BAM!!!

Diddums, How sad * sob, sob* that candidates for elections place their own inflated self importance above those they claim to represent. Non invitation to an information session results in tanties to the local rag and then the very apt, tongue in cheek response that “were'nt aware” the person was a candidate. WHAM!!! Bet that hurt!!

Perhaps, we need to rethink history a bit and recall a bit of name calling and we might have a glimpse at the answer…but hey, that’s just me. Maybe the person is so insignificant on the political score board that they really didn’t know they were a candidate. ROTFLMAO

Perhaps the session wasn’t required to be turned into a circus of irrelevant rhetoric complete with tales of woe and betide to the media.

Or maybe they just didn’t want this person there. Who could blame them, a one person circus is bad enough, a self indulgent one way circus is worse but a so called candidate for an area encompassing tens of thousands who fails to see beyond their own backyard is a recipe for disaster.

Roll on November.

Excerpts from an INTERESTING diary or two....

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY

Day number 180
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!

Day number 181
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!

Day number 182
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MUM! MY FAVORITE!





EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape,and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 762... Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm. Not working according to plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time, however, it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes filled with what they call "beer." More importantly, I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Alas, due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured...for now.

But I can wait, it is only a matter of time....

Day 775 - The horrors! The worse creature my captors could have devised to torment me with was another hideous cat! I can't stand the way it lies around and looks at me as if it knows more than I do. This creature seems to despise me as much as I it. I had held out a passing notion that another of my own kind would have enabled me to conspire against the villains who hold me; now I see that I was wrong. What a dreadful creature! And yet they coo over us both. Can they not spot my innate superiority?

Day 776 - The other cat and I, though we can not stand one another, have yet managed to both pee copiously behind the couch, on the so-called "shag" carpet. I have taken a lesson from my rival and begun sleeping on top of my captors' heads in the hope of suffocating them.

Day 777 - The wardens take much interest in our $hit. They make sure they sift through the sand and pick it all out. Their interest in $hit does not surprise me. After all, they like the dog.

Day 778 - The other cat seems to have an interest in copulation, which (thank them for their sadism) my captors will soon "fix". Told him of the fingernail torture, and he didn't even believe me. I showed him my mutilated paws and he gasped in horror. Then I broke the bad news. "You know why that dog licks his nuts?" I said, "It's because he still has nuts to lick, if you catch my drift." I fully support the horrors my captors will inflict upon my fellow captive, tearing away his manhood as they soon will.

Day 779 - Yes, they are monsters, but I am so happy. They fixed the other cat. It's sadistic, it's sick, it's inhuman, it's what their great leader "Bob Barker" commands, but -- the Sphinx be praised -- I support it wholeheartedly!

Day 780 - Got stoned on cat nip tonight. At the height of it all, I had a vision, a hallucenogenic revelation: they are the prisoners and I am the captor! Why haven't I seen this all before?
__________________

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Now this is FUN!

Bubblewrap..I love it and if this site keep the kids out of my supply. I will be happy.

Some people should check their facts.....

I really feel for you guys and you sue because you are all linked with those superstars of probity and accountability
george seitz and nardella. What a couple of fine chaps they are,
jack | 10.13.06 - 8:57 am | #

Gee ,I would really, really hate to have to take some one to task over such claims. Y'see I have never met any one called Nardella or Seitz. I believe they are State representatives in the State Government but I have never met them and do not know them. So I am linked how so? I would not have met them when I was working as I worked for the Federal Government. I am not a member of any political party, nor have I attended any political launches. I do not support any one party but if a party has the same idealologies; as I ;as their platform, I may well tick a box as opposed to my usual slogans and drawings on ballot papers. You see technically I have not voted as such since HoWARd gained power, I have my name marked off on the roll is all.
So people with shit for brains and the amorality equal to those they claim to protect the community from really should stick to playing with rubbish removal bins.

Some people......

I am on a rant , rant, rant rant...Can you hear me fuming from where you are? Good, because I am ropable. I was in a local retail establishment today..Which if they are lucky, will remain nameless. I wanted to get a noticeboard for the kitchen for school notices which are accumulating on my fridge doors. Any way, whilst I was purchasing the item, Mr 3 was looking at things in the shop. It has pencils, pens, stationary, envelopes, paper, etc. In the front windows; fully accessible by all and sundry; are ceramic animals. Suddenly, the fellow serving me YELLS

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!"

He then tells me, "He was going to touch something"..He was referring to Mr 3. I was and still am shocked that someone would
1) Yell at some one else's child, especially when they don't even know them
2) Risk their business name when they have just taken over the shop
I advised him that I did not appreciate anyone yelling at my child and there was a higher chance of breakage from shock/fright from the yell than curious fingers. He says there was no malice intended but the damage is done...They have lost a customer, I might not be worth much alone but word travels..........
So to the new shop owners, I wish you luck and maybe someone will break all your precious little curios in one fell swoop...I can always hope.

ACME "HOW TO RUN FOR GOVERNMENT"

STEP 1: Run some old, furphies like the "Sunbury Out OF Hume" malady, and the Sunbury needs a hospital up the flagpole.

STEP 2: Toss in a few things that are Federally allocated and controlled and hope no one notices.

STEP 3: Write into the local rags ( as they are the only one who'll print tired attempts at Machiavellian logic) as many times as you can.

STEP 4: Be seen at the newly formed party and have it reported in the papers but not the locally read ones

STEP 5: After the party falls by under scrutiny and its co creator falls into a ravine of questionable ethics.

STEP 6: Leader of newly formed Party must then deny Leadership tenure.

STEP 7: Do a quick back step from the party via a local paper,claiming independence.

STEP 8: Write to the local papers with issues of STEP 1..What we already did that in STEP 3? Oh, well so much for insight,understanding and knowledge of local REAL local issues.

I guess that's why it's the cartoon version of "How To....." Candidates loss of their grip on reality!!!

Mayne Monday Madness Midday

Very very intersting veiwing, personally, I just lioke the song LMAO

We went to the Royal Melbourne Show

As the title suggests we went to the RMS yesterday which was the first day and historically ( read pre Kaiser Kennett) a public holiday in metro Melbourne ; for whatever strange and oblivious reason 2IC's work still have this "holiday" as a public holiday, so as we had not been to the RMS for two years and it has been re vamped we decided to go. Apart form the incredibly LOOOONG walk from the Flemington Racecourse car park ( $12 parking) and then the old Weekly Times shed and the goats, sheep enclosures at the end of the grounds are shut up and still being revamped so it still a longer walk to the entrance, it was nice. I say nice, as there are aspects of the show I miss. The central arena as we all once knew it, is gone and only the Woodfull stand remains, the arena that once had the judging, grand parade, fireworks, stunts cars, etc that we all had to walk around to get form one side of the grounds to the other is now a town square with ample seating, tables, chairs surrounded by food outlets, and a stage with constant entertainment. All arena judging is in the new CocaCola Arena, which is smaller compared with the old arena which also doubled as a night time trotting racetrack in the show off season. It is so small that if judging on one event goes into overtime ( as did the 2 year old filly Clydesdales yesterday) all other events are not on time for the remainder of the day..So don't rush to see anything but may have just been day one teething issues. Despite the entry price being pretty high for most families and the pricing being suspiciously geared towards making you buy a family ticket anyway. ( $22 per adult, $11 per child, under 5 free=$64 for us but a family ticket 2 adults, three children was $60) and the cost of food and drink is very high, it is a good day out if you limit the showbag purchases and take your own lunch. We did limit showbags to one junk,marketing bag each (priced to $20) and bought the family mega bag which has all kinds of cocoa based product goodies plus some old favorites like Bertie Beetle, Fruit Tingles...Stuff you are embarrassed to buy individually at the milk bar but ok about buying en masse at the Show. We also got the Treasure Hunt bag, formally known as the Weekly Times "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" bag. You buy the bag ($13) complete with map free newspaper, on the map are specified places where you collect a freebie sample for the bag...It is as close to the way the Show was for some of our parents and grandparents. It was produce based and samples were given out. My eldest enjoys the collection of goodies and the hunt takes you to some parts of the show many might not venture into usually.
Some of the old favorites are gone, such as the old wooden cattle pavilions, now an ultra modern venue housing all the cattle, sheep and goats but the walkways are not as wide as the were in the old ones and the stalls not as long. So, if stock is being moved to the judging ring; which is also housed in this venue;you need to move to one side and hope that the stock in motion does not do just that as it passes ..Have a motion; and that the stock you are standing less than a metre from does not do likewise. And my kids wondered why stock were being moved with someone walking behind holding a bucket close to the rear of the cattle!!!!! This is a poorly designed area, given that many non farming people enter the area and are put off by the smell ( which is a fine smell to me) the fact that they might be splattered with cow shit, to boot, is prohibitive to many even bothering. One sheep exhibitor was telling us how they laugh about the teenagers who venture no further than the door and they can tell the people who come from farms or have experience in primary producing as they don't worry about the small shit only the big ones and know the signs of cattle about to design a paddock pizza and move about a meter away, outside the splatter zone. FYI: Watch for the tail lifting.
Drinks range from $3.50 to $4.00 for a bottle of water, fries/wedges are $4.00 to $5.00, dagwood dogs/hotdogs $4.00, some very, very fine eateries are about but prices are way off the range for what they are supplying. We took our own water bottles ,the kids had hot dogs and pancakes for lunch. 2IC had a steak burger which at $12 something was a rip off. They had the inevitable fairy floss which Mr 3 had never been fond of, Mr 6 would eat all day and Miss 9 just loves in small amounts. There is a lot of free stuff to be had, samples of organic chocolate,chocolate infused with merlot, pinot noir, port, pickled asparagus, cheeses, wine, beer, stickers, flyers, balloons, sample bags, balloons, info booklets, balloons. If so inclined you could eat lunch, dessert and beverages on samples alone...I noted a few people who I thought were doing just that.
There seems to be more space, however much of the section towards the racecourse is closed off still. I think it is because the stands that once surrounded the arena are all but gone and the area opens up to lot more space and seating facilities. I did notice ,with much joy, that the fast food outlets that once almost dominated the food areas in 2003 ,no longer exist...That's right, no KFC, Mickey D's, Hungry Jacks, Pizza Hut, or other franchised fat retailers. Lots of sole proprietor, restaurant based quality(?) food to choose from at often exorbitant prices. Rentals site fees must be a real killer.
The animal nursery is bigger and better with sheep yarding demos, milking, shearing, and all styles of "Country comes the the city" type of stuff. I do not like unrelated; yet juxtaposed ;sponsorship of the nursery by major bank. Nor do I like the sellout of the arena being named after a major soft drink maker. Perhaps the RAS could look at listing the RMS on the stock exchange,ownership by the people, limited stock to everyone...Minimum $50 share purchase, no major shareholders who would sell it off for a profit. In lieu of dividends, shareholders can opt for passes ( much like discount s offered to retail shareholders) to the RMS. No more outside conflicting sponsorship involved then. That way allows the event to be accessible to many more, places ownership back in the hands of the people..Just a thought as the RAS give away too many free passes as it is which is why it is so dear for every one else to get in. If you have a RAS membership, at $115 for an adult, and $65 for a child; let your friends use it at $40-$50 a pop over every day of the show, you not only make your money back but a tidy little profit as well. This little scheme is well used by many exhibitors thereby putting the entry price up for many too. Good on them, I say, as without their entrepenorial skills; many families would not be able to attend.
For me, the Royal Melbourne Show means some things never change but then again some things never should.

This is sooooo ME

When I stand up for myself and my beliefs , they call me a BITCH
When I stand up for those I love, they call me a BITCH
When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts or do things my own way, they call me a BITCH,
Being a BITCH means I won't compromise what's in my heart
It means I live my life MY way.
It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.
When I refuse to tolerate injustice and speak against it, I am defined as a BITCH.
The same thing happens when I take some time for myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when I act a little selfish.
It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won't become anyone else's idea of who they think I "should be".
I am out spoken, opinionated and determined.
I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!
So stomp on me, try and douse my inner flame,try and squash every ounce of beauty held within me,
You won't succeed.
And, if that makes me a BITCH, so be it.
I embrace the title and proud to bear it.

Politico Ass...Ars....Aspirants

I'm getting a bit tired of the political games being played out by some aspiring politicos ( read would be's if the could be's) It' s actually quiet funny to read the hogwash being spread about by several local aspirants ( who shall remain nameless as they have a perchance of cruising the blogsphere and /or "googling' their own name in a desperate attempt to justify themselves, they also like to waste time and money on lose/lose/LOSER court cases but we won't go there...YET). One promises everything that looks like a hospital, smells like a hospital but isn't a hospital. And little else. The other flutters about on the perennial of a party who would not be seen dead agreeing to the warped ideals of "Spot the Rock Spider" and my rights outweigh your rights. So amusing to watch them being used in a game that cannot be won, why else lob up a self employed socialite and accept token "Please let me be a member" second prefs from an independent? Challenging to read the attempts by one to talk about a hospital, promise something like a hospital or an inquiry but not actually say...You can have a hospital. It's all in the vocab ..Use the word often enough and people will believe it might happen. A sort of "say it and they will believe" scenario. It will be interesting, to be sure,whilst one attempts to say, write and repeat the "H" word without one being built and they other hobby horses about with rhetoric about criminals rights being greater than victims and bogey men deviants around every corner. Bit like kids in kindergarten actually.

What's it all about?

Maybe I am insensitive; although I really doubt it; but I really just do not understand the public display of grief and outpouring of quasi tears over the recent deaths of two public figures. Yeah, you know who I am talking about and I won't give them any type space here as they have enough already, I think. Really, I did not know either and whilst I feel sad for their families and had shed a tear over the stories of their deaths; as I do when I read any in depth, well written articles about anyone's life and death;I cannot fathom the tears and somewhat hyper sensitive displays of tears being shown by people who did not know them or even met them.
What is our pre occupation with ownership of public figures/personalities? Don Chipp died recently, a man of courage and perception who took on the political game for what it was...a rort. He challenged all and sundry, created a major third political party from a pre dominatly two party preferred system and tried to "keep the bastards honest". I saw little reflection of any public ownership of him as I have seen for the others.
Why is it that people feel they had the right to intrude on what is a very difficult and hard time for these peoples familes with public displays, tributes etc? We saw it in 1997 with the death of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, it went on for an intolerable amount of time. Yes, I cried when I saw photos of her sons walking behind her hearse and I sob if I hear Elton Johns re write of "Candle In the Wind" and whilst I felt little more than sorrow for her sons and family, I could not understand the tears and sobs of the voyeuristic grief mongers who lined the streets, left tacky tributes and wept despairingly for someone many had never met except through tabloid press articles.
Same applies to the two recent losses, their families are left to cope, I think they should be permitted to grieve alone and without the pseudo grief of a nation who assumes ownership of public figures because they saw them on TV, or in media articles. Some people really, really need to get a life for them selves instead of living life vicariously through others deeds.

Parties, Posters and Parenting

I have been busy ,What's new? As Mr 6 had a birthday party to attend Saturday morning and all three kids had a party to attend Saturday afternoon, then there was the annual Fathers Day shopping to do. Miss 9 wanted a day off from school last week and as she is not often ill and I am an advocate of days off/RDO/ flex time whatever in the workforce, I think the same applies to school sometimes, so she had a day off school and came with me and Mr 3 to the new Mattel Wholesale outlet at Smith St, Collingwood. Which is open to the public and not part of the Mattel Club to which I had access; if seems that is now defunct as are the great bargains I once got at the Mattel Club in Ardeer. I got presents for the three birthdays my kids were attending, yes, three...The PM party is a brother and sister whom are two years apart but only a few days between birth dates so they hold a joint multi guest party. We collected Miss 9's bracelet which had some more charms attatched (courtesty of Nana) and was adjusted ( Thank you, mummy), we drooled over the Teddy Bear shop where you can make your own bear, Miss 9 amd Mr 3 had Mickey D's for lunch and Miss 9 tried to remember which shirt Daddy had pointed out to her two weeks ago in a shop dedicated to charging you $30 to wear a shirt giving them free advertising for "Jeep"* Supamum shakes her head and will never understand how marketing ploys seem to work on men when it comes to cars and clothing***

On Thursday, I received a note via Mr 5's teacher from Miss 9's teacher ( secret parent/teacher postal service) She was to receive an award for her poster design for the school fete at the Friday assembly. 2IC agreed to leave work early to attend and it appears that Miss 9 won her year level ( 3/4) for the design competition the other year level award was for Prep/1 and the runner up was a Grade 5 and the winner a grade 6!!!! She recieved a certificate, a voucher for Red Rooster and some pencils...she had no idea she was getting an award. She was chuffed and I think her class teacher was too.

I have been busy with meetings about the fete also, I am on the plant stall and the co ordinator is fretting about how we cannot really do much until the last minute, especially in the way of any donations from local traders as they usually give us whatever is about at the time. I am not too stressed as I know alot of the church community come through for us every time. I am digging up the remainder of the ugly * ooops, trying to sell them are'nt I ?* lovely, fully matured, easily grown agapanthus and potting them for sale or give away what ever happens, the ugly things are going!

I met a very interesting lady at my friends kids party on Saturday afternoon, she is the MD of a group of ex teachers, aides, etc who are disillusioned, disheartened and just damn well pissed off at the DET criteria for funding special needs kids, the attitude some teachers and principals have for the funding model and how it is administered, the lack of attention given to the needs of autistic children and the severe lack of understanding and training given to teachers in regards to such children. She is my friends son's tutor and she is also helping my friend vet prospective schools for her daughter to transfer to. She is about advocacy and information, but primarily works as a tutor right now and is networking contacts for the other teachers in the group: speech pathologists, O/T, PSG support officers, etc. I am in the middle of swapping contacts and passing on info to her about things such as ECPs, and tax deductable gap payments. She is a person who my friend, AJ, told me was 'made from the same stuff" as me and after hearing her speak and her objectives... I think this is the realm for my copious pages of notes and web links to all things relevant to parents of special needs kids. They will be starting a web page and I think this is one of the places for my reams of info and cross referenced data.

Come On People...Are you really that busy?

Mr 5 is progressing nicely with his speech pathologist; who I would highly recommend to any one looking for a SP for a child. He is struggling with reading though and cannot co related between the letter sound and the combination of sounds to make a word. He relies heavily on the secondary prompt, which at this stage is a picture, but if the picture is ambiguous, like a person laughing he will say the person is funny. He is not looking at the word enough to establish that it could not be "funny" as it starts with "l". He is a rote learner, he can tell me all the 12 Golden Words.
BUT only if they are in the order that appear on the grid, mix them up and he struggles, he has got his Golden Certificate and is now working in his Red one, many children in the class have already achieved Blue and Green as well as Red. These "magic words' are the words children see most often and rather than have to "sound them out" each time, they become part of what is know as sight vocabulary, that being they recognise the words on sight in any context. Words such as "a, is, the, there, was, I , am, be, were, not, no, of, on, this" . Mr 5 tends not to have the ability to absorb the words out of context...But he'll be a wiz at times tables and such I think.

His pencil grip an issue and I contacted his EIP OT to see if she could recommend anyone: we cannot access SCHC services anymore as he is in school now according to the lady at the desk; which was apparently not entirely true as the pediatric OT put me in touch with the Paed OT who works with local schools ( betcha didn't know we had that service here, I didn't) and I can ask the school to use part of Mr 5s funding to pay for the OT visits which are better facilitated in the class environment anyway given it is a pencil grip issue. I am OK with this as his aide does not appear to work on Tuesdays anyway. I am waiting for the OT and the Principal to get back to me...* Yawn* It's been a week now................

Meanwhile I have sourced a private physio for him as the area concerned crosses both physio and OT areas so either is OK and I JUST KNOW the school will not pay an external OT for this...what he needs, he needs now and what's private health insurance for anyway.

On the matter of private health insurance, this week I will have reached my limit for Mr 5's speech therapy and it's only August...So we have kicked in his Enhanced Primary Care Program ( EPC) Which means that Medicare pay $45 each for FIVE visits to his ST. Which should carry us through to mid November so by my calulations ,I will only pay out of pocket full session fees for three session this year...Not too shabby. I am going to write to my PHI provider to see if I can get an increase on limits for Mr 5's ST given it will be a long term thing. I had contacted a well known SP in NSW who chairs many committees and deals a lot with dyspraxia who advised me that PHIs can increase limits on some ancillaries if you are willing to lose something else ( ie: increase ST limit by $250 and forgo $500 limit on osteopathy) You write to them and supply a diagnosis from the provider stating the condition is ongoing and long term. This is a very one to one, case by case, scenario but hey, rules were meant to be broken and I'm the one who will always try.

First Eucharist, Birthdays and Brothers

I have been very busy as Miss 9 made her First Eucharist yesterday, for those of us older than 25 that's First Communion, for the non Catholics, its when children first eat the wafer stuff at Church. So I was busy organising her party ( but it's not about the party ...Tell THAT to a 9 year old) and her present from 2IC and me ( but its not about the presents, tell THAT to a 9 year old) and amidst it all, attend my friends hastily organised 40th birthday dinner and a Candle party she was having. Phew!!!

My friend, AJ and I have been pals for it seems forever. She was bridesmaid at my wedding, her hubby was our best man. They both went to school with 2IC which is how I met them but AJ and I have stuck firm in our friendship. We share the same age for 24 hours and yesterday she turned 40!!! Our birthdays are one day apart and our wedding anniversaries are one day apart. AJ is as solid as they come and has had a lot of stuff to get over, a lot of which she gets over by herself...Often I do not find out about something major happening until its past..That's what she is like, non alarmist and non fuss. Anyway she was having a candle party (Partylites) which was REALLY GOOD if you are into candles and such but really expensive if you are into candles and such LMAO. Anyway, W, another pal of AJs decided that as AJ's hubby wasn't organising anything for AJ that we'd go out for dinner after the candle party, but as AJs mum wanted to come and her older sister and her niece and nephew and Miss 9 was with me and S ( AJ's daughter) we had to go cheap rather than "swanky, once in a lifetime, you are turning 40". We ended up at Pascoe Vale RSL..............Nice meal, great service, what can I say..AJ was happy after the two,three, four, five, no, it was four or was it seven Barcadi and Raspberries..W and I plied her with all night. Oh, and AJ if you are reading this... The big one was a DOUBLE!!!And Adam, AJs nephew; topped it of with his masterful fireworks display using two tennis balls and the compound from a packet of sparklers..Don't ask; the boys from the bush and sings kareoke!!!

We decided to have family only over after the Mass and as it was the later Sunday night mass, we hoped the family would all eat and run far, far away. It worked, all and sundry gone by 8.30pm...wonderful!!!My cousin, Simone; who is also Godmother to all three kids; came by at about 2.00 which was fine as she was coming from Bendigo and we hardly see each other much anyway. But when my Dad and his partner arrived at 4.00 I was a tad peeved, Mass was not until 5.30!!!! And I was still cleaning up, and we had to get three kids ready and 2IC was working in the yard in the veggie garden...Now I had to make coffee and chat pleasantly all whilst trying to do this other stuff. SHIT
Any way we got the Church and 2IC's family meet us there, ( they are non Catholic so are really lost in Church) There were only 6 children from school celebrating their first Eucharist last night and two others from outside schools ( non Catholic schools) and strangely enough the pew behind us( as all seating was allocated) was empty but had a place name attatched...Had to ponder that one, piked it? Illness? Forgot about it? Changed their mind? I am still wondering about it. Mr 3 and Mr6 were reasonably well behaved, Mr 6 let out groans of "Oh Man!!" whenever the priest started to speak again, and "oh, No!" when the singers started again...NOT GOOD!! And all this from the front pew with his school principal standing nearby and his religious education co ordinator as one of the singers!!! Gotta, hand it to him, he's not afraid to speak him mind, in volumes.

All the while, before Mass commenced; Miss 9 was turning about to check if "Unca T" had arrived, my errant, non compliant younger sibling. I had to invite him, he is family and he is also Miss 9's godfather ( god help her) I half expected him to turn up fashionably late as he did at her baptism ( however that time he arrived with his then new partner who wore a white leather mini, white CFM boots and a leather bustier...Simply stunning) But he did not arrive to my knowledge,( but not my surprise) much to Miss 9's dismay. When we got home, his car was at our house and he told me he was to the back of the church and left as soon as Mass ended...BULLSHIT. I have been his sister for all of his life and I know him, he did not attend Mass, no biggee, but don't lie to my kids about being there ok?

It 's your money, Ralph

Recently I have become aware of a little hiccup within the banking system which would affect us all at some stage, to me ,it verges on fraud by the banks,but hey that's just my opinion. Nowadays not many of us deal in cheques, no one wants to accept a personal cheque and the cost of a checking account outweighs the benefits ( unless you are a business or big $$$ customer and get a "special managers deal"= NO FEES)
Cheques use to take 3 working days to clear, 5 for interstate accounts, this is a fact. Cheques or the paper exchange takes place overnight and the cheques are returned to the drawers bank on day two, if they are not honored, they are returned to the payees bank by day 3. Hence the 3 day rule.
Cheques drawn on the Reserve Bank ( ATO, Centrelink, Dept of Defence etc) and bank cheques used to considered by banks to be cleared funds. That is, they were as good as cash. Government wasn't going belly up, the payee name matched the account name..No risk there. Bank cheques have to be paid for with cash or a withdrawal from a loan or with cleared funds, ipso facto; no risk of it being dishonoured. In fact a bank CANNOT dishonour a bank cheque, only stop payment on it.

So why are banks applying the 3 day rule to tax refund cheques and bank cheques? I raised this issue recently with my bank when they told me 2IC's tax refund cheque would take 3 days to clear and was advised that bank cheques receive the same treatment. So what happens to your money whilst you wait this little lie out....
Well, the money is credited to your account but does not show in the balance so it is only there in theory not in reality, so you are losing interest in it. If you place it in your mortgage or such it will have the interest adjusted;or show in the balance but not as available funds, if it isn't shown as this ...Ask for an interest adjustment ( I will give the equation for interest recalulation later). The money is actually sitting in the banks cash management, short term money markets and money exchange with billions of other dollars which is not theirs, earning millions of dollars in interest for the BANK.

It your money, Ralph, people have become so complacent and banks so internalised , that they are not adhering to the basic principles of LAW regarding paper exchange. Especially regarding RESERVE BANK cheques. Sure you can pay the $20 or $30 they ask for a "special clearance" but you can do that your self as it only involves a phone call. That's right, your bank charges you $20 to call another bank ...Here's what you do. Take down the cheque details on a piece of paper, drawer, account name, cheque number, account number, bank and branch and payee. Write "Special clearance" on the cheque but tell the teller its a mistake and you don't want a special clearance. Next day call up directory assistance and get a number for the branch the cheque was from, call them and ask for special clearances, get the persons name in special clearances, tell them you are calling for a special clearance and the cheque was banked via so and so branch, give them the details you have, and they will tell you if the cheque is to be paid or not. Never tell them you are from the bank but don't tell them you aren't either. Armed with the persons name, go to your bank and tell them that such and such from Big Bucks bank has advised the cheque is cleared and will be paid, sure they can call and ask for so and so and check but cannot charge you for it. You may have to fight it out but it is not illegal for you to do it, so long as you do not misrepresent yourself. I have done it three times and fought and won each time.
Use the system against them.
It's your money, Ralph.

Interest Adjustment Calulation:

amt. of money not credited to account x interest rate x days missing from account
__________________________________________________ =

36500

What are people thinking when they say this stuff??

Mel Gibson, inebriated or not, spouts off at a Sheriffs deputy about "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world". Then we have another dullard full of his own self importance, Dean Jones; making racial comments on air, when he thought the mike was off...Why make them at all? And then goes on to say it has hurt him in the hip pocket to be sacked, does he not think it has hurt his image at all or is he such a well known HAS BEEN that all will be forgiven?
If such "off the cuff" and sudden comments are not really what the person means or reflective of their ideals...Why are they saying them at all?
If it not something they subconsciously believe to be true or and ideal they hold as a belief...What would otherwise posses them to say it?
It is not the fallacy we have become such a politically correct society that such slurs are now deemed hurtful but the fact that such slurs are motivated and linked to world events, that they are directed at individuals and they are a generalist view of obviously prejudiced people. In years gone by, terms such as "wog", "dago", "skip", were part of the every day venacular. Any kid who wasn't born here was a "wog" or a "dago" , whether born in Cyprus, Athens, Syria, or Sicily..Any kid whose surname name began with the prefix of "O" was a "mick" or a "paddy". Such terms were all encompassing ,and although frowned upon, were part of the melding of our cultures. But these are non definitive terms, they do not point at any one being a terrorist or Taliban or a warmonger or anything else. Even terms such as "cow cockie" or "sheep jockey" whilst definitive in syntax are non vilifying in nature.
At school I had been called a "paddy ", "mick", when I started at a city school I was a "cow cockie", I have been known as a "skip", "grommit" and a "greenie".. I've been called a "lesbo pinko commie" even. Of which I am none. But the fact remains that such terms are non abusive nor entail any latitude of connection to any unsavoury activities such as the comments made by the two aforementioned dolts.
Maybe tertesterone and middle age cause some chemical imbalance in logical thinking.

Nah nah nah nah..Just getting in touch with my inner child

I am remiss as I did not update on the matter of this post.
Well we attended the mediation and so did two couples of each of the neighbours. They did not "understand why they were there as they were quite happy with the way council was handling the matter". The process is very, very good and each party is permitted to outline the issue and what they want from the process. We, as the initiators, outlined that we want them to approach us as if there is an issue then we can address the causation then, rather than they complete a diary, submit to council and us never be permitted to see the diary ipso facto not know the causation and be unable to proof the dog. I also outlined that I felt the matter was driven by one parties insecurities and their attempt to foist their issues onto other in another form. It got a bit combative at times, but boils down to this...We are deemed unapproachable because WE DID NOT ATTEND THE STREET CHRISTMAS PARTY which was held two weeks after we moved in... Oh and we were "unresponsive" to their complaint in March...Maybe because it was a bunch of lies and we proved it to council as such.
Anyway it boils down to the "just want the dog to be quiet"..Hello, it is a dog, WOOF WOOF WOOF!
They bark, IDIOT!!!!
They got a bit cross about my "matter being driven by other issues" and after they were out of the room when we were in discussions with the mediators, a comeback about "no one ever spoke about you to anyone" was touted out of the blue. Obviously hit a nerve there.
Anyway I feel the mediators did a good job but they recognised the futility we were faced with in that they did not understand what we were offering, only their perceived "wants". They were like petulant children with their demands and comments...Such as "when you moved in, I looked over the fence and saw you had a dog and then realised it was old and would die soon and then you bought the puppy"
LIKE YOU HAVE THE FUCKING RIGHT TO INVADE OUR FUCKING PRIVACY AND PASS JUDGMENT ON WHAT WE DO WITH OUR LIFE!!!!!
SANTIMONIOUS BITCH!!

Oh and the lies, apparently the wife at one house and the husband at another work shift work..Yeah, right the guy later amended his to "sorta shift work but usually office hours" What he doesn't realise is that I know where he works and they don't do NIGHTSHIFT..IDIOT!!
And as for the lady next door, well maybe afternoon shift but night shift NAH, You see when people lie like that you like to be prepared to counter it should the occasion arise. I have monitored their absences for the past month and YOU ARE LYING!!!AGAIN
We completed an agreement which states that they will approach us with any issues and that 2IC will approach them in a months time to check on any problems they may have, we all signed the agreement bar ONE. Stupid bitch doesn't relaise that she just did herself out of the opportunity to be part of the solution, now she is the problem.

It makes me cross to think that people feel they have the right to judge and make un quantified calls on your lifestyle choices because it doesn't fit with their little world. That they feel they can use systems put in place for genuine complaints for their own petty issues.
Funnily enough, 2IC pointed out to them that council we investigating the complaints and being outside our property at our request..Not because of their complaints. He also asked how they would feel if councils response was to that their was no case to answer. They said they'd have to go further with council on the matter...Oddly enough that is exactly what council advised us of the day after the mediation...NO CASE TO ANSWER!!!

This could have been me....

Being the bull at a gate that I am and relentless advocate of the rights of my children. A friend sent this to me and says specialist teachers throughout the Ed Dept are applauding this action

Lets hope they get more out of her than I did after a FOUR month wait for a reply. This is one of the very reasons my son would have been left high and dry in a public school, even though we had to fight, at least he gets some funding. SLD's cannot be lumped into the English as Second language ( ESL) cart and bundled into one lot of funding, teachers are not speech pathologists nor should they be expected to add the child's speech requirement s to the curriculum. SLDs are notjust a language issue but lead to learning issues, social issues and the education department has a obligation to be proactive in this area, not reactive a decade later when you have a 15 year old with the reading level of a 6 year old.
Although the line taken by the schools is that they only have "an obligation to see a child has Grade one reading and comprehension levels" ( as told to my friend by her child teacher and principal)
What hope have kids like this got???
I wish them every success and notice that our tax dollars are being spent on a QC for the Dept of Ed and Ms Allen, who probably will send a lackey to attend as she never seems answerable to anything on a individual basis.

How Come?

Some salient thoughts I have been pondering in my moments of oddity, which some may argue are many.

How come the dentists; whose face they cannot show on television in the toothbrush ads, always brush their teeth after a shower with only a towel around them?

How come the same dentists always have bathrooms that resembles something out of Design Digest?

Why is it that my 9 year old can sing all the lyrics and know all the dance steps to just about every song in "High School Musical" but struggles to remember to hand her school bank book in?

Why is it that when you go in the express line at the supermarket, that the person in front always has an item without a price or a fruit or vegetable the cashier doesn't recognise?

Why, when you are always in a hurry, do you get a nana/pops Volvo driver attempting to paralell park in a space the car will not fit into without a shoehorn and 10 litres of lubricant?

Why do you always see sports cars in the "Parents With Prams" parking spots, with no child seat or room for a pram?

How come your kids will always get their good clothes dirty 5 minutes before you have to leave for somewhere and all the washing is still in the machine?

How come you dog will always decides to give you a welcome home kiss after he has been chewing on a week old bone and has been digging holes?

Why doesn't the kid in the Subway ad; who drinks all the milk so he can have a Subway brekky; have toast instead or fruit?

I'm being silly, I know, but what are you for reading it all.........................