Category: General Musings

On my recent trip (5 states, 68 days and 14,000km) I stopped off at a small town south of Adelaide and looked up a cyber mate.  He is into remote controlled model airplanes and I had an enjoyable day or two playing with big boys toys.  I particularly like the helicopters  and spoke (fantasized) about slinging a sawn-off 10/22 ruger under a chopper and sorting out the local crows. As I left to go further West my mate gave me a model chopper to take back to Queensland for his nephew with the instructions that I had to learn how to fly it so I could teach him on hand-over. As I struggled to get control of the little beast I remembered my childhood where my toy of choice and necessity was a 6in length of 3×4 with a Sunshine milk tin nailed to the top to simulate a petrol tanker. This was way beyond that and my son (late thirties) and I took turns to pilot the thing. Flying a chopper is very difficult – toy or real, it ain’t easy (read Chickenhawke CH 1 if you don’t believe me) so I now have to find the local model airplane shop to buy new rotors damaged by thirty of fourty prangs. Being a Top Gear fan I was therefore interested in this little item (pictured) that I came across while reading The London Times. A  Stig Copter for 50 Pounds (can’t find the pound symbol) that includes a gyroscope to stabalize the machine thus saving all the damage. Now where did I hide that 10/22?

My old Golden Retreiver has finally succumbed to the ravages of time. The local possums and cats are secure – she never differentiated between them so both species would be confronted with lots of noise and movement. Her problem was she never learned to climb fences or trees, so her doggy fantasies of tearing the invaders to small bite size bits were never realized.  Notwithstanding this small problem they sure as hell knew they weren’t welcome. I do recall that one litter of possums would definitely have been born pre-traumatised as they were conceived on top of  a very narrow fence with the possum bloke having his way with his girl. Holly was barking her head off jumping up  to within centimeters of the copulating couple trying to tear him (and her) to pieces.  Added to this cacophony was my wife and I, with  torch focussed on the dirty deed, laughing like drains as we admired his tenacity.  How he never fell off we’ll never know but I bet the kittens (or whatever you call baby possums) came out with a phobia about loud dogs. She gave us all a scare last year but she got another 19 months of loafing around like eldery retreivers do. She’ll be missed.

HEALTH officials warned yesterday that as many as four million Australians could eventually catch swine flu. Victoria’s acting chief medical officer, Rosemary Lester, said an eventual infection rate of 20 per cent was a “fair estimate”. “Next year, this may well be the predominant (influenza virus),” she said. With 50 confirmed cases so far there is a long way to go. Does anyone else think we are overreacting just a tad?

Something like nearly 300 ml (about 12 inches for metric disadvantage folk) fell on my suburb over the past 24 hours.  Not to be put off I went down to do the banking and had to negotiate some water over the road. I sat for a while and watched other people and their different approaches to the problem.  People with 4WDs didn’t worry and most small sedans turned around to find another way.  One idiot in a Lada sedan (had to be an idiot to buy it) didn’t even slow down…hit the water at about 40 kph, got swamped by the bow wave and then tried to back out. Gee, his motor stalled. I drove on. More at the Courier Mail

When this story broke yesterday I thought it a bit fishy. People are not normally thrown in a cell for stealing a bar mat, even in Thailand. The Thais, particularly those with any sort of power, have a well developed sense of self, are very quick to take offence and will lock westerners up at the drop of a hat. THE Australian woman arrested in Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat denies reports she was abusive towards police.

Annice Smoel’s lawyer Bernard Murphy said his 36-year-old client was upset when police took her into custody but she was not abusive

Rubbish! I was there many years ago and one night on leave events unfolded thus – in a taxi with US and Aussie servicemen…..saw US MP car…gave them a friendly one fingered salute…didn’t notice the Thai Police Lieutenant on board…screech of tyres…come with me…resist arrest (arm through A pillar of cab)..resolved by ramming .38 cal pistol in my belly…arrested…told by smirking US MP (same rank as me) that the Lt had power to lock me up and I’d better rehearse and deliver a sniveling, heart felt apology. I did. Protocol 101 in Asia – don’t put down on the local wallopers. Even Australia’s Chief Clerk  Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd gets involved;

THE Federal Government will spare no efforts or resources to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the case of an Australian woman arrested in Thailand, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says. He said he did not want to underestimate the degree of difficulty involved in the case of Annice Smoel, who has been detained in Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat.

I wonder if the PM of the day would have said that about one young Sergeant locked up in Thailand – I doubt it, politicians were more pragmatic then and didn’t say things like “will spare no effort” in saving an Aussie from their own drunk & disorderly behaviour. Deliver a sniveling, heartfelt apology and you might get off, Annice, but then you might have left it a little late. UPDATE: Her ordeal is over – she is free to return home. I trust she has learned her lesson.

AUSTRALIANS are being urged to support members of the Australian Defence Force this Anzac Day by posting a message on a dedicated website or by SMS. A joint initiative between the Australian Defence Force and Telstra has created this website to enable the messages to be posted. Text and picture messages can be sent to 044 SUPPORT (0447 877 678). Do something for the troops – go on, you know you owe it to them.

Our US hosts have been upgrading their servers with the result that some posts and comments have been lost, presumable permanently.   I realize that fact won’t impact negatively on the world’s literary inventory but it is annoying just the same, in that I can’t for the life of me remember what I said other than it was about asylum seekers.  Now I have to worry about another problem..maybe like the servers,  I’m also losing large chunks of memory.

Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? A FORMER soldier, John Radoll, suffering trauma from his time in the army took a loaded gun into a Brisbane nightclub because he wanted to impress women, a court has been told. It worked – Security evacuated the club. One woman chatted to Radoll, sat on his lap and had her photo taken with him after she discovered he had a gun secreted down the front of his jeans. The other called security. The court was told the gun had been a `”memento” from Radoll’s brief career in the Australian Army, where he served in East Timor. What do the court think? That the Army issues pistols for ever? He carries a loaded, concealed weapon into public – into a night club with alcohol and the Beak only gives him one year suspended with no conviction recorded provided that he undergo six counselling sessions with a psychologist. Strange!

Virtually overnight Queensland has changed from mostly drought stricken to mostly flooded. 60% of the state is underwater. For US readers that is an area almost one and a half times the size of Texas. For Europeans that is about three times the size of Germany. The pic shows Wallabies (like a small kangaroo) stranded on the only high ground for miles near Ingham. Ah, the wet season. When it strikes it really strikes.

Life continues to interfere with my posting as I struggle to cope with organizing a Regimental Reunion; the impending marriage of my baby (well, shes actually 31 but you Dads know what I mean. She is my fifth child by ten minutes – second born twin!); finish the electrics on a camper trailer I am building; get myself ready to go away with the Cattle Club from the local College this weekend and maintain a marriage. It was political for me on Sunday to help my wife garden instead of camper trailering – good move, but I need to push the trailer now. As my wife leaves for one of her mystery visits somewhere she drops the line ” shall we go to see Gran Torino today?” Yes, of course we should…..lunch….movie….coffee…chat…afternoon gone. Never mind. I look forward to seeing the movie and the camper trailer electrics are sufficiently developed so as to have lights – I can always work into the night. UPDATE: Just back from seeing Gran Torino. Do yourself a favour and see it. If you don’t laugh and cry you have no soul