So I went for a ride today in the rain, and got a lot of weird looks from people, and some WTF? looks from the two highway patrol cops.. as if I was doing something wrong.
Had to turn back after 20km's when I realised the highway would be closed due to deep flooding before I got back from where I was going.. shame that, as I was really enjoying the ride up until then despite all the new deep potholes and 6 inches of water across the road at creek crossings.
So then I stopped off at a shopping centre to get stuff for the cats, and it was there I noticed again ... people running from their cars to the store entrance. What ? Is the rain deadly ? Is it toxic, or radioactive or something sinister like that ?
That is weird. When I take my car down to the shops and it is raining, I walk like normal because it is only little drops of water falling from the sky. So you get a little wet... so what ?
Many years ago I discovered that when we grow from being kids into adults, we suddenly find Rain a Scarey Thing.. something to avoid, something to run from in case you get wet... oh dear.. don't let the raindrops get you.
But when we were kids what did we do ? We played in it.
We jumped in the puddles. We used bits of bark as boats and had bark-boat races in the gutters. We were not AFRAID of a little rain at all... we must have been more brave as children than what most people are now as adults.
Yep.. I don't understand what happens to people as they move into adulthood and become scared of getting wet... "I'm not scared of getting wet. I shower every day", somone said to me years ago when I mentioned it the first time.. and he was serious. He took my words as a direct offense against him personally.
I suppose the difference is that I haven't forgotten how to be kid and not take myself way too seriously all the time.
Oh well, must be time to go paddle along in the gutter outside....
Sunday 27 January 2013
Saturday 12 January 2013
Still in the saddle.. 10 months later.
Ten months!! Already ? Wow times does go fast when you are having a good time.
The week before xmas I did another run up to west of Gympie to see friends and family. This time the bike used less fuel.. might be something to do with the fact I stuck to the speed limits the whole way.. except when overtaking of course.
Felt to me as if Pearl is really starting to loosen up now from her previous life of hardly ever seeing a road let alone riding along it. Poor old girl. I bet she loves me coming into her life and riding her every day.. she sure seems to like it more and more.
So that trip I went the same route as last time but took longer as I stopped more to have a smoke or drink and a yak with whoever was around at the time. I love that bit. I get to meet a lot of people and they are helping me to regain faith in humanity. All of them so far have been genuine, good, honest people.. not the feral, un-mannered, low-IQ'ers that plague the town I live in.
One of the old bokes I met at Woombye parked up next to my bike on his scooter. I watched him put his helmet into the deep storage box under the bike's seat and then I commented on how it must be like the Tardis inside.
He turned around with a smile before walking over to where we chatted in the shade of a big old tree for half an hour or so. Turns out that between 1957 and 1963 he campaigned a Harley Sportser in Californian drag racing events !! How cool is that ??
I listened a lot more than I talked so was able to learn about how he and his mate who was into hotting up any type of engine, managed to take what started out as a stock new Sporty in '57 to an almost 1300cc pump-fuelled sporty Drag Bike that finally ran a best 9.98 second quarter mile before they retired from running the Sporty.
Awesome story. One of the reasons why I love riding my bike around and meeting all sorts of people.
Bugs... sometimes they are an issue. Moreso in my district for some weird reason, and much less so nearer the coast. So.. being nearer the coast at the time I got hit hard on the chin by a Bee... even though it splattered wetly everywhere.. I knew it had to be a Bee coz it was hurting like a bastard. I managed to pull the sting out.. along with half the Bee's arse and tried to damp the area with some spit to stop it hurting.
Ahhh... its just part of the Adventure ya know.
Anyway.. I had a great time visiting friends and family, got to see a friend who was not available to see last time..so all was good with my world. Except... when I got home the last 5 days only felt like 2 days to me!! Bastard!!
I also do enjoy the interest people show in Pearl.. I am okay with her attracting attention because she is beautiful and I think she likes hearing people say it. On the road people just ogle her.. or try to ignore her coz they have stiff-upper-lip syndrome or think I am some nasty Bikie (stupid stupid word) to steer clear of. Women seem to show more interest than many men.. old ladies.. and women in their 30's and 40's all look and comment on Pearl. I can see the sparkle in the old ladies eyes as they see Pearl and remember their good old days on their or their boyfriend's bike.
Yep... Pearl's a Granny Magnet alright. Wish she would have the same effect on late 20 to late 30-somethings. hahahahahahhahaha... but seriously.
The week before xmas I did another run up to west of Gympie to see friends and family. This time the bike used less fuel.. might be something to do with the fact I stuck to the speed limits the whole way.. except when overtaking of course.
Felt to me as if Pearl is really starting to loosen up now from her previous life of hardly ever seeing a road let alone riding along it. Poor old girl. I bet she loves me coming into her life and riding her every day.. she sure seems to like it more and more.
So that trip I went the same route as last time but took longer as I stopped more to have a smoke or drink and a yak with whoever was around at the time. I love that bit. I get to meet a lot of people and they are helping me to regain faith in humanity. All of them so far have been genuine, good, honest people.. not the feral, un-mannered, low-IQ'ers that plague the town I live in.
One of the old bokes I met at Woombye parked up next to my bike on his scooter. I watched him put his helmet into the deep storage box under the bike's seat and then I commented on how it must be like the Tardis inside.
He turned around with a smile before walking over to where we chatted in the shade of a big old tree for half an hour or so. Turns out that between 1957 and 1963 he campaigned a Harley Sportser in Californian drag racing events !! How cool is that ??
I listened a lot more than I talked so was able to learn about how he and his mate who was into hotting up any type of engine, managed to take what started out as a stock new Sporty in '57 to an almost 1300cc pump-fuelled sporty Drag Bike that finally ran a best 9.98 second quarter mile before they retired from running the Sporty.
Awesome story. One of the reasons why I love riding my bike around and meeting all sorts of people.
Bugs... sometimes they are an issue. Moreso in my district for some weird reason, and much less so nearer the coast. So.. being nearer the coast at the time I got hit hard on the chin by a Bee... even though it splattered wetly everywhere.. I knew it had to be a Bee coz it was hurting like a bastard. I managed to pull the sting out.. along with half the Bee's arse and tried to damp the area with some spit to stop it hurting.
Ahhh... its just part of the Adventure ya know.
Anyway.. I had a great time visiting friends and family, got to see a friend who was not available to see last time..so all was good with my world. Except... when I got home the last 5 days only felt like 2 days to me!! Bastard!!
I also do enjoy the interest people show in Pearl.. I am okay with her attracting attention because she is beautiful and I think she likes hearing people say it. On the road people just ogle her.. or try to ignore her coz they have stiff-upper-lip syndrome or think I am some nasty Bikie (stupid stupid word) to steer clear of. Women seem to show more interest than many men.. old ladies.. and women in their 30's and 40's all look and comment on Pearl. I can see the sparkle in the old ladies eyes as they see Pearl and remember their good old days on their or their boyfriend's bike.
Yep... Pearl's a Granny Magnet alright. Wish she would have the same effect on late 20 to late 30-somethings. hahahahahahhahaha... but seriously.
Internet cost versus service actually provided.
Trying to download something and it is running at only 20kb/s !! FFS!!
I live about 200 metres from the CBD in my town. I pay megabucks to have an ADSL2 internet connection that is supposed to provide me with up to 8mb/s.. and yet I rarely even see 1mb/s.
So I began to wonder......
Why do we ALLOW ourselves to be ripped off blind by our Telcos who are not supplying their advertised speeds, ever ?
Yes I have read the small print about speed variations, etc.... had to check that out before signing up to my current and previous deal.
What sizzles me about it all is simple.. I pay top dollar for what is supposed to be the fastest internet connection I can get in my area.. and I NEVER, EVER get the service provided to me that I am paying to have.
Sure I have internet connection and a full service home phone.. and mobile.. in order to get the internet portion down from $79 per month to $49 per month I had to have the above Bundle bullshit ripoff deal.
But where is my 2mb/s to 8mb/s service ???????
I've seen 2mb/s only twice in 3 years !!!!!
So why isn't my Telco reimbursing me for the service they cannot or are not providing to me at their advertised speeds, etc ?
Why do we not get Reimbursed for our payments on a sub-par service ? Why do I have to pay so much money for such little speed in the first place ? And why do I have to bundle shit I don't want just to have access to ADSL2 at a reasonable montly price ???????
Ripped OFF !!
Any other business that does not provide their advertised service and their advertised fee are made to reimburse the complainant... all except Telcos!
If you buy a burger that is sub-standard you can take it back for a refund.. or an upgrade for free... but not with our Telcos.
If you have car repairs done that are not up to stadard then you have some comeback on the mechanic.. but not with Telcos!!
If you buy anything that does not live up to the advertised standard.. then you are legally able to be reimbursed for that... BUT NOT WITH OUR TELCOS!!
WHY NOT ??
I live about 200 metres from the CBD in my town. I pay megabucks to have an ADSL2 internet connection that is supposed to provide me with up to 8mb/s.. and yet I rarely even see 1mb/s.
So I began to wonder......
Why do we ALLOW ourselves to be ripped off blind by our Telcos who are not supplying their advertised speeds, ever ?
Yes I have read the small print about speed variations, etc.... had to check that out before signing up to my current and previous deal.
What sizzles me about it all is simple.. I pay top dollar for what is supposed to be the fastest internet connection I can get in my area.. and I NEVER, EVER get the service provided to me that I am paying to have.
Sure I have internet connection and a full service home phone.. and mobile.. in order to get the internet portion down from $79 per month to $49 per month I had to have the above Bundle bullshit ripoff deal.
But where is my 2mb/s to 8mb/s service ???????
I've seen 2mb/s only twice in 3 years !!!!!
So why isn't my Telco reimbursing me for the service they cannot or are not providing to me at their advertised speeds, etc ?
Why do we not get Reimbursed for our payments on a sub-par service ? Why do I have to pay so much money for such little speed in the first place ? And why do I have to bundle shit I don't want just to have access to ADSL2 at a reasonable montly price ???????
Ripped OFF !!
Any other business that does not provide their advertised service and their advertised fee are made to reimburse the complainant... all except Telcos!
If you buy a burger that is sub-standard you can take it back for a refund.. or an upgrade for free... but not with our Telcos.
If you have car repairs done that are not up to stadard then you have some comeback on the mechanic.. but not with Telcos!!
If you buy anything that does not live up to the advertised standard.. then you are legally able to be reimbursed for that... BUT NOT WITH OUR TELCOS!!
WHY NOT ??
Friday 4 January 2013
Live on $35 per day ?
This what the MSM said..
So let's break that down in my case...
$35
- 25 One seventh of my weekly rent.. which is cheap compared to most other rentals
= 10
So only $10 left already ? What do I do with that massive sum I wonder ?
Let's see..
$10
- 5 per day is my cost of internet and phone services
Which of course means I would have only $5 left already, and that's without paying for fuel in the car, fuel in the bike, bike loan repayments, insurance, car and bike registration fees, or Electricity.
Subtracting the above items....
$5
- 5 Fuel for car
- 5 Fuel for bike
= -$5
Continuing...
-$5
- 5 Loan repayments
- 2 Car Rego
- 1.50 Bike Rego
-$13.50 and some change
- 3 per day for Electricity
Bringing me to a total, not including FOOD, of MINUS $16.50 per Day
Imagine how that would build up each week then....
Minus $16.50 per day x 7 days = MINUS $115.50 Per WEEK
Of course this means I would not be able to afford to Eat, go anywhere, smoke ciggies, buy Cat Food, buy Clothing when needed, etc.
So.. I wonder how Jenny Macklin could possibly claim she could survive on only $35 per day from Newstart Allowance ?
I can imagine that if she lived in her already paid for Home, with her already bought Food, already paid for Phone and Internet Service, and her already paid for Transport costs.. then it is possible she could "survive" on that measly pittance.
If not, then she is full of shit like every other Politician alive today.
Families Minister Jenny Macklin, has angered welfare and social service groups by claiming she could survive on Newstart payments of $246 a week - or about $35 a day.
So let's break that down in my case...
$35
- 25 One seventh of my weekly rent.. which is cheap compared to most other rentals
= 10
So only $10 left already ? What do I do with that massive sum I wonder ?
Let's see..
$10
- 5 per day is my cost of internet and phone services
Which of course means I would have only $5 left already, and that's without paying for fuel in the car, fuel in the bike, bike loan repayments, insurance, car and bike registration fees, or Electricity.
Subtracting the above items....
$5
- 5 Fuel for car
- 5 Fuel for bike
= -$5
Continuing...
-$5
- 5 Loan repayments
- 2 Car Rego
- 1.50 Bike Rego
-$13.50 and some change
- 3 per day for Electricity
Bringing me to a total, not including FOOD, of MINUS $16.50 per Day
Imagine how that would build up each week then....
Minus $16.50 per day x 7 days = MINUS $115.50 Per WEEK
Of course this means I would not be able to afford to Eat, go anywhere, smoke ciggies, buy Cat Food, buy Clothing when needed, etc.
So.. I wonder how Jenny Macklin could possibly claim she could survive on only $35 per day from Newstart Allowance ?
I can imagine that if she lived in her already paid for Home, with her already bought Food, already paid for Phone and Internet Service, and her already paid for Transport costs.. then it is possible she could "survive" on that measly pittance.
If not, then she is full of shit like every other Politician alive today.
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