The Federal Government has just announced a first home buyers grant and people earning up to $125k for singles $200k for couples qualify. Heck, a dollar is worth much anymore.... $200k a year and they can't get by... why not learn to cook instead of UberEats.
Never for "the sake of peace and quiet" deny your own experience or convictions.
Dag Hammarskjold
I have sort comfort in the position - if it doesn't affect me, it's OK BUT, I now need to say "But don't ask me to celebrate it"
A recent example is the Sydney Anglican Church taking a stand on "inclusiveness" They are saying... go and form your own church, as we don't want to change our beliefs on that.
Write. Write more. Write even more. Write even more than that. Write when you don’t want to. Write when you do. Write when you have something to say. Write when you don’t. Write every day. Keep writing.”
Keep the Spuds The Plastic is Stuffing up the world!
Tony Galati - Mr Spud Shed
Don't ask me why but when I was at The Spud Shed today everyone at the registered was asked "Do you want to help the kids by donating to Telethon?"
A young man said "Sure - make it $5 but keep the spuds - they come in plastic which won't break down for 100's of years. We help the kids but kill their world!"
According to Seth Godin, Guru of everything, rating means very little. In fact, all of his blog entries have comments [ feedback ]turned off. His logic is that the only person upset by poor ratings is you but really a majority could be favourable but we focus on the negative.
so here is how I am conflicted... for my sessions I have feedback forms and for the session on Tuesday there were 17 attendees and we [ I ] got back 15 rating sheets with the lowest rating being 7/10, most 9/10 and many 10/10 and the 2 who didn't complete a review form - they said it was shit, the worst they had ever been to - give me back the money.
I tried to recall why we get the forms... to address the pressure on people to give feedback to their boss "What did you learn?" and when put on the awkward spot of speaking in front of a group it is easier to say "I learnt nothing" than to talk in front of the group.
So, the conundrum - no refund terms are offered in fact the terms say ALL SALES ARE FINAL... do I stop worrying?
The Society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy.
I am from an Australian Rules Football state but we get Eastern States news services networked in... so this morning we are plastered with Australia's failure in the RWC in Japan and the fact the coach has "fallen on his sword" while his best [ and maybe the world's best ] player is taking the Code to Court for unfair dismissal over an Instagram quote.
In Perth there is a collective yawn - does anyone really care?
I am giving the game away here - my morning coffee is at the McCafe in Morley - three days ago the sign in for the FREE wifi was changed and it now requires the completion of a captcha HOWEVER it doesn't show up on the screen so you can't log in - do you think that is on purpose?
I was on a cruise in May on the Spectrum of the Seas - you know where you need a second mortgage to afford the wifi so when it berthed in Aqaba everyone head for the closest Maccas for the renowned FREE wifi. After trying to log on a couple of times, I relented and asked one of the staff if there was a password and she said NO but "we disable the wifi when cruise ships are in!"
Do you think Macca's in Morley is doing this?? I wouldn't put it passed them!
That’s Oh my fucking godand for the fucking win, for the uninitiated. Sweary acronyms and initialisms are a BFD (big fucking deal) on the Internet. It’s hard to imagine everyday online discourse—especially on social media—without frequent encounters with, or use of, WTF (what the fuck), FFS (for fuck’s sake), and their semi-encoded ilk.
Concision is an obvious advantage: STFU and GTFO take far fewer keystrokes than the full phrases shut the fuck up and get the fuck out, saving the (ab)user time, effort, and—perhaps most importantly—the appearance of giving a shit. Sweary abbreviations also play a role in signalling group identity, expressing personal style, and so on, FYFI (for your fucking information).
WTF normally means what the fuck, but it can also mean why, who, when,where, or even whatever the fuck, because WTF not, and WTF would insist otherwise. (WTF it can mean whether the fuck is hereby resolved.) These alternative uses are less immediately intelligible but usually obvious enough in context. Besides, ambiguity comes with the territory: FTW, normally for the win, can also be fuck the world or for those wondering, FTW.
As Ben Zimmer’s post above shows, WTF has gained nominal and attributive uses, extending its reach still further. Its popularity has led to expanded forms such as WTAF( what the actual fuck), WETF (what even the fuck), WTGDMF (what the goddamn mother fuck), and WTFO (What the fuck. Over.). It’s also commonly intensified, normally by repeating the F —search Twitter for WTFFF, WTFFFF, WTFFFFF, etc. for a flavour.
There’s a downside to its familiarity, or at least there was if you worked at the Wisconsin Tourism Federation (now Tourism Federation of Wisconsin) a few years ago, before it changed its name and logo. If you ask me, the marketing department missed a trick by not embracing this happy coincidence. They could have been all like LMFAO DILLIGAF? IDGAF (Laughing my fucking ass off. Do I look like I give a fuck? I don’t give a fuck). Instead they went FML (fuck my life) and rebranded:
via Strong Language
The internet may have supercharged the spread of sweary abbreviations, but some are already generations old. Fubar (fucked up beyond all recognition) and snafu (situation normal, all fucked up) arose as military slang in the 1940s and soon spread to wider use, as Jesse Sheidlower’s The F-Word details. T&A (tits and ass) appeared a little later. OMFG (oh my fucking god) didn’t emerge until the 1990s—at least nowhere there’s a record of it—but OMG is almost a century old. JMJ (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph), an Irish exclamation that typically marks exasperation or surprise, is a recent innovation, as is MILF.
Fubar, milf and snafu (and snefu, with everything in place of all) are unequivocally acronyms, pronounced like ordinary words as opposed to a series of letter-names. Others vary in this respect. Some people pronounce WTF as an initialism, whereas in my mind’s ear I tend to hear the full phrase: what [or whatever] the fuck. Gretchen McCulloch has heard “dubs-tee-eff,” while Language Log reader kip says “dub-tee eff.” Gretchen also cites “ohm-fog” as a pronunciation of OMFG. Upper or lower case is a further source of difference.
Swears are abbreviated in lots of other ways too, like dafuq, effing, mofo, and fuxache, but we’ll leave that for another GDMF day. AMF!
The wrong question to become more effective is "How can I be more effective?" The fundamental question for all of us should be: "What is my life's purpose?" If you can answer that question is, all else falls into place quite nicely. Effectiveness remains empty in the long run without an overarching purpose for one's life.
“I always advise young people to become good public speakers”.
Anyone can do that, he says, with practice.
“Suddenly you’re in charge or maybe you are starting your own company. Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable.” If you are good at public speaking and one other skill, you make yourself more rare and valuable.
Before Warren Buffett made one dime of money, he took a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking.
Journalists losing jobs but hey how about some good car news!
Different but the same!
My little pleasure on the weekend used to be reading the car sections of the Saturday and the Sunday papers but with the 7West Group buying the Sunday Times the motoring stuff is the same and to add insult to injury, written in Melbourne so test drives bare no relationship to West Australian conditions... and before you say Australia is Australia, the eastern part of Australia has been ion drought for 7 years and WA is in boom times on the farm.
A more practical example is that the snowfields of NSW are bigger and better than those in Switzerland but I had to journey to Colorado to see snow for the first time...
History - the records are written by the winners...
Captain Cook - hero or villain?
I am sure some of our history is gruesome and unspeakable but it did happen. What is the purpose of whitewashing it?
There is a move in Australia and I am sure in all countries which were invaded in colonial times, to rewrite history and rip down any reminder of our dark past. My simple question is why??
History is written by the victors - the narrative of World War 11 is startlingly different in the US [ the victors] to Germany or Japan [ the vanquished ] The truth? Who knows but to rip down the statues to the conquerers serves no purpose - what will go next Nelson's Column in London?
After a few years, the press starts a campaign to change the clocks to Summer Time in Western Australia eve though a few referendums have confirmed we like the time the way it is.
Here are a few things to contemplate:
1. China has one time zone for 1.5 billion people and a huge country
2. Europe is in the process of scrapping Daylight saving 3. Before clocks, we didn't have time zones
4. Young people don't use clocks any more... they observe the time on their smartphone.
5. Watches are just fashion statements - often showing anytime at all that is on face
Please leave the clock alone.... what happens in Sydney isn't necessarily good for everyone - consider evening curfews, greyhound racing, water use...
Have you seen in the popular press that the average family couldn't handle a $400 emergency?
Well yesterday the heat arrived and hit 33c [ about 91F ] and I thought I would try the aircon... first challenge was the remote control needed new batteries and I needed to go to the local IGA - they are expensive those AAA batteries so there was a decision to be made - well know brand [Duracell] or same brand style - usually Duracell is more expensive but they were actually $1.40 each against $3 for "same" brand - Duracell won.
At home, I replaced the batteries and spent 1 hour getting the clock to show the right time... but other than that no joy. Checking how much to get someone to come and see... "$200 call out PPLUS parts if needed then $25 per 15 minutes" did I really want to be cool? The $400 problem?
I quick phone call to a service centre who said that probably the remote had broken - I could use my smartphone camera and check and according to the guy on the phone, they no longer had those remotes [ system was older than 5 years ] but a universal might work... $200 call out plus $100 Mmmmm
I spoke with my chook man friend David who said for $2 to $5 may be the "tip" shop might have one. I had never heard of a "tip" shop but apparently every tip has one and lots of stuff in good working order is junked but resold at tip shops... but he had another suggestion - send a pic of the remote and he would trey eBay where, sure enough, they were available from $13 to $17 including postage and would arrive in 48 hours.
Today will see if that advice is worthwhile David! I have to go and collect "Business Cards " [Remember them] and I need to drive by the Stirling Tip so the journey commences.
A major Bunbury Motor Dealer is fighting for survival after its' total fleet has been seized by its finance company. [As reported in West Australian Newspaper October 8th 2019]
Recently I did a series of seminars in Bunbury and was struck at how many shops were for lease... 30 in a very short strip in the CBD... today's paper [The West Australia] has more bad news with a big local motor dealer having issues that will be difficult to solve.
Maybe the guys in Canberra might take notice? Nah... it's a bubble over there!
PM is on $500k CEO of Qantas earned [?] $24 million!
Tony and Bill running the country [NOT!]
ALP doesn't get WA
The lead story of the local newspaper The West Australian is that the Australian Labor Party [ALP] misread the swing states [WA and Queensland} at the last Federal Election. They were expected to win easily but didn't because they didn't get traction in those two states.
Of course, the polls had them winning in the large cities of Melbourne and Sydney and those who run the show took that as Australia and really that was only the Liberal left leaning city dwellers - so the Polls don't get WA and Queensland either.
Painful loses will get them to navel gaze for a while but eventually, they will be swayed by the noisy touchy feely city dwellers and hopefully, their ignorance will keep them out of Government again- yes please Bill Shorten, stay in politics for another 20 years and stay in the wilderness. The conservatives have Tony Abbott cause chaos, the ALP can have you!
This morning at my coffee stop, I was approached by a young , iPhone in hand, teen begging for cash! "Can I have $1 for the bus fare home??"
I suppose he had been to my school of cold calling and he continued to ask... sometime later, thick shake in one hand, new iPhone in the other he approached me again... and I said "Mate you need a new script or remember who you asked " his retort was "shut your face you silly old C@@t"
Even the beggars are polite anymore... I haven't had reall money in my pocket for maybe 12 months as everything is available with touch and go... maybe beggars should use that technology?
This caught my eye and I was wondering what sort of photos do they capture of animals or people [because the warning sign is for people?] do things they shouldn't be doing in the bushland near my home?
Some 30 plus years ago I paid for a PO Box in Northbridge - I think it was PO 77. My office was close handy and it served me well until I needed a bigger PO Box - still at Northbridge but the Post Office was in a new building, it moved from Aberdeen Street to Francis Street but no matter it was still Northbridge... at the time it was 6000 - it said it was the city but it had parking.
There were some more changes along the way - a new postcode 6865 and the ever-increasing price from less than a $1 a week to nearly $10... but a strange thing happened. The original building in Aberdeen street became a night club [ called ironically The Post Office] the cost of mail kept rising, and email became ubiquitous. The General Post Office in Forrest Place Perth... the 6000 Postcode, became a restored building, no post office but a beautiful H & M Store.
That original PO in Northbridge is now vacant because people have now stopped going to night clubs however it can't be redeveloped as it is "heritage Listed" as an example of a significant historical building from a time long since passed when we used to send Mail.
Northbridge became the new home of the GPO and the price rose again.
I no longer had an office, or street address - you don't need those in 2019 [actually the 21st century] Parking disappeared from Francis Street and fewer people sent me stuff. What was I do?
Businesses still wanted a postal address - there was a space for that on the "data capture screen". So I got a PO Box at my closest Post Office Morley and the price was a lot less but now less than $3 a week and in the 18 months I have had one I have got just 1 REAL letter - the new plastic card for my bank card.
I am wondering why that field is still on the data capture form.
I succumbed yesterday and found out the price of a new smaller box because I need a postal address for some stuff... the physical drivers licence, a new frequent Flyer card and some other old world stuff... and it feels invasive to put my actual address in that data capture box... a place that only people chasing you want to know.
The local Postie used to come "late" because there was so much mail but now the postie comes every other day because sometimes there is NO mail - especially since the Post Office Raised prices because they are losing money on delivering mail.
So I have a question... has mail died and we have buried it yet? #waynemansfield #Progress 2019 #Reflections #WaynesLaw
I was emptying the dishwasher, holding both small clean bowls in one hand. One of them slipped, and I watched, aghast, as it started to fall in slow motion toward the hard kitchen floor.
In a valiant but vain attempt to miraculously catch the bowl, I dropped the second one as well.
Now both were gone.
Often, the best thing to do with a lost cause is to let it go. Because pursuing it gets in the way of the causes you haven’t lost yet.
Mmmm I wonder what the ride is like on this jeep - no it is actually a ford and although the number plates say it is a recent registration it has no safety feature - seatbelts, airbags etc... but it does seat 8! So great for a modern family of 3.
Why do people steal kids treasured toys and just leave them... like this skat board just left at a bus shelt on the street near the nature reserve near where I walk each morning...
And because it won't be reported stolen, nobody will look for it and in the end it won't find its way home.
