flashman181

No, not especially busy but feeling rather uninspired. You may think I still am after the following drivel

Last weekend was spent visiting the gang of 4 at Toowoomba followed by a night at Crane Winery in Kingaroy. A lot of driving to be sure but a lovely weekend. A late celebration of Will’s 8th birthday and a chance to see him play rugby again. He is no SBW but probably could still get a start for the Wallabies 🙂 Once again had dinner at that extraordinary little gem in Kingaroy – Cassis. A Saturday night and only 4 bookings – the locals do not know what they are missing. Ryan is as gorgeous as ever of course and that Rocky is going to be one big dog!

In world news we had the Urinal stand off for a while until both realised they had enormous dicks – I mean were enormous dicks. Of course with Buffoon Bob you only have to wait one news cycle for some new nonsense. First it was his pathetic response to Charlottesville but the one that summed him up best – and his stupidity combined with denial of all scientific fact – was the Eclipse photo

One can only hope that his followers in Bumfuck, Idaho did the same and will be blinded and not able to vote next time. His rallies continue to amaze if only for their pathetic nature and distortion of truth. Already the secret service budget is blown for the year with 4 more months to go! One does wonder where it will all end and is a pity as is a country I love for many reasons. I check out a lot of things on You Tube and always fascinated by 911 and all of the conspiracy theories that abound. Some skullduggery theories eg bombs in towers have a tinge of merit considering how the towers collapsed but the ones about no planes at all loses me.

In TV land it is all GOT and hacks and whacks. The next episode is either leaked or the most recent one ridiculed for time inconsistencies. As the writers say – why are people so worried about the speed of an unladen raven but easily accept dragons and zombies? Of course only one memory comes to mind in this discussion

I do think the writing has become sloppier as the action scenes have become bigger but it is all acceptable in the scheme of things. The geeks are very defensive of their baby mind you and consider it the best TV ever made. There is always a distinction between best and most watchable that many cant grasp but each to their own. There are always plenty of memes around but this one was the most obvious one that fit in with my sense of humour

In other TV news the second season of Top of the Lake was very poor. The Canadian TV cop show 19-2 is a very good example of the genre

“Between a Hard Rock and a Soft Red” approaches very quickly – Saturday Week – and from here on in will simply be referred to as Red Rock. While we may have been very lucky and a tad ignorant in the past there was a bit of a shock with the car rental insurance costs. In a typical underhanded way the actual rental costs are quite cheap but include nothing really. To insure the car and prevent a $4000 hold being placed on credit card for possible excess (amongst other nasty surprises)you need to pay about $40 a day for cover ( Hertz) . This is more than the actual rental costs of course. Hopefully the bad weather in SA has passed by time we get there and not yet stinking hot at Uluru. “Ireland Fling” (pending – not convinced) is well planned including most of accommodation. Car rental not explored yet – nor the Qatar stay over – but that will be a job for post Red Rock. Of course around time we have our first guinness it will be 12 months out from next solo USA trip and will be looking at flight specials 🙂 The plan is still not solid though, being caught between desire to see some new cities and longing for wintry repeat of Feb 2015 in NYC and Philly. San Diego still appeals and will be time spent in NYC and Boston as well with still maybe one more city. No more 2 week only visits for this LBD

Sadly Suze has indeed gone and is missed more than expected. With that and Sexie Coffee Drive through closing permanently tomorrow am not sure if I can go on

Luckily I shot 76 off the stick yesterday so will probably hang around at least one more week

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

And as the financial year draws to an end it appears I have less finances than same time last year but have seen new places. Fair swap methinks. Of course also means we are in the middle of winter. Apparently. Of course the predicted rain for today in Maryhole did not eventuate but at least the cloud cover is keeping it warm for the cry babies who panic if it dares to hit single digits. I know where I would stick their single digit. Now you would have to be a Trump supporter not to know that a cold spell is on its way in every part of east coast but here this weekend and in keeping with same it brings up the fake news like the headline in Courier Mail yesterday that temperatures would “plummet to 13 degrees over night in Brisbane”! Seriously? In the good old days overnight temps of 13 meant it was September at last. Its similar on You Tube where every caption is something like “watch CNN DESTROY Trump supporter”

As hard as one may try and stay away it is almost impossible to ignore Trump at present. Sadly. Everytime you think it cant get weirder it does. Has there ever been anyone with less grasp of reality yet still supported by his enablers. He has achieved nothing except the lay down misère of a Supreme Court pick yet is already fund raising for 2020! He complains incessantly of “fake news” yet has fake Time Cover stories plastered on the walls of his private golf club. His tweets continue to be those of an unhinged mind and just when you though Spicer was the biggest goose on the planet they roll out Huckabee Sanders to “explain”. I hate biased reporting from any side but really can anyone match Hannity for rabid dog behaviour? And of course there are cameras everywhere now clown – despite your wishes it aint 1950 still

Knocked off several great shows since last we spoke. Wentworth is a great Aussie drama and ended yet another superb season with a beauty. Leftovers was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and Fargo is reliable as ever if a little “more of the same”. Better Call Saul is a brilliant example of the perfect prequel but is moving rather slowly it seems. Veep is running out of legs and at its best when Selina isnt on as most of her lines are simply frat boy banter. A good final episode at least. Am enjoying the Netflix show Glow. Foxtel Fools are giving away 3 weeks of free drama pack that expires on July 16. The day before GOT 7 returns 🙂 Wentworth, Veep etc all finished . Its the dullest 3 weeks in the year!

As a weekend hacker – transplanted to Wednesday – it was especially pleasing to see Spieth struggle last week and still win. Seriously driving wise he couldnt land a paper plane in the Pacific Ocean and he was missing putts from 3 feet and not even hitting the hole. By the end he was deliberately aiming for bunkers so he wouldnt have to putt. Worked a treat 🙂 The only talking point though this week is SOO 3 and who comes into Maroon team although there is one bigger question – does anyone actually like DCE? For me, I would keep Morgan on bench as better value there. Bring in Munster to centre and DCE to number 6. Does anyone really care all that much about the cricket pay dispute. Nope. Until Ashes rolls around and Glen Maxwell is captain

In Golden Triangle talk the triangle is getting bigger and a tad out of shape. Its early days still of course but these are the best days. Las Vegas just doesnt seem to grab despite a couple of flirtations over the years. Continually drawn back to the other side with prospect of reliving the wonderful winter of 2015. So while San Diego still appeals the lure of NYC and Boston is strong. Preferred accommodation is a big issue for us old farts and is getting harder and harder to get an “apartment” in many cities. NYC is basically impossible these days and one accepts that you can find a suitable hotel to lay down your head for a few nights as all the action is on the streets. I dropped a quick email to my old Boston lodgings from 2016 to see if thought still open in 2019 and he rang me back in 5 mins! This is the sort of service that makes one comfortable when visiting the land of Trump. As fly in and out of LA coming back to San Diego is not a deal breaker although direct flights from Boston are problematical. First world problems

At least there is always Facebook and their helpful messages like – “do you want to know what happens when you unfriend someone? “. Nope, pretty sure I can follow the concept. The only real benefit of Facebook these days really are the regular pictures of the 6 pack that appear as they continue to grow and explore the world. Nothing better of course then when they congregate as a herd 🙂