Arrium – Edgar's Page

And the winner is……………………………….

14/08/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I left home on Friday morning, it was quiet, no rain, no wind and the sun was showing its good side. For most of the day the weather was good for a winter day and I had a fairly enjoyable trip down until I reached the city, that is. I had programmed the GPS to take me out to Adelaide Airport and the RFDS Base. Never having been to that end of town before I had to rely on the GPS – bad mistake. It took me the best part of an hour and a half to get to the Airport as the GPS led me into just about every street in the entire side of the city. “Take the second turning on the left” or words of a similar nature are words that I came to hate. Speaking to friends later I was told that I was in roads that I should have been no where near. However, I did arrive at Adelaide Airport only to discover that the RFDS Base is not there any more. It has moved to a new area. After being told where the new Base is I set off again, with similar results. I finally gave up and pulled into Harbour Town. I telephoned the Base from the car-park and was told that I was only minutes away and that the base was in the Airport grounds behind Harbour Town. Three minutes later, and after instructions from Lindy & Mary (RFDS Staff) I was at the Base. I wasn’t lost, you understand – I do not get lost, although from time to time I do become “Geographically Misplaced” I collected all things that I needed to collect and made my way back out. Tapley’s Hill Road, took me to Sir Donald Bradman Drive, which I knew would take me directly to town and less than 20 minutes later I was in town and heading out to North Adelaide. Not my best day and by now it was raining. After a coffee in my hotel, I decided to go into town. By this time the rain was pretty heavy so I gave that a miss. I never got half the things I wanted to do. By the time the Conference finished on Saturday, It was chucking it down , so I decided to go home rather than go shopping. Driving out of town was an illustration of what I have been saying to you – the further north I drove the less rain. By Snowtown (150 klm North) the sky was blue and the clouds were white rather than gray. A few spots at the Port and that was about it.

In the last two years I have lost a number of people that I did not expect to lose. I felt all was well, but they just stopped writing – well at least to this page, I still see them on other pages. In the last two months a further two have left and I can’t help wondering who will be next. So, I am considering what I do from here.

Not a lot happens up here. At the moment we are like a potato – everything that is really good is underground – waiting. I would not go so far to say that our glory days are over and that we

just go quietly into the night, but there are promises and we live on promises – many of which remain unfulfilled. The buying of Arrium; the company brought from the brink of death by Mr. Gupta and the GFG Alliance. Lots of promises, lots of plans, but not really a lot on the ground. Impatience?? Perhaps but it has been a year this month since Arrium was bought and whilst there is some returning confidence, it’s not as much as was expected. Some things will have to change, no doubt about that and at the moment we have no real idea of what these changes might be. We look outward and see that one of the largest construction companies, involved in multi-million government projects, has collapsed and closed its doors, and many people came to work on Monday morning and by Monday lunchtime, had put their personal belongings into boxes and were out the door for good. It was that fast. That could have happened to us, but it didn’t. Theirs was a sudden shock, ours was a long, slow, painful decline and we are still to raise ourselves up from that. There is supposed to be a “Big Announcement” today by Mr. Gupta and GFG Alliance, with Mr. Gupta here in town. So we will see what that brings.

Road Trip, Benji and Baby

19/08/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I have just returned from two days in Adelaide. Conference this time was at Para Hills. The drive down was uneventful and the weather was excellent. The most frustrating part of the journey was the Main North Road and the roadworks that had the traffic banked up. Anyway, that was not so bad but I think watching snails overtake us was a bit depressing. Got cleared of that and was going well until King William Street and the roadworks outside the Festival Center, then more road works on the way to Bunnings at Parabanks. This is good because I know why there is never enough money to upgrade and repair country roads when everything is being spent in Adelaide. But as our Socialist Government keeps telling us “It’s good for South Australia” although how all this development in Adelaide and the million being spent on upgraded tram lines – in Adelaide – benefits a country town one thousand kilometers away from Adelaide in the far north of the state, is way beyond my comprehension. But then, not living in Adelaide, I don’t understand these things. But even at this conference – the first since the sale of Arrium – and people asking me how things are in town now that Arrium is sold. “Things will be better and there will be more confidence in the community, you’ll be doing well now” – but what they think about is a sort of instant gratification and that’s not how it works. Many jobs were lost, those who survived had to accept 10 – 15% pay cuts, Westlands, the largest undercover shopping area outside Adelaide still has over 30% of the shops empty and we still have over 600 houses up for sale and some of these are homes that were taken over by the banks when people could not pay their mortgage. Yes things will change, but it’s not going to happen overnight. Recovery will take time and the new owner will have to do something that helps to increase

the returning confidence, because, it is presently fragile and I believe it wont take a lot to damage it. On 1st September there is a “Meet and Greet”rally to be held in the Ada Ryan Gardens. The RFDS will be doing the catering as part of our fundraising. We hope to have the opportunity to meet the new owner, talk to him and have a photo opportunity.

Annabell kept telling me every time I called her that Benji was not a happy puppy. He hardly left my room except to go outside and come for his food. If the doorbell rang he would come charging through, stand looking at the door until it was open. Annabell said you could almost feel the disappointment when he saw it wasn’t his daddy, so he turned and went back to the room. He really misses me when I am away from him. But it’s a two-way street and I miss him too.

On 2nd June of this year, our grandson (Connor Logan) was born. I no longer feel quite as isolated from certain conversations as I did. However, it’s not all solved in that my grandson is a mere three months old whereas most of the people in the church have grandchildren that are married, have children, or are out in the world carving out a life for themselves, some are serving in the armed forces. However, my grandson may still be a babe at his mother’s breast, but he has life ahead of him; a world with all its new technology and wonders waiting for him to discover. In spite of the crazy people and events, the world is still an exciting and wonderful place. The chaos and events taking place in this era, will, I believe, pass and by the time he is ready to go out into the world, it will be an even better place than it is now.

Part of the shopping center has been blocked off and a large new shop is under construction. I understand it will be a new variety store. I’m not really fussed but if it is big enough it will create employment and perhaps it will signal the rebirth of the shopping center and fill many of the empty shops. This is a development that I look forward to seeing.

Arrium, winter and Sooah returns.

24/06/201724/06/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

One of the things I dislike about this time of year is that it’s cold. Well, of course it’s cold. That’s why it’s called winter, you idiot. Well, yes, I suppose so, but by the time it’s warm enough to actually go work outside it’s practically lunch and given another hour and the temperature starts to drop again. Add to this is the fact that Annabell does not sleep very well, so, the other reason for not going outside early is that I would have to put on lights and I would probably make noise, so I could waken her – and I’d rather not. As I said, she doesn’t sleep too well so she needs her sleep. I can do some tidy up but I can’t attend to the leaves on the turf because that would require the Blower/Vac and that makes a noise. ** Well, a Newsflash** Just had a message ( two minutes ago) from Incheon, South Korea . Sooah and her husband will be leaving South Korea on the third week in July to arrive back in South Australia. This is excellent news because it will mean that not too long afterwards the WaWa will be going home. There is no doubt that we will miss her – I will miss her – but Annabell is pleased for Benji’s sake and I agree with her. He has spent much of this last year being confined with me in this room. He only is safe when he is with me either here or when we are out. It will be good that the Benji will have HIS house and home back again.

Of course, all this is working on the assumption that she will want the dog back, but we will cross that bridge if we come to it. We have tried to make it

ok, but really, poor Benji has had a lot to put up with this last year. He is a loving, affectionate animal and he deserves better. The WaWa has become my BFF and Sooah will have to deal with that just as I had to deal with the attacks, the blood and bandages for the first six or more months . But then, as Sooah is her long lost momma, it shouldn’t really be much of a problem.

The weather continues to be cold and today we have had our first rain for months. Not a great deal but enough and it is supposed to be raining again tomorrow. The Stan cartoon is from the local newspaper so the Copyright is the Whyalla News. I think I said already that the British Consortium have put in a counter bid, which is believed to be substantially higher than the Korean bid, but the administrators are continuing to negotiate with the preferred bidder – the Korean Consortium – who were the highest bidder when the bids closed.

My only excuse – if excuse it be – is that I experienced a sudden rush of blood to the head and instead of buying a new Samsung, as I normally would, I took a brainstorm and bought an iPhone. I only hate it when I am feeling calm, generally the thought of bouncing it off a wall somewhere gets me through the day. On the 8th June we were changed over from ADSL to the NBN ( National Broadband Network) and since that date, we have not had a landline telephone. Thus I really need my mobile phone ( That’s cell phone to you) it’s the only communication I have and Annabell has to use it too, so all calls regardless of who they are for, has to come through this iphone. At the moment that keeps it from being bounced off the wall. People tell me that I will get used to the iphone system, and Apple and once I do I will wonder how I ever managed without it.Yes, well, I don’t see that anywhere on the horizon. Actually, with this heavy mist again, I don’t see much of anything really.

Arrium, Brunch and Misty Days

19/06/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

For much of last week and for what remains of this week, I have been playing gofer.

“Would you go to the supermarket and get me more flour”

“Why do you need so much flower? We’re supposed to feed ém not fatten ém!”

“Well if I don’t have flour I can’t make scones”

“Will that be one bag or two?”

Anyway, think part of the reason this weekend went so quickly is that we had a function and I spent much of the week helping and running back and forward to the supermarket for supplies. Then we had the function, and the relaxation after that before reality crept in and we remembered we have a big function this coming weekend (Sat. 17th) – This is the Brunch Weekend! More running around. Probably just as well, the mornings and evenings are cold -1 / -3 c cold. This morning, for example, it was -1c but there was also a heavy mist – we don’t get fog – and visibility down to about 35 yards. We did go out for a walk this morning- despite the cold and the mist – and Benji seems to be turning into a ten feet dog – he is currently incapable of walking for more than ten feet and he stops, has a sniff and a pee. I keep telling him he’s wasting valuable coffee time, but it just doesn’t seem to make an impression. It was interesting walking in the mist – everything was so quiet. Haven’t done that in a long while.

The WaWa is not getting any better . Yes, I seem to have become her BFF but at the expense of Benji. Her Jealousy is such that she will go for Benji if he come near me when she is around. Benji has turned on her a few times and I once had to physically remove him as he had her pinned down. I would really like to say that it made a difference but almost as soon I got him off her she went straight at him again. From time to time I muzzle her when it gets too much and that does make a difference, but it’s not ideal and I don’t enjoy doing it. And before you ask, yes it was from the Vet and it is fitted to her, but the WaWa believes that this is her house and Benji is an intruder. I still have an insanely optimistic view that it will settle down and they will become friends. Armed neutrality would be an improvement.

The preferred offer for the purchase of Arrium is the bid from South Korea but there are still some things to work through yet. They have said that they will spend the necessary funds to upgrade the operations and that could be good for employment in the town. They have a very different method of operation, which is also very successful and they may introduce this system here in a planned upgrade. It could also assist in getting Sooah back if there are additional employment opportunities.

I have come to the conclusion that although the WaWa is my new BFF, this last year has not been fair on Benji. The only times he is safe from her is when he’s out with me or when he’s here in the room with me. If it is a nice day Bernji and me will go outside with the disc player and we will sit together on the garden swing and listen to Sinatra. So, if Sooah did return and wanted the dog back, I would hand her over, but I rather suspect she would have a difficult time with her, because she is certainly not the WaWa she left with us fourteen months ago.

Monday and another very heavy mist morning with visibility reduced to about 20+ feet. These days I cut the walk short and do not go to the end because I dislike not being able to see the bush ( land) on either side of me once I have cleared the houses. However I make up for the lost area by doing a circle of the block before I start the morning walk, so he’s not getting short changed :o)

The Brunch on Saturday went very well and we catered for about 70 people. We ran out of sandwiches and I did offer to go to the shop and get bread, butter and things for sandwiches but we had plenty of cakes, scones and biscuits. Have no idea the final figure of what we raised but I expect I will find out soon enough.

Winter and a Baby Due.

02/06/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It would seem at times that I lead a very busy life. Generally this is far from the truth – my life is quiet and peaceful. However, having said that, this year has been different and because of things that have happened, here and elsewhere, I have had to to a lot of travelling. There are four conferences a year, two in Adelaide, two in Mount Gambier. These take place every three months – although having said that, this is the third time I have been to Mount Gambier since January. The West Terrace Committee, of which I am a member, generally meets twice a year – or as required. This time it came right after Mount Gambier, so I was only just home for less than a full day and then away again for another two days. This is where it becomes slightly bizarre. Because of a fear campaign, many young mothers are refusing to have their children vaccinated and as a result many things we thought were eradicated are making a comeback – one of these is Whooping Cough. This has increased to the extent that if a woman is about to have a baby, the adults associated with that baby – Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts etc. – are “Advised” to have a Whooping Cough Injection. My son and his partner are about to have a baby so Annabell and I, along with my other son, need to have this Whooping Cough injection. All of this travelling over May really told on me and I was tired and somewhat rundown. Our injections were scheduled for the day after I got back from Adelaide. I should have delayed them, but time is running out and we needed them now, so we had them. Annabell and son John are fine. I ended up with Flu-like symptoms and am in bed sick. I was concerned but I am assured that this is not uncommon and I just have to see it out. Normally it would have been ok but my body turned gangster on me and forced me to bed. Annabell is very good and feeds me hot Lemon and Honey drinks. It has already started to dry up and I should be fine in a day or so.

The WaWa has recovered and I have removed the Medical Collar. The only concern is that with me being in bed, the dogs are not getting out for exercise. I dare say they will be fine for a few days. The family were here this evening and the date for Trish is tomorrow (29th) anything after that and he’s late. – And yes, it is “him” but no name as yet, or if there is they are not telling anyone.

The Arrium Saga takes another twist as the Shareholders have formed a group “Arrium Shareholders United”which are opposed to the Administrator and are opposed to the company being sold. They maintain that Arrium today is a different company than it was fourteen months ago. They also maintain that the company is viable and trading well and that it should be taken out of Administration, re listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), a new Board of Management put into place and negotiations commenced for refinancing. The Administrator has considered the suggestions and declared them as unworkable – the price for steel and the price for Iron Ore has decreased while the cost of power continues to increase, and there is the little matter of the $2+ Billion debt – and that the only viable option to ensure long term stability is to sell the company as a whole. The closing date for offers was 31st May at 5pm. There are two contenders – one South Korean the other British. The Administrator will consult with the stakeholders – Banks, Unions, State and Federal Governments and an announcement made in about three weeks.

Yesterday an old friend arrived with a “Hi. Remember me?” as he plunged the overnight temperatures down to -1c and it was cold taking Benji out for our morning walk. You notice I said Benji not “The Dogs” yes, she’s not silly and fails to see the point of getting out of a perfectly warm bed when it’s still cold and dark. Actually I really don’t blame her. Our Old Friend has not been very friendly these last few days. No snow – of course – but lots of frost on the grass. Hmmm – maybe the WaWa has the right idea………..

**newsflash** The Baby was born at 3:13 this afternoon (Friday 2nd June) and, would you believe, they still have not decided on a name. Anyway, until then as far as I am concerned, he is Andrew Junior and he was just over seven pounds

The WaWa – all change.

31/03/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

In all of my life I have only ever bought one dog from a Pet Shop. I have to truthfully say that I have looked and liked what I saw – but then, I didn’t know any better. I bought this dog from the Pet Shop, because I knew the owner, she was also a dog groom and she also ran boarding kennels. We called the dog Chienne – I know some people in France use this as an insult but to me it just simply meant what she was a Female Dog. This was almost sixteen years ago. She died at just over fourteen years of age. She never had a day ill in her life and the only time she had to wear a “Collar of Shame” was when she had been to the vet for “The Operation”. She was a lovely dog, dearly loved by everyone who came into contact with her, particularly the Love of Her Life – my youngest son, Andrew. She also helped to fill an interesting matchmaking role, but that’s another story. My reason for reliving all this, is not to inflict sadness on myself, but to state a point – and the point is this – in my life I have only ever had one experience of a pet shop and that experience was very positive. I do not for one second doubt that many

Puppy Farms are dreadful places and should be closed down. My heart aches when I think of some of these poor animals. However my only experience was a positive one and it is very difficult to set that aside. Every dog, including Benji, was a rescue dog. Only Chienne was a Pet Shop Dog and she was one of the most lovable dogs I have ever lived with – and to be honest it took me a while to stop calling him and at times referring to Benji as Chienne. That’s how imprinted she was on me.

The WaWa and I have become quite close to the point where I can go to her, lift her up and she snuggles into my neck. In my wild erratic fancy, I had visions of her searching where would be the

best point to sink her teeth into, but that’s being unkind :o) I can also sit down on the floor and when Benji is not around I can sit and play with her, scratch her ears and her belly and pet her back and head. Tippysmom was spot on when she said that it will be an incredible wrench if /when the owner comes back and I have to give her up. I never meant to get attached to her but I have – and that’s a concern.

I have been working outside – even in the high temperatures we have had this week – because I want to get as much of the garden finished as I can. At the moment I have completed about half of what needs to be done and I would like to get most of it finished this week. For the gravel I am using Granite Chips – not cheap but they look good and they hold their colour for a long time. Other stone chip seems to fade after a while whereas Granite does not. The Frangipani are coming along well as are the four Mandevilla / white /pink and two red. All very nice and should last until about mid-May, which is when I head off to Mount Gambier for four days. I water and feed the flowers and plants before I go and hope that will be enough to last them until I get back. And before you ask, the answer is NO.

A post ago I used a photographs of snow in Neilson. The photographs was taken in the morning, and by mid-afternoon the snow was all gone. It didn’t last long apparently.

Still no word about what is happening with Arrium. As far as we know there are two buyers interested – One British and one South Korean. The uncertainty is such that there are so many houses

for sale around the town; a number of houses foreclosed by the bank and I know of at least one house – a big house – where the owners just packed up and walked away, leaving everything to the bank. As I said before our major shopping Mall, once advertised as the largest outside of Adelaide, has 18 empty shops. However on a positive note we believe that a large retailer will be moving into the larger of the empty shops ( 3 in 1) soon. Good in that it is a large area and will take away the empty look from that section and also that it will provide jobs.

Past, Present, and Future.

10/03/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I think both here and overseas, one of the major talking points is the weather and how strange it has been – we expect winter snow – and we get none / we expect summer heat – and it’s limited to a couple of days. We had a heatwave a few weeks ago when the temperature topped 44c. Last week, and this week we were warned of another heatwave and possible power cuts – neither of which happened. I took Benji out this morning, turned round and came back inside and changed into a heavier jacket. True it was still dark, but it was cold – not winter cold, but cold enough for a different jacket. Temperatures have been warm to very warm. Using the term “Hot” would be – for us here anyway – a slight exaggeration. I look on the weather people as I look on the South Australian Government – take everything they tell you with a large pinch of salt.

When I was growing up in the 60s there was a pioneer couple appeared on Television – black and white, of course, we didn’t have colour until the mid 70s – anyway, this pioneering couple were Armand and Michaela Denis. As far as I know they retired in 1961, but their films and the Wildlife TV Programs were shown well into the 1960s because they were pioneers in Wildlife Filming, setting man of the standards. If I remember correctly I think one of their TV programmes was “On Safari” Interesting in that the Denis couple were closing their career just as another broadcaster was starting his – David Attenborough.

Took Benji and the WaWa down to the Foreshore for a Beachie. There is a small problem here – in order to have a beachie you needs a beach. Today was not a good day with about 10% beach and 90% seaweed. Oh a Beachie is South Australian for a romp around the beach. Depending on the weather we might go North sometime this

week. This morning we didn’t go anywhere. Generally I get up with the alarm, get dressed and the Boy and I go out for our morning walk. Well, I got up and I got dressed and I got ready to go out, but he refused. I don’t know what was wrong with him, but he just didn’t want to go out. In fact when I produced the leash, he looked and went back to bed. Going back to yesterday, it’s not really seaweed on the beach – it is seagrass, which is a different thing altogether. The area of sand in the photograph is all there was and the photograph makes it look much larger an area that it really was.

Lots of rumbling – like thunder – the army is back playing in the Play-Pen again. Apparently there are some War Games going on. No idea how long this will go on or how long they are here for. I have not seen any army people around the place. The photograph is from when they were here last year and conducted Operation Hamel. —- Sorry about the caption, I couldn’t resist it. I’ll try harder next time :o)

This morning I sent yet another email over to Korea (South) and at the moment it has not bounced back. Of course this is not to say that it wont during the course of today, but at the moment it’s looking fairly good. The Coffee Ladies are here this morning and they were here last night. They are lovely ladies and many of them have dogs so they don’t mind Benji and the WaWa wandering around – which is good. They pay the host a few dollars each for coffee, tea and cookies, but what remains they save and bank for the year and this is donated to several charities. Last year they presented me with a cheque for $1000 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, $1000 to Riding for the Disabled and $1000 to help with the medical bills of a young boy who was involved in a serious accident and requires a number of operations. So, they do good and sometimes someone brings scones, or Annabell makes them – I likes scones……. I can be bribed so easily :o)

This morning (Friday) I opened my mail box when I came back from our walk and there was an Email from Sooah. She is doing well and loves the photographs I have sent her. She says that it looks like Kongsoon ( WaWa to us) and Benji are good friends and she is pleased. ( Shush – our little secret!) She says she hope to see us soon – but that could just be politeness with no

indication if and when she is returning. However, the note did sound positive so that was good. I will keep sending and even although things bounce back from time to time, I wont give up. At the moment no one is really sure what is going on – there is still major uncertainty in the town and our Shopping Mall – Which was once billed as the largest outside of Adelaide – has 19 empty shops. There are so many houses up for sale it’s unreal – there is an offer ( two I believe) for Arrium and the Feds have made it clear that if the buyer is not willing to commit to a long term future for Arrium and the Steelworks and upgrade the outdated equipment, then they would not be inclined to give approval to the sale. At the moment there is still some hope that things will settle soon and we can get on with life. ==== Past, Present and Future / The Past was exciting / Present full of uncertainty / Future has limited hope – but still hope)

Road Trips, Vets and WaWa Walks

23/02/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

It is two years since The Man died and I still miss him. Oh, I love my Benji; he and I go off on our own as often as we can and I wouldn’t part with him for the world. Still, I miss The Man and he is never very far from my thoughts. And before it is suggested, Benji is not a substitute, he is his own, with his own quirks and his own character. They are two very different dogs.

I drove out to Iron Baron yesterday with the Benji. The road out to the Baron is in much better condition than the Iron Knob road. Of course, much of the road is along the Lincoln Highway before the Kimba / Iron Baron turn-off, But then Kimba is an important farming town so the road is kept in good condition. As I said the other day, there is nothing left of the Baron – almost no trace that it ever existed. I did some presentations and training sessions at the Community Hall many years ago and I couldn’t even find where the Hall used to be.

Today was the day (Tuesday) that we had to take the WaWa to the vet. Ok – First catch WaWa / second, clean up blood and bandage fingers. — Well, actually no :o) I was given medication by the

Benji and the WaWa Walk around the block — Benji and the WaWa
Walk around the block

Vet last week and half a tablet calmed her down and we were able to get her into the carrier and up to the Vet. Her nails were clipped and she had her booster injections. She was really very good. We came back home and I decided to chance my luck and got a leash on her. It was a struggle and even although medicated, she resisted, but I got Benji and between us we got her out the door. A lesser struggle and out to the driveway and from there it was slow, but then she was walking quite the thing alongside Benji. It was a short walk but fun and at times she took the lead. I was overjoyed and I hope we can do this again. I would like the three of us to be able to go out on a road trip. Annabell, like me, likes the WaWa, and we would not be too unhappy if the owner does not return and the dog becomes ours. BUT she would have to be socialised and we would have to stop her attacking Benji. At the moment we have been reluctant to do anything because she is not our dog, but that could change. The ideal thing would be for her real owner to return but considering the problems with unemployment, large companies moving out of South Australia and the uncertainty with Arrium, I really do not see this happening for some time – if at all. On the other hand, there is a South Korean tender in to buy Arrium, so that might have a bit of a bearing. Got a leash on the WaWa again tonight and took her for a longer walk this time. She again was very good, so perhaps this is what she has been needing and I may have to cut down on the distance I take Benji to accommodate the WaWa. The Vet has a partner and his name now appears on the outside Wall Shingle. He’s very good and it was this new Vet that saw to the WaWa – he was really good with her. I held her while he cut her nails and gave her injections. He is a younger man, much younger than Mustafa and it may well be that this is what the practice needs to recover from being closed down for the best part of three months. I think most of them went to the lady Vet, as I did for two consults and I can confirm that she is very nice and was really good with Benji. But our own Vet is back and that’s where we need to be.

Road Trip and Ice Cream

14/11/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The weather today was a warm 34c. I took the Benji on a small road trip of about 100+ lkms – wandering around the region and ending up having Ice-Cream at the Foreshore Cafe. He had a small tub I had a Cornetto. Well, we sat outside since we couldn’t go inside in the

cool but that aside, we enjoyed our Ice Cream and it would have been much easier if a certain someone hadn’t kept trying to eat the wooden

spoon as well as the Ice Cream. My predictions are going to prove right and already on the first warm to hot day and the flies were ferocious. We finished our Ice Cream and were glad to get back into the car again . A few flies in the car but they went as soon as we started driving with both windows open. Inovation… I brought water but I forgot a container for Benji. Well I did what they did in “The Lighthorsemen”I took off the Akubra and emptied the water into my hat and he was quite happy to drink it from there. – Yes, push in the crown to make a bowl and it can hold water.

Just shows how quickly things change – or how media get things wrong – not really sure which at the moment. Yesterday it was announced that at the meeting of shareholders it was agreed that Arrium would be sold as a whole company. Now, this morning it was announced that Molly-Cop is to be sold off to an American company for $1.6 Billion in a separate deal with the funds being used to pay back creditors – about $0.50 in the Dollar. But this is the last I will mention this because it’s all a mess and things change from day to day. . However, Molly-Cop is being sold (now sold) to American Industrial Partners – but here again there is confusion in that the “Australian”says $1.2 billion while the Arrium Administrator says $1.6 Billion. But there is still a group of shareholders that are opposed to Arrium being sold off now that the Iron Ore Prices and the Steel Prices have risen. They want the company to be handed back to the shareholders and that the company continue to trade and thus trade itself back into profit again. Yes well, As they said in “The Castle” – “Tell him he’s Dreaming”. The idea that we go back to trading and perhaps in a few years go through all this trauma again ( probable) is not really appealing. The idea, I thought, is to mitigate the pain, not increase its severity whilst prolonging it. But as I said, last mention.

Thursday and I head off to Mount Gambier. First stop is Adelaide where I will stay overnight before heading off to M.G. on Friday morning. After the warm and sunny 34c the temperature crashed and it has been cold for the last couple of days. This morning, when I took BJ out I put on a heavy jacket as protection from a cold, biting wind. In our walk there is a section of ground that I walk across to take me from one area to another. I do not know why, but when we went onto that ground, about 15+ feet – Benji goes bottom up, head down, digs in his paws and will not move. It could be the yellow, stubble grass(?) that hurts his paws, but he will not move and no amount of talking or pulling will make him move. Well that’s the way I want to go so I do what any daddy would do, I lift him up and carry him across. Well, you know what they say – He aint heavy, he’s my brother” o:) That apart, it’s a good walk.

The interesting news of this week is that the Electronic Patient Administration System, crashed across most of the major hospitals in the State. Fortunately no patients were at risk during the 10 hour crash ( this time) but doctors and medical staff have been complaining about the system (American) that’it’s clunky. chunky and slow. Not only that but in the new, much vaunted, third most expensive building on the planet, plagued by constant delays. running over budget, New Royal Adelaide Hospital, the builders and designers never included any provisions for storing patient records – all of which will have to be stored off-site. Ah, the joys of living in South Australia.

Getting out and Walking.

30/10/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

This is our "Back Yard" — This is our “Back Yard”

Benji has had a good day. He had not one, but two good walks today. We went down to the Wetlands and had a good walk around the main pond. We even used the new bridge. I brought him back and had some supper and then went out for a walk around the block – not as good as our original walk, but a decent start. All in about 5.5 klms. At the start of next week I hope to feel good enough to be able to go back to our morning walk – probably not the full walk yet but we will build back up to the 10 klms per day we were doing before the knee problems.

The weather has been clearing up and the temperature tomorrow will be a nice 34c. Couple of days like that and the rainstorms will be forgotten. Sadly it wont last at the moment but it will start to do so as the season wears on. I should be able to get some work done in the garden for a change. This last week has been a sad and horrific week for news. First there was the disaster that killed four people at Dreamworld in a horrific accident. Also in Queensland, a man waiting at a bus stop, got on, threw some inflammable liquid on the driver and set him alight, then sat down on the seat at the bus stop and watched. Others helped to get passengers off the bus. When the police and fire truck arrived the man was still sitting on the seat and still watching. It has been reported that he has a criminal record and has mental health issues. The driver died. Here in

It's been a hard days night :o) — It’s been a hard days night :o)

South Australia there is concern regarding the number of home detentions that judges are handing out – car driver kills three people, judge rules it was not careless driving but simply a moment of inattention that caused the head on collision, so he gets home detention – a whole five months. It’s even more of a joke because there are not enough people to run the system and monitor home detainees so you might as well tell them to just go and sin no more and try to be a good citizen – “and what’s that – you need your license because your brother-in-law is an alcoholic and needs you to run him to the bottle shop, well that’s very community minded and I believe we can grant that for you.” Also in SA the Building Company Collapse that has left over 200 houses in limbo, has debts of quite a few millions. And on the subject of millions there is now an investigation to determine whether the Arrium board were trading whilst the company was insolvent. But buyers are now lining up so we might have a sale before Christmas and a hope that this will bring some stability to the town.

Saturday: After yesterday I decided that I had put this off long enough so rather than to wait and see how I feel next week, I got up, got dressed and took Benji out for his morning walk at 6:30 am. It was not a long walk but it was a start and each day I will go a little further until I get back to our full route again. He lay there watching me and as soon as I lifted the track suit, he was up and at my side all ready to go. We did part of the old route and he got to check the mail, so he was quite happy. It was warm as predicted but the wind kept the temperature down and it was still a coolish wind. We did much the same as we did yesterday about 5.7 klms , so we are about halfway there. I am quite happy with my reduced route for the time being.

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