki. Me & Sandor tasting our first ever Big Mac (being disappointed). Next day take 60c bus ride to Sunset Beach ignoring all the discounts booklet. Watch the world championship surfing, while listening to the beach boys. Surfing gets cancelled because waves are too big, one surfer coming back in with a surfboard broken in half - we decide to go swimming at Weimea Bay. Quite a serious washing machine action at the surf break, filling your pockets with sand instantly. Noting sunset at Waikiki is into the ocean unlike in Tsv. Taking our tape recorder up to the restaurant on top of the fancy Hotel. Recording the waitress saying we were dressed inappropriately. Returning later we left a large tip but failed to make a clean escape. Buying Tropical shirt to match everybody else in the place. Taking a bus ride to the extinct crater to climb up Diamond Head. Strange incident where I thought I'd lost you guys, but you were just sneakily following me. Balcony incident. Locking some luggage at the airport as we fly to the Big Island. Part of the engine block of the plane looking very wobbly. First day of hitchhiking- almost all uphill. Sleep at the shelter near the National park. Much colder up here - Chris has no sleeping bag. Next day we start out hiking through the "lunar" landscape of solidified lava of a recent (2 yr previous) eruption. We had but a large tin of baked beans (supposedly with pork) between us for food. Listening to "Walking on the moon" by "The Police" appropriately. Saw and smelt the acrid yellow sulphur emanating from the fairly recent crater. Walked through the acid rain desert. Walked up to the ranger's building to check it out. By mistake we walked into this "staff only" room, and saw covering a whole 2*4 meter wall an impressively accurate map of the whole island, with special references to the currently active volcano bits. We sat staring at this map for a good few minutes after we realised we weren't supposed to be in this 'control' room. Restart hiking back along the main road after noting the point where the lava flow had gone straight over it, damaging it irretrievably. Start realising that there is coins on the road ( apparently people would throw out their spare coins for good luck!) Caught Chris & Sandor fighting over a penny. After many long hours, we get picked up by this Canadian woman and a man who claimed to a direct male line descendant of the Hawaiian native Royal family (it was probably true). Being it took a long time to get this lift it was of good quality. They showed us some of the sights. Drove us past the supposedly "green" beach (It looked pretty grey to me), and eventually dropped us off at another beach. Apparently the cliffs near the beach were supposed to be haunted - so we slept there. After looking around, we realised that there was no shops in the beachfront community. Therefore, on top of spending a hungry night and morning, we realised that we had made a profit of around $1 for the day! The next day's hike back onto the main road, I realised that all these yellow-skinned, pink-fleshed fruits all over the side of the road were guavas. So I ate a couple. My two friends seemed dubious about picking up fruit from the side of the road and eating it. After finding a shop and restocking our food & drink, we started hiking again. We stopped at Cook, and tried to make our way down to the beach where we knew there was a memorial for where James Cook had been killed by natives. Alas, the track was completely overgrown by tall grass and banana plantations, so we headed back for the main road. We decided not to hitchhike up to the observatory on Mauna Kea, because if we were too delayed in catching rides, we may have missed our connecting flights. Next lift was quite quick - quite poor quality. He dropped us off about 1 k down the road and told us to stop there to get a ride because it was a much better spot than where we were. Ten hours later we realised we weren't going to get a ride that night and slept at a church site......
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Wednesday, March 12th 2003
Immunisations
Another trip to the doctors for scheduled immunisations for Felicia & Zachary. I get strung along due to the distress of hearing the poor babies cry when they get all those needles. Felicia had her favourite doll in the car with her, but she says, "I will leave baby in the car, otherwise she will get needled". The truth is, she doesn't want the stress of her (voodoo) doll getting the same pain she is. So she gets her needle + mandatory jellybeans, big woop. Zachary gets all of three needles plus an oral vaccine. That quite deservedly gets more than mere lollies, a breastfeed calming down the whole process nicely. So they scream a lot and have to be roped down into position like a psychopath refusing his mental health medication, but I don't think it unnecessarily cruel :-). Can you remember your early vaccinations?
Lessons from the Past
Ways of saying hello
It took a while but the questions that strangers on the street would ask, were actually greetings - somewhat akin to Australia's Howareyougoing? Alright? (in some cases we aren't really interested in how you are). In Hawaii when we passed through it would be "Do you want some Pakalolo (Marijuana)?". In Thailand it was "Where you go?". When a Thai policeman asks you that on your way past an intersection, one can take it quite the wrong way, but they are actually just trying to be friendly!
You are stuck in Thailand for another few days after having sorted out your re-entry visa. Do you
a) Head for Chiang Mai, a beautiful touristy haven in the mountains. Cost effective also given the weakness of the Thai currency.
b) Go visit some "Fine Signoritas" like nearly every other male your age seems to do in Bangkok. Very cost effective also.
c) Head for the border with Laos. Thailand is currently having a reasonably fierce border war with them at the moment and we could cause quite a stir by trying to sneak across the border. Almost free.
Bye for now
Immunisations
Another trip to the doctors for scheduled immunisations for Felicia & Zachary. I get strung along due to the distress of hearing the poor babies cry when they get all those needles. Felicia had her favourite doll in the car with her, but she says, "I will leave baby in the car, otherwise she will get needled". The truth is, she doesn't want the stress of her (voodoo) doll getting the same pain she is. So she gets her needle + mandatory jellybeans, big woop. Zachary gets all of three needles plus an oral vaccine. That quite deservedly gets more than mere lollies, a breastfeed calming down the whole process nicely. So they scream a lot and have to be roped down into position like a psychopath refusing his mental health medication, but I don't think it unnecessarily cruel :-). Can you remember your early vaccinations?
Lessons from the Past
Ways of saying hello
It took a while but the questions that strangers on the street would ask, were actually greetings - somewhat akin to Australia's Howareyougoing? Alright? (in some cases we aren't really interested in how you are). In Hawaii when we passed through it would be "Do you want some Pakalolo (Marijuana)?". In Thailand it was "Where you go?". When a Thai policeman asks you that on your way past an intersection, one can take it quite the wrong way, but they are actually just trying to be friendly!
You are stuck in Thailand for another few days after having sorted out your re-entry visa. Do you
a) Head for Chiang Mai, a beautiful touristy haven in the mountains. Cost effective also given the weakness of the Thai currency.
b) Go visit some "Fine Signoritas" like nearly every other male your age seems to do in Bangkok. Very cost effective also.
c) Head for the border with Laos. Thailand is currently having a reasonably fierce border war with them at the moment and we could cause quite a stir by trying to sneak across the border. Almost free.
Bye for now
Monday, March 10, 2003
Monday 10th March 2003
I was really going to mention something along these lines, but Chris beat me to it in an e-mail
"...If you are like me you often pray that there is no justice in the universe,
and therefore your children will turn out to be less reckless than we were!
:) But I do think it is no coincidence that the three of us - for which
life has always been a glorious adventure - have gone out and gotten on
with the prodigious adventure of getting married and having children while
our more boring friends have dithered around wasting their lives. Making
rash decisions and living with their consequences forever is what life is
all about!....."
That pretty much summarises what I was going to say on the subject. Which brings me to the leadup to the overseas trip. I have come to the conclusion that past experiences will lead us a certain direction in life, and childhood experiences especially will guide your emotional responses such as anger, happiness etc. The overseas trip was the logical extension to the Burdekin Falls riding/camping adventure. But, the beginning went further back. In grade seven at Aitkenvale S.S., I went on the school outward bound camp to somewhere along the Herbert River. The combination of hiking, camping, roughing it, rafting, abseiling was amazing. I just don't think schools could afford the liability insurance of something like that these days. I remember it rained and the whole thing became even more challenging than at first envisaged. The more adventurous/fit people went on to hike to Garawolt falls and back on one of the days. Going back further, When we lived in Lusaka, Zambia, my father had taken us on a couple of hunting trips. I was too young to catch the hunting instinct, but the adventure and the outdoor camping, I still reflect on emotively to this day, even though I was barely in school at the time. Based on the experiences of my children so far, I would expect that there would be very little emotive instinct for 'outward bound' kind of adventures. However, since both my brother and father go on a lot of adventurous hunting trips even now, I expect that it could definitely change - if the kids get invited.
I was really going to mention something along these lines, but Chris beat me to it in an e-mail
"...If you are like me you often pray that there is no justice in the universe,
and therefore your children will turn out to be less reckless than we were!
:) But I do think it is no coincidence that the three of us - for which
life has always been a glorious adventure - have gone out and gotten on
with the prodigious adventure of getting married and having children while
our more boring friends have dithered around wasting their lives. Making
rash decisions and living with their consequences forever is what life is
all about!....."
That pretty much summarises what I was going to say on the subject. Which brings me to the leadup to the overseas trip. I have come to the conclusion that past experiences will lead us a certain direction in life, and childhood experiences especially will guide your emotional responses such as anger, happiness etc. The overseas trip was the logical extension to the Burdekin Falls riding/camping adventure. But, the beginning went further back. In grade seven at Aitkenvale S.S., I went on the school outward bound camp to somewhere along the Herbert River. The combination of hiking, camping, roughing it, rafting, abseiling was amazing. I just don't think schools could afford the liability insurance of something like that these days. I remember it rained and the whole thing became even more challenging than at first envisaged. The more adventurous/fit people went on to hike to Garawolt falls and back on one of the days. Going back further, When we lived in Lusaka, Zambia, my father had taken us on a couple of hunting trips. I was too young to catch the hunting instinct, but the adventure and the outdoor camping, I still reflect on emotively to this day, even though I was barely in school at the time. Based on the experiences of my children so far, I would expect that there would be very little emotive instinct for 'outward bound' kind of adventures. However, since both my brother and father go on a lot of adventurous hunting trips even now, I expect that it could definitely change - if the kids get invited.
Monday 10th March 2003
It's true. Against my better judgement - I hopped aboard the truck with my two buddies. Later we stopped because one of the dogs sitting behind me had fallen off and was hanging perilously by a string. The driver took the opportunity to fill up with petrol from the cannister, only just remembering to put out his joint that he was smoking at the time, before opening the fuel tank. Chris remarked later that the clifftop views, that we passed would have been thoroughly enjoyable, had it not been that we were hanging on for dear life, as we overtook some other cars. Without exception in our experience with hitch-hiking there, the longer it took for us to garner a lift, the better the quality of the ride.
No Moovies, Limited computer Games
I just can't get over this difference between me and probably all previous school/uni friends. For a long time now, the very thought of going to the Moovies just fills me with dread. I think the only reason I ever bothered initially was for general courtship for an excuse to go out with a girlfriend; or at a pinch, to go out with a group of friends including some of the female persuasion without a partner. When I got married, I breathed a subconscious sigh of relief thinking "Phew, won't have to do that again". Watching movies on the TV is usually ok with my psych, as long as I'm not obliged to watch the ending for some reason (endings are often the most stereotyped bits, and usually happen when I'm the most tired, plus I'm thinking to myself - "see, if I was at the moovies, I couldn't do this").
Now, as far as computer games go, the danger in my mind is getting so addicted that my family/work life suffers. I am convinced that at my age, all addictive and/or fun computer games are of no intellectual, social, or educational value to me. Therefore, my wife is right to tell me off for limiting my time on them. I was recently "hooked" on Age of Empires (got it from the back of a Nutri-Grain packet) and my exit strategy involved praising Kylie everytime she yelled and screamed until I got off it; and strangely, being given all the cheats to the game made me lose interest in it almost overnight, wished I'd learnt them earlier.
Weekend
Almost nothing of interest happens to me on weekends. Mainly catching up with domestic matters. If I'm lucky I get to do some gardening....
It's true. Against my better judgement - I hopped aboard the truck with my two buddies. Later we stopped because one of the dogs sitting behind me had fallen off and was hanging perilously by a string. The driver took the opportunity to fill up with petrol from the cannister, only just remembering to put out his joint that he was smoking at the time, before opening the fuel tank. Chris remarked later that the clifftop views, that we passed would have been thoroughly enjoyable, had it not been that we were hanging on for dear life, as we overtook some other cars. Without exception in our experience with hitch-hiking there, the longer it took for us to garner a lift, the better the quality of the ride.
No Moovies, Limited computer Games
I just can't get over this difference between me and probably all previous school/uni friends. For a long time now, the very thought of going to the Moovies just fills me with dread. I think the only reason I ever bothered initially was for general courtship for an excuse to go out with a girlfriend; or at a pinch, to go out with a group of friends including some of the female persuasion without a partner. When I got married, I breathed a subconscious sigh of relief thinking "Phew, won't have to do that again". Watching movies on the TV is usually ok with my psych, as long as I'm not obliged to watch the ending for some reason (endings are often the most stereotyped bits, and usually happen when I'm the most tired, plus I'm thinking to myself - "see, if I was at the moovies, I couldn't do this").
Now, as far as computer games go, the danger in my mind is getting so addicted that my family/work life suffers. I am convinced that at my age, all addictive and/or fun computer games are of no intellectual, social, or educational value to me. Therefore, my wife is right to tell me off for limiting my time on them. I was recently "hooked" on Age of Empires (got it from the back of a Nutri-Grain packet) and my exit strategy involved praising Kylie everytime she yelled and screamed until I got off it; and strangely, being given all the cheats to the game made me lose interest in it almost overnight, wished I'd learnt them earlier.
Weekend
Almost nothing of interest happens to me on weekends. Mainly catching up with domestic matters. If I'm lucky I get to do some gardening....
Thursday, March 06, 2003
Thursday 6th March 2003
another
Blast from the past
OK. You're hitch-hiking with your 2 best buddies around "the Big Island" of Hawaii. After a hearty breakfast paid for by your last hitch-hikee (driver) you set off down the road and start to hike putting out your thumbs out. Ten seconds later a flat trayback utility stops for you, the people in the seats gesturing for us to hop on. On a closer inspection you see that there are four people in the front seats designed to hold three people. On the flat tray you notice that there is a rusting currugated iron tank section (1.5m diameter say) formerly a water tank by the looks butting the back of the cab. Inside the tank, amongst other things is a tall cannister, presumably holding petrol or gas. Tied to back of the cab are no less than seven (small) dogs tied up in a daisy chain. You half expect them to wait until you're near and then zoom off, like some practical jokers like to do to unsuspecting hitch-hikers, but, no they genuinely want to give you a ride. Do you
A) Politely tell them that there is not enough room, and that we would worry about the dogs too much and that we would get another lift anyhow
B) Pretend that we weren't hitch-hiking at all we were just waving and pointing to our good friend across the road whom we just had breakfast with, and get them to move on.
C) Look across to your two friends, one with a gleam in his eye the other delighted that we got a lift so quick this time, and hop in the back together with your three biggish backpacks and brace yourself anyway you can, even if there is not enough room for all of you to hold on to something sturdy.
Spit Discography
Try something stupid, spit some apple sauce on the judge, put in a link to Spit online - music downloads, include some keywords and try putting it on your blog, sooner or later some web-crawler is going to find it and index it. It's worth a try.
Work
Maybe there is some job satisfaction in being in a family business. One tends to be more a master of one's (and the businesses) destiny. The downside is the tricky nature of mixing family with business, and for that matter weighing up work and leisure time. . In conclusion, if business is going very well, it's great for everyone - if not, everyone must suffer to some degree...
Thursday 6th March 2003
Felicia's incident
Yesterday afternoon I get an urgent phone call on my mobile - Felicia's hit her head and is bleeding everywhere - Rush home. Big red bump on the back of her head, blood all over her nice pink clothes. Ten minutes later, I've finally calmed her down enough that she's happily reading a book, eating a biscuit, so I go and see if there is any more blood to clean up. Pick up her favourite doll, who is wearing pink clothes that used to be Felicias. Blood is spattered over dolls pink clothes and a big red splat of blood on the back of its head. Spooky voodoo-type moment. What exactly was Nikolas doing in the bedroom with her when all of this happened? Why wasn't there any blood on the curtain right next to the doll? How can a girl cause herself so much damage when she is so tiny and light?.............................................
Felicia's incident
Yesterday afternoon I get an urgent phone call on my mobile - Felicia's hit her head and is bleeding everywhere - Rush home. Big red bump on the back of her head, blood all over her nice pink clothes. Ten minutes later, I've finally calmed her down enough that she's happily reading a book, eating a biscuit, so I go and see if there is any more blood to clean up. Pick up her favourite doll, who is wearing pink clothes that used to be Felicias. Blood is spattered over dolls pink clothes and a big red splat of blood on the back of its head. Spooky voodoo-type moment. What exactly was Nikolas doing in the bedroom with her when all of this happened? Why wasn't there any blood on the curtain right next to the doll? How can a girl cause herself so much damage when she is so tiny and light?.............................................
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
Tuesday 4th March 2003
Those of you who calculated Jager's birthday to be 14 June 2002, correct. Those of you who answered c to the other question, right.
As a corollary, would one further risk ones life by climbing down the rest of the way rather than create extra embarrassment by going through someone elses hotel room? yep.
Head Lice
This must me one of the most intractable health problem imaginable for school & pre-school age children imaginable. Due to the virtual indestructibility of the eggs, the ease of re-infestation, the complex variety of strategies of containment - all of which have flaws and particular timing and coordination issues with others who are in direct or indirect contact with infected children, one must accept that infestations will be unavoidable and possibly regular as well, no matter how much one frets about it.
In my mind there really is only one slight possible chance of full eradication - Popularise the once a year day which people think about the poor children with Leukemia - and make it compulsory for everyone to "Shave for a Cure" especially all the children. This is clearly simplistic - but it is bound to work wonders. A much better possibility than going through the constant rigmarole of putting smelly chemicals through ones hair regularly, knowing full well that reinfestation is inevitable.
Is there anybody out there? I am looking for others with diary blogs, in particular old friends like Chris Fellows, Evan Dean, David Astley, Noel Small, and any others that may be of interest anywhere. If you are reading this can you please send me a (blank?) email - Marco. For some reason I just hate thinking that I'm talking to myself..., and besides, I seem to have lost the email addresses I used to have that I never bothered to follow up before, but am now in the mood...
Those of you who calculated Jager's birthday to be 14 June 2002, correct. Those of you who answered c to the other question, right.
As a corollary, would one further risk ones life by climbing down the rest of the way rather than create extra embarrassment by going through someone elses hotel room? yep.
Head Lice
This must me one of the most intractable health problem imaginable for school & pre-school age children imaginable. Due to the virtual indestructibility of the eggs, the ease of re-infestation, the complex variety of strategies of containment - all of which have flaws and particular timing and coordination issues with others who are in direct or indirect contact with infected children, one must accept that infestations will be unavoidable and possibly regular as well, no matter how much one frets about it.
In my mind there really is only one slight possible chance of full eradication - Popularise the once a year day which people think about the poor children with Leukemia - and make it compulsory for everyone to "Shave for a Cure" especially all the children. This is clearly simplistic - but it is bound to work wonders. A much better possibility than going through the constant rigmarole of putting smelly chemicals through ones hair regularly, knowing full well that reinfestation is inevitable.
Is there anybody out there? I am looking for others with diary blogs, in particular old friends like Chris Fellows, Evan Dean, David Astley, Noel Small, and any others that may be of interest anywhere. If you are reading this can you please send me a (blank?) email - Marco. For some reason I just hate thinking that I'm talking to myself..., and besides, I seem to have lost the email addresses I used to have that I never bothered to follow up before, but am now in the mood...
Monday, March 03, 2003
3rd March 2003
Today Zachary is Exactly half as old as his cousin Jager Parigi, my brother's first child. Given that I wrote Zac's birthday on an earlier blog, what is Jager's birth date? Any guesses?
mail link
Blast from the past
You are on an overseas trip with a couple of mates from school, and are staying in the sixth storey of a hotel in Honolulu. Your two good buddies decide to play a practical joke on you and lock you outside on the balcony. do you::
a) Bang on the door, yell loudly waking up everybody in the block, until your friends decide that before you can cause any damage that they'd better let you in.
b) Get yourself as comfortable as possible to settle down for the night, because you know these guys, they won't let you in until the morning; when you may get a chance to play a joke back onto them.
c) Climb down onto the balcony on the floor below you - that'll show'em who's boss.
Any guesses.
Today Zachary is Exactly half as old as his cousin Jager Parigi, my brother's first child. Given that I wrote Zac's birthday on an earlier blog, what is Jager's birth date? Any guesses?
mail link
Blast from the past
You are on an overseas trip with a couple of mates from school, and are staying in the sixth storey of a hotel in Honolulu. Your two good buddies decide to play a practical joke on you and lock you outside on the balcony. do you::
a) Bang on the door, yell loudly waking up everybody in the block, until your friends decide that before you can cause any damage that they'd better let you in.
b) Get yourself as comfortable as possible to settle down for the night, because you know these guys, they won't let you in until the morning; when you may get a chance to play a joke back onto them.
c) Climb down onto the balcony on the floor below you - that'll show'em who's boss.
Any guesses.
Friday, February 28, 2003
Enviromower
28 February 2003
As I was saying about my new battery powered mower... It is called the enviromower and is marketed as an environmentally friendly mower because it doesn't give off noxious smoke, doesn't suck up the grass (and all insects etc. with it) like a petrol mower but instead cuts it directly with the blade. It also has a mulcher blade that can recycle the chopped up clippings back down into the grass. Quite frankly, I don't give a stuff about all of that. I would have still bought the mower had I known that it injects lead directly into the soil (it doesn't), because the maintenance is so much more understandable for me. I don't have to make special trips to refill a jerrycan with petrol. Even if something does go wrong somewhere in the future, I will much more likely understand how to fix it. Being electrical, I have a better feel for what makes it tick. Highly reccommended - especially for those of you that live in cooler climes and your grass doesn't grow an inch a week like it is here.
As I was saying about my new battery powered mower... It is called the enviromower and is marketed as an environmentally friendly mower because it doesn't give off noxious smoke, doesn't suck up the grass (and all insects etc. with it) like a petrol mower but instead cuts it directly with the blade. It also has a mulcher blade that can recycle the chopped up clippings back down into the grass. Quite frankly, I don't give a stuff about all of that. I would have still bought the mower had I known that it injects lead directly into the soil (it doesn't), because the maintenance is so much more understandable for me. I don't have to make special trips to refill a jerrycan with petrol. Even if something does go wrong somewhere in the future, I will much more likely understand how to fix it. Being electrical, I have a better feel for what makes it tick. Highly reccommended - especially for those of you that live in cooler climes and your grass doesn't grow an inch a week like it is here.
28 February 2003
Spit
Still listening to the songs in my car. Still wondering when I'm going to hear them on the radio. Still wondering if I have a chance of becoming the "band's chess player"...
Work
As usual, the end of the month ends in a flurry of activity as we try to send out everything before those end of month deadlines (and to improve our monthly totals etc. ). Maybe we'll become profitable in March?
Weekend
Maybe I'll get to use my new beaut electric mower this weekend if it stops raining. It is such a wonderful experience using it! It makes less noise than my vaccuum cleaner (and sounds a little the same) so I can use it when I get up at 6:00 am in the morning. It starts with a push button, doesn't blow grass clippings into my face, and is overall better.
Marco
Spit
Still listening to the songs in my car. Still wondering when I'm going to hear them on the radio. Still wondering if I have a chance of becoming the "band's chess player"...
Work
As usual, the end of the month ends in a flurry of activity as we try to send out everything before those end of month deadlines (and to improve our monthly totals etc. ). Maybe we'll become profitable in March?
Weekend
Maybe I'll get to use my new beaut electric mower this weekend if it stops raining. It is such a wonderful experience using it! It makes less noise than my vaccuum cleaner (and sounds a little the same) so I can use it when I get up at 6:00 am in the morning. It starts with a push button, doesn't blow grass clippings into my face, and is overall better.
Marco
27 February 2003
So now I am back in the present.
Sport
I play volleyball on tuesday nights. Having won division 2, we're back to division one and perhaps with a consistent team this time we can even make the finals perhaps.
Family
Kids are in swimming lessons on thursdays, but I don't know if any of them have any real motivation for winning in sports. I think that there is so much competition out there between other kids (and the parents pushing the kids) and I don't know if its worth encouraging them any more unless they show some real talent or obsession themselves. Belinda throws herself into her study and carinet practice very readily, and somehow I keep thinking I've lost complete control over her. She does what she thinks is important and stubbornly refuses to hear any other ideas, suggestions, instructions, orders, threats, and I've realised that torture is no longer effective either. I've had some success using reverse psychology, but then she does that back to me, and she's very good at that.
Work
Still plugging away at Cueldee. Things go fairly smoothly when computers don't crash. Or for that matter sewing machines. I'm still not sure where all the conspiracies between employees are heading. It seems some people are just happy to forget that there are any conspiracies and just blame everything on me. Web site still seems to be bringing in plenty of queries!
Bye
So now I am back in the present.
Sport
I play volleyball on tuesday nights. Having won division 2, we're back to division one and perhaps with a consistent team this time we can even make the finals perhaps.
Family
Kids are in swimming lessons on thursdays, but I don't know if any of them have any real motivation for winning in sports. I think that there is so much competition out there between other kids (and the parents pushing the kids) and I don't know if its worth encouraging them any more unless they show some real talent or obsession themselves. Belinda throws herself into her study and carinet practice very readily, and somehow I keep thinking I've lost complete control over her. She does what she thinks is important and stubbornly refuses to hear any other ideas, suggestions, instructions, orders, threats, and I've realised that torture is no longer effective either. I've had some success using reverse psychology, but then she does that back to me, and she's very good at that.
Work
Still plugging away at Cueldee. Things go fairly smoothly when computers don't crash. Or for that matter sewing machines. I'm still not sure where all the conspiracies between employees are heading. It seems some people are just happy to forget that there are any conspiracies and just blame everything on me. Web site still seems to be bringing in plenty of queries!
Bye
Thursday, February 27, 2003
OK. Now that I see that works, I think I will catch up the last ten or so years that I haven't kept a diary of any sort, nor kept up with my old school & uni friends.
Timeline
Finished High School 1987 - Pimlico High School
Overseas trip with Chris Fellows & Sandor Kovats Dec 1987 - Feb 1988.
Started Computer Systems Engineering Degree Feb 1988 JCU NQ.
Completed CSE degree with 2A honours 1991.
Worked at Mt Isa Dec 1991 - March 1992.
Married Kylie Ann Jensen 21 March 1992.
Trip to Italy etc. April 1992 to August 1992.
September 1992 - start work in my parents Clothing business Cueldee, with a view to applying for engineering jobs, but to keep in touch with the business.
19 April 1993 First child born Belinda.
19 April 1993 - moved into 1/24 Lancaster Street Garbutt.
sometime in 1995 - moved int 21 Marabou Drive Annandale.
18 June 1996 - Second child Nikolas born.
18 December 1998 - Moved to 1 Boomarra court Annandale.
29 June 1999 - Third child Felicia born.
23 October 2002 - Fourth child Zachary born.
Other things did happen amongst those dates, but nothing important enough to note.
bye for now
Timeline
Finished High School 1987 - Pimlico High School
Overseas trip with Chris Fellows & Sandor Kovats Dec 1987 - Feb 1988.
Started Computer Systems Engineering Degree Feb 1988 JCU NQ.
Completed CSE degree with 2A honours 1991.
Worked at Mt Isa Dec 1991 - March 1992.
Married Kylie Ann Jensen 21 March 1992.
Trip to Italy etc. April 1992 to August 1992.
September 1992 - start work in my parents Clothing business Cueldee, with a view to applying for engineering jobs, but to keep in touch with the business.
19 April 1993 First child born Belinda.
19 April 1993 - moved into 1/24 Lancaster Street Garbutt.
sometime in 1995 - moved int 21 Marabou Drive Annandale.
18 June 1996 - Second child Nikolas born.
18 December 1998 - Moved to 1 Boomarra court Annandale.
29 June 1999 - Third child Felicia born.
23 October 2002 - Fourth child Zachary born.
Other things did happen amongst those dates, but nothing important enough to note.
bye for now
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