RFDS – Page 3 – Edgar's Page

Out and about – again.

22/04/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Well, that’s one task almost completed. I have finished writing the Church Newsletter and have now sent it off to my two proof readers, one of which is Annabell. Once they come back to me and I make the corrections, I will send out the Newsletter by email to those who have it and by snail mail to those who do not and a general after service distribution to the congregation. There is no charge for the newsletter and we pay for this ourselves. It takes a lot of work but I enjoy doing it ( mostly). Next task is an article for the State Newsletter, the minutes of the RFDS

Meeting and a letter of resignation from the West Terrace Consultative Committee. My church are unhappy with my membership of this committee in that, due to increased costs in fuel and accommodation, it is no longer a cost that the church is willing to continue to meet. It’s costing about $800 a year and it’s high time someone from Adelaide started doing their share of the work and being part of Adelaide committees. At first it was acceptable and I could travel down by coach, go to the meeting, walk back to Franklin St. and get the coach back on the same day. With the downturn in employment and a decline in population and thus coach use, the timetable was changed and no longer meets our needs, ( last coach leaves Adelaide at 4pm. – Meeting starts at 3:30 ) so it requires a drive down and an overnight stay, and that’s bumping up the costs, and hotel charges change with the season or what’s happening in Adelaide. I think it is a great pity but fully understandable and it is an amount we could put to better use.

We have not been wandering this week – other than the wetlands – and I have spent much of the time trying to catch up on cleaning up. After the windy conditions over much of the week, the place is covered in leaves. The morning we head to the wetlands and the afternoon I clean up around the place. Weather has been odd – to say the very least – and we have now experienced the warmest April on record with 10 consecutive days with temperatures over 30c. This week it is going to drop down to the mid 20c but then it’s going to build up again. According to what I read part of the problem is that the Ocean is warm and that’s helping to drive up temperatures and as far as I have been reading the warmth of the ocean is causing problems for the coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

Tomorrow (Monday) and the RFDS will be flying into town for a meeting to discuss the arrangements for the function on 3rd May, to see what facilities there are, where things will be set up and the catering arrangements for all the guests. I will also discover if it is the responsibility of the RFDS to notify the newspaper or if it is my responsibility to do so. I kind of suspect that will be my job.

We have an organization here called RICE – Remote and Isolated Children’s Exercise. Three ladies – a Nurse/Midwife ; A Health Care/ Social Worker: A Child Care Professional. They go out from their base and visit outback and isolated properties. They announce their dates in advance so other families have the opportunity to join them at the designated property. The Land Rover is filled to the brim with toys and games.. The Nurse/Midwife Practitioner talks to the moms and discusses health and children related matters- the Health Care person talks to any Aboriginal women that may be there and feel more comfortable talking to an Aboriginal person and the child care person, sets up the games and toys and spends the day playing and looking after the children. Other than toys and medical equipment, there is also bottles of water and baskets of fruit. The base is at the Port and their “Clinic” covers covers 620,000 square klms. The Nurse Practitioner ( Marg. MacDonald-Ashe) racks up some 50,000 klms a year in her Land Rover. I was going to put an outback photograph here, but they are all copyrighted

The Bank and The Port

19/03/2018 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Today (Wednesday) after the ladies had gone, I drove Annabell to Port Augusta. Since we were both going to be away for quite a few hours, I decided that we should take Benji with us. I felt he would enjoy the trip. Difficult to tell, really, since he curls up and goes to sleep. The

Not the greatest photograph, but best I could do.

reason for the journey was that Annabell needed to go to the bank and sort some things out. Unfortunately, the nearest branch to us is 80 klms away in the Port. Whilst she attended to what she needed to do in the bank, I took Benji for a walk around the main street. Yes it was a bit warm but not too bad and he did his bit for the environment by watering a few trees. Annabell wanted to transfer money to Scotland but she had been having difficulty on line, so we came here to sort it out. Back at the car Benji and I had a drink of cold water and then shared a Hot Dog – not my first choice but easy to get fairly quickly. Annabell came back and we headed off to Better Homes and the garden center. I was able to get some plants to replace the plants burned. I actually wanted to go to the Arid Lands B.G. but with Benji that was not possible. The drive home was quiet and we did take note that the long promised passing lanes on the Eyre Highway are finally under construction.

Well there you are, I survived another week of the ladies being here. Only six weeks to go!! It’s not too bad and I get out in the evening with Benji and in the morning- if I remember to get the car out of the driveway in time – we go to the wetlands. If not, we just go for a district walk.

At the weekend we had the State Election. Australia has compulsory voting, so, if you do not exercise your democratic right to vote, you get fined. Of course, once your name is marked off on the roll, how you vote, or spoil the paper, is your business. I do know some people who have put 1 in every box, effectively, spoiling the paper – which is legal. Some time after the election the Electoral Commission will announce the final voting figures including the number of spoiled papers. Anyway, that’s all over and we have a change of government. The Socialist Government had been defeated and left behind $8 Billion in state assets, which it has sold off and spent as well as a $14 Billion State debt – and that’s interesting for a State that is bigger than most countries in Europe but has a population of less than 2 million.. The new government is a majority government and will govern in its own right. The last term of the Socialists only happened because they bought off several of the independents- offering them a ministerial portfolio to support them and the independents sold out and sided with the socialists – keeping them in power for the last four years. To be honest the state is not a basket case case – far from it – but it does have a lot of problems and concerns, which the new government will have to address fairly quickly – particularly the loss of young people.

Young people are leaving the state because they feel that there is a lack of opportunity here. That’s a worry.

A new fundraising venture by the Royal Flying Doctor service is that we have organized for pens to be created with the RFDS Logo and the quality is fairly good. I have bought a number and I intend to send them out to people. Not for sale but as a gift ( they are already paid for)

Tomorrow I will go through to the Port again for a similar reason we went through last week – it’s the nearest branch of our bank – 100 miles round trip for a bank visit. I have decided not to take Benji this time, which means that I can go to the Arid Lands B.G. I will just be going on my own this time – no Annabell. Some shopping and get back to help Annabell get things ready for the ladies tomorrow evening. Wednesday and Yogi goes home so Benji will be back on his own again.

Cool Benji washing the Lighthouse !!

01/09/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Been a

good week – really. Annabell is hosting the ladies coffee on a Tuesday evening and the ladies coffee morning on the Wednesday morning. That said, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this month, are tied up: Monday and Tuesday I help her clean, polish and set things up – Wednesday afternoon I help her put things away. This week – of course – is her last week. I think I have mentioned this before that they each pay a small fee, some of which is used for tea, coffee and so forth, but the bulk of it – other than a couple of dollars, (to keep the account open) goes to charity and last year they gave three thousand dollars – a thousand of which went, via me, to the RFDS. The other two thousand went to two other support groups.

Now, I wanted some more native plants so I decided that on Thursday I would take a run through to the Arid Lands Botanic Garden (ALBG) and take Benji with me. I expect you have heard the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley (often go astray)” and that’s what happened here. Decided to help Annabell with the washing before I left. Got the washing in the machine, it filled up with water – then died. It’s been acting strange for a while now ; we decided there and then to get rid of it and buy a new machine. So we went out to look for a new machine, but she has this thing about front loaders because she can’t reach down into a top loading machine to get the washing out at the bottom. Anyway, bought the machine, they delivered and installed it and took away the old machine that same afternoon, and by the time they did that, it was much to late to go to the ALBG. Might try again for this coming Thursday :o)

Today (Sunday) was a bit cool. Sun was shining and it looked nice outside. The reality is that you can’t see the wind, but we took a drive out to the

lighthouse (30 klm away) and had a wander around – back to town and then a trip to the beach before driving home. Benji loves being in the car but he is not a “stick your head out of the window” dog and he is happy to curl up on the front seat. I have never been able to take a photograph of Benji sitting at the lighthouse. He will sit down no

bother, but as soon as I move away, he follows. I tell him to “stay” but he wont. However, not knowing his background before I adopted him, perhaps there is some abandonment issues there somewhere. He is much the same in the house – I move, he follows and if I really have to leave him and go out, I get a look that haunts me right up until I get home again. However, to be fair I do take him with me most times and he so loves going out in the car.

Friday sees the Official First Day of Spring. The weather over the last few days has been fairly good, so if this keeps up and I get away, it should be a nice day for me and my Associate to drive to the ALBG and Better Homes and Gardens. If I do get to go over to the ALBG I will see how close I can get to the main buildings and decide if I can leave the man in the car or if it’s too warm to do so even with the windows open.

This weekend – or at least part of it – will be a busy time for the RFDS. On Friday we will be involved in the “Meet and Greet” Barbecue for the new owner of Arrium and on Saturday we have a Barbecue at Stratco Hardware Store. I’ve had “fun” this week organising teams for both functions – a double team for Friday since this is expected to be big and busy, and the usual four team for Stratco on the Saturday. Since the AGM in June and the handing over of our cheque for $37,000 to Central Operations, we have been fairly busy and have accumulated a healthy balance.

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.

Travelling, Easter and a great escape

29/04/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

I made an interesting discovery today – the WaWa is not a good distance traveller. The Beach or the Wetlands are ok but travelling the 20 miles to the lighthouse are not so good and after a while

Out at the lighthouse area. Wawa wont look at the camera..

she starts to get a bit unsettled and fractious. Perhaps if we persevere and extend the distance a little at a time, she might settle down over the longer drive. At the moment the Beach and the Wetlands are her limit. We drove out to the Lighthouse and spent some time around there. It was fairly busy with quite a lot of tourists and shack people there for the Easter break. That being so we did not spend a lot of time there – although there were no dogs, which was good. We did go down onto the rocks and I carried the WaWa over some of the area – I mean, she does have wee legs :o) She is getting as bad as Benji and will not look at the camera. However, Benji seems to blend in with the surrounding rocks, so it’s not a good place to photograph him. On Tuesday we went down to the

beach, which was surprisingly quiet. There were some people there but I expected a lot more since it was a warm, sunny day and it is the school holidays. Today, on the other hand, (Wednesday/Thursday night/morning) it has been chucking it down all night. No dogs out today and I think they are so upset about that they have just stayed in bed. I seem to be the only one of the three that is in any way concerned about not getting out.

This Saturday STRATCO, our local hardware store, are holding a Barbecue and Cake Stall. We (RFDS) have been asked to do the Cake Stall. It’s not our usual thing, but we did this some months ago and it was very successful and STRATCO negotiated with the car club who brought some vintage cars along inspection. There were games and face-painting for the children – so all up, a fun day. I missed the last one since I was out of town. Annabell is doing a load of baking for this and I’ll take her stuff down on Saturday morning. Some of it has already been pre-sold. Annabell is a good cake maker.

I think an engineer has bought the house over the road. I saw him out most of this week rebuilding the front garden and planting flowers. The reason I noticed this is that wherever he went and whatever he did he used a tape measure – I mean the distance between the plants was precisely measured. I thought it was bit overmuch but who knows.

I have the WaWa on a diet and I really didn’t realise how much weight she had lost. 6am this morning, at the corner of Busch and Fairclough Streets, chasing a WaWa who escaped from her harness and thought my trying to catch her was a game, was interesting! I had to tie Benji up to the fence and go after her on my own. Took a while, but she came to me and I was able to get her home – making sure I didn’t tug her in any way until we did get home- and I did adjust the harness.

In a discussion with Annabell I used the term “my dogs”. She responded with “you don’t have dogs – you have a dog”. She is, of course correct, the WaWa is really not mine. It certainly feels like it and the WaWa is acting like it is, but it is still Sooah’s dog. I was asked to look after it for three months – over a year ago now. It’s a very frustrating situation and the best we can do is simply to act and treat the WaWa as if she is part of the family but keeping at the back of my mind that if Sooah returns we will have to give the WaWa back to her. Neither of us are too happy about that after this time, but that was the arrangement, however, the general consensus within the church is that she may not be coming back. Struth, it’s like a Norwegian Saga – it’s never ending.

Dogs, Emus and Daleks

16/04/2017 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

On Saturday 8th April, there was a tribute music festival to a local singer who died recently and, whom I am ashamed to say, I never heard of. Anyway, the RFDS was asked to provide the Barbecue for the event and we were happy to do this. I was not rostered on but I went up in the early afternoon to see how things were and if they needed anything. Everything was ok, but I was still very concerned because over in the far corner was this creature. They said it was “Friendly”but I was unaware that there was such a creature in the universe as a “Friendly Dalek”.

The warm weather looks to be over and we have started to hit the skids as the temperature for the coming week does not rise above 26c. The mornings have been a bit on the cool side so I should think about changing into a heavier jacket when I take the dogs out. Probable a good thing that the trip to Quorn took place when it did and when the weather was warm and sunny.

After church today we had a management meeting, so it was a while before we came back home. One would have thought that we had been away for years, WaWa went ballistic, the tail going like crazy. I bent down to pet her and she practically jumped into my hands, so I picked her up. The tail was still going and she licked my face and my head and my ear and my face, then my neck and all Annabell could do was stand and watch in amazement – this was the WaWa that just two months ago would have torn my fingers (and she did) to shreds if I tried to touch her. After a little while I decided enough was enough and I wanted to go and look after Benji – he is not being neglected. The WaWa is an “inside”dog and I

spend a good amount of time outside and Benji is always with me. The beach is with both but Road Trips are me and Benji. In fact it has been warm and sunny outside and the Benji and me were working in the garden for the morning and early afternoon – until Annabell came back from the Coffee Ladies. Next week is to be in the mid 20c, so we might be able to get out and about for a few hours. I think sometime next week a second trip to Quorn might be on the cards. This might be the last one because I think the lady was only booked in there for four weeks and that’s almost up. We don’t know what will happen after that. Quorn only accepted her on the understanding that it would only be for four weeks. At the moment Quorm will be very busy with the Easter Traffic and the Pichi Richi Heritage Steam Train running over the entire long Easter weekend.

Victoria may have Kangaroos, but we have visiting Emus. Thus far this week we have had three different pairs of emu wandering the streets. The police, along with Wildlife Protection have had the task of getting them back into the wild. Motorists were not “emused” at the traffic chaos they caused. These photographs are from the” Whyalla News” Whilst they were here they decided that since it was a nice day they would have a wander around the beach – more problems for the local police. There was one just around the corner from the house that the RSPCA and the Wildlife people were trying to get into a pen and then back into the bush. And no I did not take the camera since I figured Cortza and her people had enough to do without me getting in the way with a camera. As it turned out the Emu had a slight injury which Cortza wanted checked out by the Vet before they released in back into the bush.

Boxing Day and it’s raining again !!

26/12/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

38:35:40:41:32 – No that’s not some secret number code – it’s not even Bingo numbers – it is the local temperature for the next five days. After the second 40c on Sunday it drops to 32c with rain and possible thunderstorms for the next two days. The boys and I were out early (5:30am) for our walk this morning before it got warm and we will be out late tonight – after the sun goes down Generally these figures are fairly conservative and the possibility is that it could change quite quickly as the cyclone of the Coast of West Australia makes landfall – flooding rather than heat.

The one think I dislike about this weather is the fact that I get such a pained look from Benji when I go out without him and I feel bad at not taking him with me, but I can’t. In this heat I cannot. If I were to go into the supermarket and leave him in the car – even with the windows cracked open – he could go into heat distress very quickly – I know this, but he does not and I get the “why are you abandoning me daddy?” look. He always comes out to get the mail with me and I don’t let him do that in this weather because the ground is hot and could be too much for his paws. However, in a few hours that will all be academic since the storm clouds are gathering and there has been a drop or two. But as far as I can see we are still on track for 40c on Christmas Day. – Actually – it was 40c today and it’s not Christmas Day – yet.

I hope Christmas is fairly quite in the air. What I mean by that is that we have a small but busy airport and I would like not to look up and see the Red and Blue of the RFDS coming in because there is no base here so they come here for emergency reasons. Last year there were over 572 landing of the RFDS here making it among the highest number of landings in Australia. It would be really nice if the RFDS didn’t have to come here at all over Christmas and New Year. Although, having said that, it’s not all bad – sometimes they are bringing a patient back home, or at least for on-going treatment at the local hospital. I think I mentioned before that we do not have any Therapy Dogs here and only in Adelaide. However, having said that I do remember they there was a Golden Retriever in one of the nursing homes many years ago

Christmas Day and we had a short service in the morning. The Watchnight Service last night was well attended but the Service this morning was not. Still although short it was an enjoyable service

Didn't have enough cash for the Boxing Day sales — Didn’t have enough cash for the Boxing Day sales

none the less and no coffee after since people were going home to prepare for family arriving or to get ready to go out to family. Annabell and I went over to my younger Son’s house and we had all the family there for Christmas Dinner and drinks afterwards. It was a really nice meal and getting together of the family. Annabell and I didn’t stay too long since we had to get back to feed the dogs and let them out for a bit. After the sun went down the rain started and continued on for a while. There was also rain and high winds during the night and it was starting to rain again when we were out for our walk this morning – a short walk but at least we did get some done. It was over 42c here on Christmas Day and pretty hot but a cool change for the next couple of days. The Church Magazine is ready so over the next few days I will get that printed, collated and ready for distribution, so other than shopping with Annabell, this should keep me occupied for the next few days. It should have been completed last week but one of the contributors was late and since I had reserved two pages for her article, I couldn’t finish until that was in. Anyway, it’s done now.

Our friend is still hanging in and has defied the dire predictions of his doctor and a week after he was expected to depart from us, he is still here. A special meeting will be held in Mount Gambier on the 19th January, so I will be away for a few days and unable to help if anything happens. I can’t put this off – it is a Special Meeting that I need to attend in Mount Gambier. I thought I would put in the photograph I tool this morning of the ATM – even in our little backward place, we have our share of drama. And it’s raining again and has been for most of the day.

Adelaide CBD and Home

19/12/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

Adelaide Christmas Tree in Victoria Square

Got me baffled!! Monday, 39C Hot / Tuesday 40c Hot ( cool change expected in late afternoon) Wednesday ( Today) it’s chucking it down expected maximum 23c – wet and cool. No dogs out today. No it was not a mistake, I did say dogs. Every year our friends go off to Perth to be with their family for Christmas and New Year, and every year we have looked after Yogi, their dog. Like Benji, he’s a fairly placid dog so no problem. Last year Fay was ill and they stayed home. This year, of course, we have the WaWa, so with THREE dogs the next month is going to be interesting. No word from Sooah so we have no idea what is happening there, how things are going and when – or if – they will be back. They did give me an email address and I have used it, but it keeps bouncing back. I looked through my Organizer and the last time

we had Yogi was in early April of this year when Jim went into hospital – before we got the WaWa. We expected that by this time the WaWa would be gone and we would only have Benji and Yogi – Best laid plans and all that! However, as I said, Benji and Yogi get on well together, walk together and play together.

Friday I went down to Adelaide to do the last of the Bunnings things. Since I have a RFDS Fundraising event today ( Saturday 17th) I went down and back by coach – a bad mistake as it turns out. I have had some problems with this leg and it has been playing up. Sitting in the one position for five hours, then trying to walk was not great. However it eased up a bit but by the end of the day I was tired and quite painful. I got the things I wanted at Bunnings although I have to admit that although it was the closest to the CBD it is also the smallest store in South Australia. In fact, this Bunnings is so small that it doesn’t even have a Cafeteria. Once I had completed what I wanted to do there, I got back into town and spent time at a number of shops, picking up a few things. I decided not to walk and instead took the tram from Rundle Mall to the Law Courts, and then over to the Central; Market. From there it’s a short walk to the Bus Station. I like wandering through the Central Market. I always find it an exciting place and so full of life and it seems to be different each I go there. Next to the Central Market is Chinatown, which has its own atmosphere with Chinese shops, Supermarkets and Restaurants. The coach was due to leave at 4:30 but didn’t leave until almost 5pm, which, of course, made us

Taken from the Coach. Not too bad for a mobile (cell) phone.

late arriving home. Sitting in the same position on the way back – although I did get off at Port Wakefield for a walk, well, I was not the best when my son picked me up and I finally got home. However, this morning I did take both dogs out for a morning walk although I did change our route and

Children's amusements in Rundle Mall — Children’s amusements in Rundle Mall

was a little bit short. I managed through the RFDS Funding event, took Annabell shopping, then sorted out all the fund raising equipment – now I is sitting down and intend to stay that way for the rest of the day. I did say to Annabell, that I will try very hard not to have to travel down to Adelaide by coach again. I can quite happily drive all day if needs be, but sitting for five hours is painful. Oh it is a large and comfortable coach but it’s still a coach and it’s still a five hour trip. Last night, we had our Carol Service and a collection we took up was a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Anyway, here I am and here I intend to stay. I don’t want to move again until such time as I have to – probably Saturday night. (dog walks allowed)

Two days without rain – Joy!

24/10/201624/10/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

In court this week, a teenager admitted that he had deliberately started fires in South Australia that could have had catastrophic consequences. Judge was pleased that the lad took responsibility for his actions. His little arson adventure ( acting out his frustration with life) caused the loss of bales of hay, damage to farm equipment and the destruction of a farm shed – all in – about $80,000 damage. But the judge said that she believed that he understood that he had been a naughty boy, and that he was really sorry – so she suspended his sentence. You have to love South Australian Justice.

I didn’t know the gun was loaded

And I’m so sorry my friend

I didn’t know the gun was loaded

And I’ll never, never do it again.
This last week has been Whyalla Pride Week, a week when people organize and take part in activities that showcase the town . Saturday was the Day in the Park and the RFDS Barbecue was

there. I was not on duty but my son was and I did go down and see what was happening and have a slow wander around. I stayed for a little while and the weather was not too bad – warm, sunny with a bit of a cool breeze. Just nice I thought for a walk along the beach with Benji, so I went home and picked him up. We drove to the beach, parked the car and I got out. It was freezing cold. The “light wind”of Civic Park was blowing a bit harder here – and it was cold, coming in off the Gulf. I lasted about ten minutes without a jacket of any kind then gave up and got back into the car, strapped Benji back in and headed up the hill, sat in the car for a few moments before heading back home. Last night, suitably clothed, I took him out for a walk. I am still not good enough to do our full walk but I did not too badly and achieved 8697 steps – which is about 4.7klms. I have decided – depending on the weather – that I will take him walking in the mornings and try to get back to our walking routine. I think it will take me a bit to get back to our day routine. However, I did (confess time) become somewhat of a slave to the Fitbit and I have decided I will use it as a guide – not let it dominate things.

We have heard from Sooah and it is unlikely that she will be back in October as she had hoped. She and her husband now have to find a sponsor and employment. Given that South Australia has the highest unemployment rate in Australia and things have deteriorated since she left in late April, this could prove to be a problem. Only this week a major Building Company ( Homestead Homes/ Ashford Homes in Victoria) has collapsed leaving thousands in strife – contractors, people who are now left with partly constructed houses and young couples who paid a deposit have lost everything. Partly constructed houses are covered by insurance, but builders are very reluctant to take over another builders work. Why?? Well as one builder explained, ” I have to guarantee the work when I hand it over and I do not know what is underneath the concrete, I do not know what is behind the walls, my people didn’t do the plumbing or the electrical work – it’s all very messy.” There are approximately 207 properties involved.

However, Sooah and her husband will not be back this year so Annabell and I are going to trap the feral WaWa, get her into a crate and up to the

vet. I want her examined and I want her measured up for what probably will be a 00 muzzle – not because she is a vicious dog, but we want her to stop attacking Benji. ( she NEEDS a bath and I value my fingers!) Also I want advice on what we can do about this almost constant barking – which is driving Annabell crazy. Benji lives with me and generally he is with me in my room. He can’t have the run of the house as he did before because she will attack him. Yes Benji has turned on her a few times but it’s not made any difference – she just comes right back again. As someone said, Benji is paying the price for my promise. Overall, the barking and the problems

with Benji aside, the WaWa is a funny, friendly little dog that loves playing with her toys and chasing a ball. I don’t want her to be really curtailed but I need to stop her attacking Benji if she has to stay here for an indefinite period.

Hospital, Benji and assorted hackers

11/08/2016 by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The weather over the last few days has been fairly mild – 19c – 21c which means that I have been able to get down to the wetlands. We normally do two circuits of the wetlands before we head for home. The foundations of the new bridge across the main pond have been constructed and if the foundations are anything to go by the bridge may well be unnecessarily elaborate and enormously expensive. But then again perhaps the two concrete structures are for something different and not for the bridge at all. Photographs when it’s finally built. Anyway, the wetlands was fairly quiet today.

I have been waiting for it to happen and today it did – Benji turned on the WaWa and she went screaming off in fright. Since then she has stayed away from him. I don’t want harm to come to either of them but I hope this stand off continues for a while. The WaWa has adopted Annabell and she just sees everyone as a potential threat to her and it is unlikely that she will abandon that. This means that the respite is probably only a temporary thing.

I will be going into hospital on Monday 29th August and back home by Wednesday 31st August. Probably spend a few days with my feet up and relaxing, do a few exercises and then start to get back out again. I should be driving within three days. I just don’t know how I’ll manage! Me and Benji, dinosaurs and lions, lying on the bed watching the television. It will be a hard couple of days, but we will certainly try our best. I will be taking a break from all fundraising and other work for the RFDS for a few weeks until the repairs to my knee have settled down and I’m walking easily again.

It’s amazing ; a mere 19 million people trying to get on to the web site and it crashed – how unexpected! Who would have thought that would happen? Now the Government are blaming the crash of the Census Web Site on over-seas hackers. But it’s like everything else this government does to save a few dollars. Go murder someone, plead guilty and you can get up to a 40% reduction in sentence for pleading guilty and saving the government the cost of a trial. And this, by the way, overrides the mandatory life sentence for murder and if you look contrite and even cry and say how sorry you are, there is every chance that a good part of your sentence will be suspended – you might even be home in time for dinner. It used to be that you could be fined for making comments that would bring the law into disrepute, but the judges and lawyers are doing a very good job of that on their own without any assistance from members of the public. Man found guilty of abusing an elderly patient in a nursing home. Judge did not apply a heavy custodial sentence because he felt the young man had been punished enough by having his details in public and having lost his job and reputation, so he sentenced him to six months – five months suspended and the remainder

subject to time served in custody, so he was about ten days to two weeks in jail. This is justice, South Australia. The Attorney General has the legal right to challenge a sentence, but rarely does, and even when he does, nothing much comes of it.

Anyway, back to the census – it is believed that hackers disrupted the web site and denied access. Was unable to get on line last night nor again this morning (Wednesday) The whole thing was a shamble. Whoever came up with the idea of trying to get the entire population of Australia on line in the one night and on a single web site, really needs talking to. Oh and BTW, we have a government with a single seat majority – could be an interesting period. The leader of the party and Primer Minister, is detested by a number of his party so it remains to be seen if they can get over that or if their dislike is so great they will bring down the government. I’m betting on the latter.

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