Category: General Musings

Three generations. The one in the middle, Holly, is my old faithfull 12 year old retriever; the one on the left, Coco, is my daughters chocolate labrador residing with us while she is in season. The young black lab, Coco’s daughter, is my new dog. She is very lucky to have made this photoshoot as she has the labrador habit of finding out about life by chewing anything she is not familiar with.

This includes my reading glasses…$500 thanks, two pairs of sandals, track shoes, several power and audio cables (and yes, the power was on) and a host of other curious pieces of kit.

I have previously posted about her father, Mossad;

They both try and get on my lap and failing that, on my feet. I use my ‘you had better do as I say’ voice and told them ‘ ON YOUR MAT!. Peace reigns, the storm thunders and I go back to the keyboard. A sniff at my feet and I look down to see Mossad there. He had reasoned I only said ‘On your mat??? and said nothing about not relocating the mat. He had picked up the mat, placed it on my feet and lay down on it.

Smart dog, rational thought. – I vowed I would have one of his progeny and Chloe is the result.

She is smart and the both of us are doing well at obedience classes, notwithstanding the summer break, but man, I’ll be glad when she’s past discovering life with her teeth.

I helped Coco, the chocolate lab, when she whelped and as a result she wont leave me alone. I’m in the habit of having a coffee in the pool whenever I’ve knocked off for the day, or night, as there are no mozzies below the waterline, but I cant stand at the edge and reach for my coffee without Coco trying to lick me, her paw out in handshake mode…..bitch won’t leave me alone.

Last night I retreat to the middle of the pool to drink my coffee in peace.

Who’s the pack leader again?

AUSTRALIA’S frontline fleet of immigration boats has not patrolled the Torres Strait for three months after one sank with the loss of five lives.

A preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be completed later this month.

Questions to be cleared up include;

? concerns about the sea-worthiness of the vessel, as well as the response of emergency services to the floundering boat, which allegedly radioed that it was lost in fog soon after it departed Saidai Island – and more than 12 hours before a search was launched; and

? why the boat was ferrying passengers between the islands.

Badu Island Council deputy chairman Manuel Namoa yesterday said there were rumours that about 100 calls were made from the vessel to authorities during its voyage. An Investigation spokesman said he believed that was the case.

Curiouser and curiouser.

A VICTORIA Police plan to issue patrol officers with a hi-tech chariot known as the Segway Human Transporter has been put on hold after striking an unexpected hitch: it is illegal.

They are rated at up to 20kph but I don’t think that would be that much faster than a policeman in full pursuit, particularly as I imagine they would be a bit difficult to manouvre in crowded streets.

I’ve always thought that a lot of problems would dissipate in the face of two big coppers on the beat…walking….talking….meeting the people….frowning at young bucks…helping the little old lady and generally policing publically.

TROPICAL Cyclone Clare roared towards Western Australia’s Pilbara coast last night, forcing families into evacuation shelters as emergency workers prepared for a dangerous storm surge and destructive winds.

The cyclone on the map defines neatly the area where I went sailing a few years ago. Click here for the almost finished article on that trip.

Sea and air ports, roads and shops were closed and more than 150,000 barrels of daily oil production shut down as the category-three cyclone headed towards the northwest coast.

An onlooker, obviously the master of understatement, comments;

I’m sure the Police language would have been more colourful.

The Storm Surge effect is caused by cyclones occuring at high tide. This phenomena is exacerbated by the fact that the tidal range in the area is in the magnitude of 12 metres.

Good luck guys and could you have the place cleaned up by the time I visit in May this year.

Thanks.

UPDATE: Clare has been downgraded from a category three to a category one storm as it heads for the state’s Gascoyne region.

A Jellyfish sting kills a girl at Bamaga, in far north Queensland.

The Box JellyFish (Chironex Fleckeri) aka Fire Medusa or Indringa is often fatal and is present in tropical waters during the wet season. When I was in Townsville my Company Sergeant Major and his wife were attacked by a Box Jelly fish. She died and he was badly scarred for life.

A 21 year old woman was killed by a shark at Amity Point, just over the bay from where I live.

NORTH Stradbroke Island tourism operators have called for a shark-proof swimming enclosure to be built off Amity Point where a young woman was fatally mauled by up to three bull sharks at the weekend.

Sarah Kate Whiley, 21, from McDowall on Brisbane’s northside, was attacked while swimming in waist-high water about 15m off the beach late on Saturday afternoon.

The island’s beaches were closed to swimmers yesterday but were expected to reopen today.

Redland Shire Mayor Don Seccombe said council would consider installing a shark-proof fence when councillors returned from holidays. In the meantime warning signs would be erected.

Local fishermen said they were not surprised a pack of bull sharks was believed to be responsible.

A terrible business all round and a stark reminder of natures savagery.

A Melbourne woman has foiled a gang of masked bandits by kicking one of them in the groin.

Police say four men in face masks and bandanas ambushed the 21-year-old Brunswick woman and a male companion in Railway Place West at Flemington, in the city’s north, about 11pm (AEDT).

Atta girl!

She should be able to dine out on that kick for years.

Oh my god. The police have racially profiled the perps. I thought that was a no-go in Melbourne

Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, has died. This would not normally attract much attention here in Australia but the man actually died just down the highway at the Gold Coast.

From News.com

He died on the Gold Coast at the Palazzo Versace resort from a suspected heart attack.The horse racing figure was in Australia in preparation for the Magic Millions yearling sales.

Arrangements are being made at Brisbane International Airport to fly his body home.

In his own personal Jumbo Jet, I might add.

From Aljazeera