Archive for July, 2017

Now that you have returned form the store having stocked up with canned goods and bottled water for the pending apocalypse this image suggests at lets investigate a bit further. The dire warning accompanying this nonsense is “winter heatwave” approaching. Now I for one – and the only one that currently matters – love our current weather with coolish nights and glorious clear days. Clowns with darts in hands of course cant handle simply good weather so need to find something to alarm the citizens with – not a difficult task mind you

What we mean by this is, the thresholds for heatwave criteria are about four to five degrees above average for both maximum and minimum temperatures for at least three days.”

Ergo, we can claim 3 days of 26-27 degrees max as a heat wave and attach scary image as well to really force home the message. While this is bad enough what really ticks me off are the attached 95% comments along the lines of “yay need some warm weather” Yeah because 340 days a year of that shit aint enough eh. Fuck off to the equator will ya

Speaking of glorious weather , CLP dropped up for the weekend. Luckily I was home. As always we planned a trip to the bay and catch up with some old workmates or as I call them nonreduntirees. You know, suckers. First up though a leisurely walk through Queens Park on this beautiful day. It really is a prize gem in the middle of town mostly underused which is fine by moi. There were about 10 times amount of people in Dan Murphys when we visited later which kinda sums up Maryhole 🙂 In the meantime though

A quick coffee at the old Muddy Waters – which has changed name but sadly left the mud behind – before another walk through Portside Heritage precinct and town. The former is a credit to the town and reminds me I should visit there more often. The latter is the town. Duh. Home for a bite and check internet is still working – more later – and then off to the Bay to catch up with Cec and Brian. Simply spectacular day and as Cec was on call – having gone over to the dark side which came with a surprisingly bright shirt though – we started with a coffee at Black Dog cafe. Simply shocking service as guy wanted to close up. Only cafe ever been to where they serve you the coffee outside and then lock up and leave. 2 hrs later the cups were still there! We know this as we were next door at Houlihans – I know how to plan for contingencies 😉

Cec had to go back to work – those ESRs dont read themselves – but we made plans to catch up later in the year when we can all drink! Then it was down the road a bit further for a long walk of a short pier before tucking into some fish and chips sandy side as you do. Simply a glorious day and again a place should visit more

And now to the “world is ending” previously alluded to ie internet problems. Devoted fans would know of my belief that the cool nights cause appliance issues in Flashtown – garage doors, fire alarms, mousetraps etc. Not too surprising then that from Tue to Fri had some internet problems with many drop outs after a minute or two connection. The modem is a couple of years old so a likely contender but by 10 am all was sweet for rest of day – amazingly the same time the garage door finally opens. By Friday though things had worsened so rang Internode – always reliable support. Went through the usual crap like – “Is it turned on at the wall Sir?” etc and then she noted that Telstra was listing issues online for “ADSL in Maryhole” which was clearly urgent as they expected it fixed by next Tuesday having been working on it since last Sunday! This seemed like a plausible excuse but the helpful lass reset the port for me anyway. Then we lost all connectivity, forget simply dropping out . “Yes, that can happen sometimes Sir” No shit Sherlock! Still not convinced it was only Telstra asked CLP to bring up her modem as a backup while contemplating “resetting the modem” which is right up there with ” time for that prostate exam Sir” It was strange that the puter couldnt even recognise the modem was connected but after listing down some modem sales sites in Hervey Bay took the plunge and hit reset button. Then the fun started. Had my Billion 7800n router set up guide for Internode open on iPad. Fairly simple really with basically username and password and tick a couple of boxes. Nope nothing and now the green DSL light was not only not flashing it wasnt even green. As hard as it is for me to do I knew it was time to leave it, watch the Broncos get smashed and then go to bed. Woke up the next morning red eyed and bushy tailed and turned on puter and modem – yep still yellow light. Hmm wait a minute I have been using my network security password ( 12345 – please dont tell anyone) rather than my actual Internode password (1234) . Tried the latter and colour me Chauncey everything worked.

Fair to say with internet back up and a booteeful day at the beach Saturday was pretty sweet. Some more holiday planning done with a week now in Victoria planned for December and I am officially broke but happy. And then the sadness hit again – self inflicted mind you. Had been contemplating selling Suze for a few months ( Susuki SV 1000) but fairly half hearted effort with only 1 free ad on Gumtree. Lo and behold someone took bait, dropped in (from Emerald) last week and now confirmed they will buy it and take it next Monday. So I took her for a ride this morning and remembered why I loved it so much. Still think it is right decision as hardly ever ride it anymore but it will be hard

You know how it is – that feeling when you love to throw the leg over, the wind in your hair and that feeling of power between your legs not to mention a comfortable slight vibration ?

you would miss it right?

Now imagine not being able to go for a ride on a motorbike afterwards as well 😦

Now imagine

Middle of July and Winter is Here. Unless of course you were trying to stream GOT premiere on Foxtel Go 😉 Foxtel were devastated. Until they looked at their new subscriptions and realised they would be ok. Claim the interest was “unprecedented” and totally unpredictable because there was no hype around the “event” . Now, devoted fans would know of my ability to gain an audience by a well thought out “status update” on the perilous state of the world. I assume they know of course because there is never any actual discussion entered into. That is of course until you dare to suggest that the hype around the GOT premiere was a tad over the top and suddenly they come out of the woodwork. People I thought were dead suddenly rise up like well ….. a White Walker I guess to smack me down to dare suggest that their lives may not have changed forever upon this unveiling. Now this is a great show indeed with simply some of the best action scenes you will ever see spread out over their first 6 seasons. And spread out it is because there is a bit of padding in between which of course is fair enough and mostly needed. All previous seasons have been a slow build until the penultimate episode usually so with only half a season basically this year it is a fair assumption that it may not get real tasty for about 5-6 weeks and then finish on a real cliffhanger which will leave us all looking like

It has of course been a mild winter so far. July does mean its time to gather for the annual “Della Xmas in July” at Canungra. Try saying that 3 times quickly after a few sherberts. The forecast was “bone chilling” @ 3 degrees in morning so packed the fur lined thongs. I should have taken some footwear too. Mind you when I limped in and saw Bruce sitting in chair in shorts and T-shirt twanging a guitar and singing ( I think?) “Put another log on the fire” I knew it wouldnt matter. It was toasty 24/7. Speaking of which it was a reduced gathering so were relying on “other suppliers” for the imbibing stuff to toast health and wealth with. Of course I always find with drinking if the company is great that is all that matters ergo we had a great time. Until someone popped the champagne and almost took out CLP’s eye . (That one will cost me)

SOO dominated the sporting landscape of course and have already enthralled you with my views on that. The Blues Blamegame has been fun to watch in the following days leading into that fun time filler game “Who will coach the Blues next year” ?. The NRL premiership seems like a game of 3 – Storm, Sharks and Roosters – but all depends on injuries over coming weeks. Apparently Wimbledon was on – I only know because of my smartphone app “What is Kate wearing today” alerted me and I saw some grass and white lines in the background. At first I thought it was Josh Dugans verandah……

Mum turned 91 so that is a fair feat. I may never catch her at this rate . She is so old in fact they didnt even have colour photography back then

Yesterday my life flashed before my eyes. But first some backfill as the Bishop said to the actress. As a reduntiree my tax, and life in general, is rather simple. I pay some and I get it back and its all very easy on the My Gov website. This year was slightly different as apparently there is a limit to how much Super you can drag down without paying tax on it and my limit was “10 months ago ya clown”. This then bought up a new term in my calculated refund so put in a quick call to ATO 2.5 weeks ago ( remember that date folks) just to check. As always the 24/7 help line is thwarted if you enquire about anything more complex than what is my TFN? I was promised a return call within 48 hrs though. Ok I can wait just to be sure. 72 hrs passed and I figured stuff it what could go wrong and anyway horizontal stripes are “thinning” and black and white my two fave colours. Duly uploaded and got assessed and refunded 10 days later. Quickly went online and splurged on EBay for a Pauline Hanson signed Drone (surely a marketing dream not yet realised?)and sat by the letterbox. Yesterday – still following?- my phone rang and it was the ATO. Gulp! “Hello Sir How are you today” ? ” Still out of jail, how are you”? “Fine , Sir , just giving you the promised callback about the Q Super lump sum tax” ? ” No mate she is sweet I was mistaken, no problems at all. Sorry I have another call to take” ” Well you have a nice day Sir” Well I will now !

Its not all peaches and cream in Maryhole though. Shocking news this week with Sexie Coffee to close down next month! What is a man to do for that 6 am caffeine hit via the drive through while still in PJs? Get out of the car and speak to people ??? Not only that, it is actually the best coffee in town. Research will be required but I am a man of routine and this has thrown a spanner in the works .

Hey wait a minute – can I claim that spanner on my tax ?

Meanwhile

SOO 3 2017 – How Sweet it Is

Posted: July 13, 2017 in Sport

If one play best sums up the night it was when Maloney tried to repeat Cronk’s brilliant flat cross field kick. Straight into Alfie’s mitts who caught it one handed! It says so much about the dominance of Qld last night and the ineptitude of the Blues to follow any plan. Much was said about the lack of hate between the two and never more evident then with the speech by Cordner at the end and his interruption of Loz at presser. Like Coach Daley he is a class act. But that is not enough at this level. You can be all class off the field and all terrier on the field – just ask Smith. I suspect Daley will sadly go the way of the dinosaur and be gone. Like Lewis he deserves a better coaching record but sometimes it simply does not translate so you are left only with their brilliance on the field as their legacy. Not a bad thing. I did wonder with Qld dynasty of players slowly approaching the end and the prospect of a solid bunch of NSW players likely to stay together for next 5 years whether Gus would be tempted again. He is not stupid and was never coming in mid dynasty but would suggest he saw the crop of new emerging talent from Qld last night and may well think this nightmare may never end! While eyelash boy – Smith, C – was deserved MOM has there ever been a more assured debut than that of Herman’s second born Cameron? Sure Eddie gets all the press but only because of a slightly more ridiculous haircut. It was clear that the Melbourne spine would be useful and it was obviously the platform for everything. Smith the schemer, Cronk the Conductor, Munster the X Factor and Billy popping up everywhere like zits on a 16yr olds face. One negative – why is Glasby in the team? He is slow and ineffectual, dont care what his stats may say.

It is always interesting to watch the replay the next day when all emotion is removed but you get a much more balanced and analytical view. It is also good to listen to old pre game podcasts which I am always trying to catch up on with my hectic lifestyle. The recurring theme that was keeping the experts warm at night was that NSW was clearly the better team for 3 halves of the first two matches. They had a glitch in the last 20 mins but that would be fixed because they were returning to Kingscliff like in Game 1 and then onto Suncorp where they had been so successful before. They also factored in no JT but didnt seem to take into account that this was a different QLD team to Game 1 and that JT was largely an inspirational passenger in Game 2, amazing final kick not withstanding. Blind Freddy ( as opposed to annoying Freddy on the sideline) can see that when under the pump they have no leadership structure to fall back on despite some of these players having many SOO games under the belt. They hate it when accused of lacking the passion of QLD but what else can it be when they simply cant go that last mile when needed. You learn most about QLD when they lose. When you see players chasing down everything with 2 mins to go and no chance to win. They cant win that match but they sure as hell can lose with dignity and know it will help them next time they get to the 77 th minute , winning or losing. The Blues are the strongest case you will see to disprove Darwins Theory of evolution – they simply can not adapt to a changing environment .

Slater 8.5 – always reliable and threatening
Holmes 8 – classy finisher who can be susceptible to high kicks
Chambers 8 – solid as always and has good combo with Gagai
Morgan 7 – not his best position maybe but can be relied on to impact at some point and wont let you down
Gagai 8 – very involved as usual and does a lot of bringing ball back
Munster 9 – one of the best debuts you will ever see. He is no JT but it will delay any wrist slitting for next 10 yrs
Cronk 7 – brilliant kick to set up try and then does what is needed without ever really standing out
McQuire 8.5 – bit of a tool clearly but consistently best forward on ground
Wallace 7 – better for run no doubt and can only improve
Gillett 7 – bit quiet maybe but only because he never plays a bad game so bar is set very high
Papali 6 – still doesnt float my boat. Seems to have the intensity usually only found in the Blues pack
Cooper 7 – defensive workhorse
Smith 9 – deserved MOM. Improved in each game and as if that is not enough he can kick almost as well as JT and certainly more aesthetically pleasing!
Napa 7 – solid again but well contained
Glasby 4 – dont like him. Period
Hess 5 – big wraps coming in, still to show it at this level
Hunt 2 – could well have been MOM if been on field for another 76 mins. 1 point for each ball handle as he didnt drop it #GF2015

NSW are not worth rating individually but rather state that Tedesco, Dugan, Morris, Cordner and Frizell can hold their heads up. Woods is the most overrated forward in the game while Fifita has the smallest heart it appears. Fine when things go his way but goes missing when the going gets tough. Dont get the Klemmer love – he runs straight and hard but the last time he passed anything was after 2l of prune juice. Graham seems to struggle at this level. With such an insipid forward pack its hard to lay into Pearce and Maloney but lets anyway…… Nah Junior cops enough and we still want him picked next year for Redemption 2018 – The Pearce Series

In summary, the main thought that emerged from Game 3 is rather than the rise of the next Dynasty being all dressed in blue it seems more and more likely that the Maroon dynasty is far from over and could even be a rather seamless transition

Which leaves only one question really.

Does Mrs Hunt even have to wash little Benny’s jersey ?