It’s that one day of the year… when the 7:30 Report isn’t on at 7:30. Other than that, today… I’m tired. Both kids were home sick today, coughing their guts up. Wears you out. (Maybe I’m not feeling 100% myself.) Bank account almost drained for the month. My eldest son Isaac officially became a teenager. ... [More]
Month: May 2008
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Wayne’s first budget
You wouldn’t read my blog for any kind of comprehensive analysis of course, but here are my initial impressions: Means tested baby bonus for incomes over $150K; extra tax on cars more than $57K? Excellent! Dunno why some are complaining about hitting the rich. The rich can afford it. Welfare should be reserved for those ... [More]
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Customer service crank
I’d generally consider myself a patient man, but one of the things that makes me cranky is customer service that doesn’t live up to expectations. I don’t expect shopkeepers to grovel to me or anything, but I do expect them to at least attempt to make my shopping experience as smooth as possible — or ... [More]
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Moving the trucks
My street is a leafy side-street, well away from industrial land. We see the supermarket trucks rolling through our suburb, but other than that, few big freight vehicles are seen. In fact a bigger volume of freight probably goes through Bentleigh on the steel trains from Hastings than on trucks on the streets. Not so ... [More]
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Phone numbers
Why do some people quote their phone numbers in funny ways on voice mails? Most Australian phone numbers come in two varieties: A local number, eg 7010 5105. (Let’s ignore the two digit area code for now; it’s not usually relevant in voice mails). Or a mobile number, eg 0491 570 156. How I’ve written ... [More]
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I like cycling, but…
I love the concept of commuter cycling. While my trip to work is a little too far, I love the idea of riding to places like my sister’s house or my mum’s house or my dad’s place (all just a few km away) on the bike. I love the idea of taking the whole family ... [More]
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Click here and dig deep
Last week I gave $100 to my old school’s building fund. I figure I can give at least double that to Burma cyclone disaster relief. Donations in Australia can be made through: Care Australia Red Cross Save The Children Caritas There’s probably others; these are the first four I found. For those overseas, Google has ... [More]
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Restaurants around town
Apparently the Footscray McDonalds was in a state of MacMourning: Meanwhile, check this restaurant in North Richmond. I’ll have to try eating there the next time I want some Aussie-Indian-Chinese. It’s trendy, yet traditional.
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Cutting coal power
It really is as easy as Tony H said to switch to 100% Green Power. A quick phone call to Origin, which took under five minutes (I was already a customer). As of now my house is no longer responsible for emissions from brown coal. Which is good, ‘cos I’m afraid I’m a little cynical ... [More]
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Twentieth reunion
Friday night’s 20 year school reunion had all the standard components: old mates chatting; drinking; fairly raucous singing old the school song; a meal; more drinking; a few speeches, that kind of thing. And a school tour. If my kids had been there, I’m sure they would have thought it was very Harry Potter, especially ... [More]
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Twitter Updates for 2008-05-04
BEHOLD! I AM CREATOR OF WORLDS! (for kid’s school project) # Looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s paper. # New road cash five times funding of rail http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/05/04/1209839456871.html # Powered by Twitter Tools.
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The quick health check
Last night while giving blood, they gave me a nice Red Cross O+ key ring, which can replace my RACV one now that I’m no longer a member. (Mind you, so far they’re still sending me newsletters and the occasional “Maybe you’ve forgotten to pay?” letter.) They also let me know my vital blood statistics. ... [More]