Charities

I have just had another worthy cause phone call. Now, I am not averse to helping these charities when I can, but I object to being patronised by total strangers , over the phone( or in person) at the best of times. A woman from The Heart Foundation rang me from Queensland and said they needed people to help with their doorknock appeal in September, and could I help. I aasured her I would be only too happy to oblige, but I am crippled up with Arthritis. She said she has arthritis too, and it wasn't untill September, and it would be OK in the warmer weather,Honey! I had to tell her very firmly, that it would not be OK in my case, as I can not walk very far as I also have a very bad back and a bung knee. . She then asked if I knew of anyone in my street who could help, so that when she made the next phone call she would not be wasting time and 'losing more goodwill'! I think these organisation need to 'vet' there phone operaters a bit more stringently, and give them some pointers in tact. I am sick of being treated as though I am in my dotage and have a bottomless pocket.

Health cover

I have had private health cover for some years now, but was somewhat surprised to receive in the mail today from my Fund, an application for accident and accidental death cover. For a small premium I can be covered to the tune of $25.000.00 or $50.000.00, depending on how much I can afford to pay, for accidental death. I don't require any medical checks, I would not be covered if I have an accident, resulting in my being hospitalised or my death. on the day the cover commences. It is supposed to give me peace of mind that if I were to die, my family would not need to worry about my funeral expenses. The thing that gets my attention is this, the cover expires the day I reach the grand old age of 85! As reported in the press today, scientists are saying that the possibility of us living to 120 is not too far away. In the light of that news, the accident cover scheme sounds like throwing good money away to me.

Magpies.

Magpies, or Piping Shrikes, as they more correctly should be called, are nesting near our home. They are a small to medium sized, black & white bird.They nest in the same place each year, providing it has not been destroyed. They can be extremely territorial and swoop anything or anyone they see as a threat. There is a large Gum tree,(Eucalyptus) in the garden across the street & for the past few weeks the male (I think) has been gathering material for the nest. I have two hanging baskets which have thatch type linings. He has been desamating one of them for his nest. He flies in and slams into the window.He either, misjudges the distance, or he sees his reflection in the glass and perceives it as another bird. Then tugs a beakful of the stuff and flies away. He does this three or four times a day. He has been known to swoop my cat and terroise her, too. I think the nesting process has finished, as I have not heard or seen him for a few days now.He is not the least bit afraid of humans, as he sits in my Ficafolia (gum tree) and squawks at me, & he is only two or three feet away. I am dreading the time the eggs hatch, as he swooped me several times last year, & I was in my own yard!

How lucky was that?

Nearly two weeks ago the bleep bleep washing machine went 'on the fritz' again! I had done most of the washing on the Sunday, and on Monday I tried to wash the sheets & anything that I had overlooked. This is the fifth time in 18 months that it has broken down with the same problem. On the Monday, I received the news by phone that a very old cousin of my late father's had died. I did manage to get the load of washing done, but it took ALL day, as I had to keep switching it off & on and trying to over ride the problem. When my husband, Neville, arrived home the next night, I asked him if he wanted the bad news or the really bad news. I told him of Pearl's death then gave the machine a hefty kick and told him it had broken down again. He didn't say anything which was surprising for him. The next day I asked him what we were going to do about it. He said there was a twin tub for sale at a clearing sale on the Saterday and if we could get it for a reasonable price it would tide us over until we had a good look around for a new automatic. We missed out on that one, and another one the same yesterday. This morning, our daughter, Deb, rang me on my mobile and asked if I had seen in the local paper that there was a garage sale with a washing machine for sale. I said I had not , and she said it started at 9.30 AM.It was 8.30AM. The sale was only 6 miles away so we hurried out to have a look. They had a price of $250.00 ono. Neville asked them if they would take $200.00 for it. The guy said he had an offer of $200.00 if it didn't sell. Neville then asked if he would take $210.00. He said yep, that would do. I wrote them out a cheuqe, and the guy helped Neville load it into the back of the wagon. It is a Simpson automatic 4.5kg, and only two years old. It has been working hard all day, and seems to be tickety boo!! If Deb had not told us, we would have had to go to the laundramat. Just as we were about to put it in the wagon another couple got there and were looking at it. They asked if it had been sold and Neville said it sure had. If we had been five minutes later we would have missed out again.

Grandkids sleeping over.

This is a first. We have our other #1 grandson,( he was born the same day as Yu-Jin) Lachlan, staying with us. I asked Deb if he would like to come and stay for a couple of days these school holidays. She said it would be OK, so I asked Lachlan if he would like to. He assured me he would. We had to wait to see what Deb & Pete were doing, as Pete is on holiday too. Then on Monday a relative rang to say that a very elderly cousin of my late father had died. Pearl was nearly 96. I wanted to go to the funeral which was at 4 P.M. yesterday. I rang Deb to let her know that we would be late getting back from Adelaide and it would probably not be possible to pick Lachlan up at that time. She said it didn't matter as Lachlan didn't want to come after all. She said he would not say why. Then on Thursday morning Neville woke up with a bad sore throat. As he usually gets much worse before he gets better, I said we need not go to the funeral as he is the only driver and it is no fun driving or doing anything for that matter, when you feel crook.Rang Deb to let her know we would not be going. The next day she rang and asked if Lachlan could stay with us for the day while she went to Naracoorte to do some shopping. I said of course.
Lachlan and I played a couple of games on the computer, then I cooked lunch. After lunch, we went to the wild life sanctuary to see the white kangaroos. I got a couple of pics of him. Then I asked Neville to drop us off at the Apex Park play ground so Lachlan could play on the swings etc. I was very 'pooped' very quickly pushing him on the swing and generally walking around, as my back is not the best nor my leg. When Deb rang as arranged , I said what we were doing so she drove home and came back two hours later. We went to a local cafe and had hot chocolate and half an iced donut each, then went back to the park. It was only when we got back home that Lachlan asked if he could stay the night. He only had the clothes he came in, but that was no problem. I rang Deb this morning to say he wanted to stay longer, so she brought enough clothes for him to stay until Monday if he likes. I asked him last night why he had not wanted to stay and was it because he didn't think he would have anything to do. He said it was. He has been having a ball and not had time to be bored. He has been no trouble at all.

Scams.

Recently, my son, Frugal Bastard, had a posting on his blog about a lottery scam from Spain. I received a pack of 'post cards' in the mail today and in it is one for a lottery called Euromillions. It emanated from Double Bay in Sydney. All I have to do is order my FREE information pack and I will be automatically entered in to the $9.000.000.00 Bonus draw. I still have my doubts about it, even though it is not asking for money.

Yu-Jin

My gorgeous #1 grandson{he was born first. there is no favouritism } and I had a chat on the phone last Friday, when his dad, my son (Frugal Bastard) rang me. In a previous conversation, I had told Yu-Jin I had some new Click Art fonts, and there are letters with Dinasaurs on them. I asked if he would like me to print his name with them. He said he would. I duly did same and posted them the day before our chat. When I told him I had done this, he asked me if I knew how to spell his name. I said I did and spelled it for him. He said,"No, Grandma, I mean my last name. Do you know what it is?" I assured him I did, and he said what it is, and I said it is the same as mine. There was a stunned silence while he digested that bit of information. "How come Grandma?" I told him I am his Dad's mother so therefore our name is the same. He was speechless for a few seconds, then said in excited tones, "So, you're my Grandma Ham!" We talked a bit more then he said "Goodbye Grandma." and abruptly handed the phone back to Dad while he went to check out what I had told him with his mum. Yu-Jin is five.

Scams.

Everywhere you look there is a scam for something or other. If it is not some lottery that you have not entered but have seemingly by magic won, then it is some wonder diet , new book to help you in every aspect of your life etc. The only thing they succeed in doing, is lightening you wallet. I received a promotion in the mail last week telling me that I could lose 6-20 kilos in 4 weeks, for only $105.00AU.if I sent away for their miraculous patch. It is supposedly impregnated with Iodine from the bottom of the Dead Sea, and works by 'revving up' my metabalism , allowing me to continue eating anything I desire, and still lose weight! I would like to know .a. how did they obtain my address,& b. how do they know if I need to lose weight? Aah, if only it were that simple, I would be 'in like Flynn'. But i, like my son the Frugal Bastard am not that gullible. But a girl can dream. This scam eminated from Singapore.

Princess Diana.

Once again, one of the late Princess of Wales' 'friends' has come out of the woodwork with more salacious tidbits. She has 'revealed' that DNA tests were ordered on her two sons to determine paternity. Well, if we are to believe her, they proved what I have always believed, they are BOTH Charles' sons.The fact they look more like their mother does not prove they are not Charles' sons! Diana had , so we are told, an affair with a man with red hair and therefore Harry could be his son. No-one seems to have taken into consideration the colouring of the Spencer men, and on of Diana's sisters. The tabloids and others, have not done their maths either. And all for a story to sell their rags. I do wish the media would lay off these people, they can not defend themselves, and let her rest in peace. Give her wonderful sons a break too.

Celebraties?

Well, here I go. I was not going to sully my Blog site with anything about Shane Warne, but the man should get a prize for his shenannegans, and his utterly selfish idiotic behaviour. Why do people in the public eye think no-one is watching and thinking if they do it, it must be OK? I cannot for the life of me see what these women find so irresitable about him. Is he so self absorbed he can't understand that there are youngsters who look up to him, and therefore he should be setting an exemplary example to them on how to conduct youself in public & in privete? I feel soo sorry for his wife & children. He seems to think he can have his cake and eat it too. When you marry you are supposed to remain faithful to your spouse. If you can't, then you should not marry at all. It is so hurtful and humilliating for the families.

Obscene Golden Handshakes

I have just heard on the TV news, that the retiring chairman of the Commonwealth Bank is to be 'paid' $30,000,000. How can this obscene ammount of money be justified? No-one is worth that ammount of money, unless they have made it by honest hard work. I am also incensed that the incoming CEO for Telstra is to be paid $10 to $11million as his annual salary. He has also indicated that after he takes up the position on July1, there is the possiblity of a hike in service charges. It has been hinted in the media, that it might include timed local calls. How are the battlers of this country supposed to afford any more of these fee hikes, when they are so isolated and a telephone is an essential requirement in the Bush?Telephone call charges are far too high, and in light of these so called salaries, it is not to be wondered at. Where will it stop?

Princess or not a Princess?

In The Advertiser (Adelaide Daily) today, is a list of the Royal Family and where they rank after the Queen. Somehow Camilla has been ranked lower that The Princees Royal,(Princess Anne,) even though she is married to the Prince of Wales. Camilla is not classed as a princess, only a Duchess.I suspect this is becaus certain members of the family baulked at the idea of having to curtsy to Camilla, as the second Lady of the land. She is even ranked lower that Princess Alexandra, the Queen's cousin.Camilla probably does not give a hoot, as she is a very down to earth person.But it smacks of a snub to her in my book.

Camilla

Well, surprise, surprise. The journos & fasion police have started in on Camilla already. They have accused her of 'upstaging the Queen' at the official parade to mark her Majesty's birthday, because she wore her wedding outfit again. As the Queen did not attend the civil ceremony, she had not seen the outfit before, so how does that contitute being upstaged? What is Camilla supposed to do with the outfit, toss it out? She only had it on for a very short time and she should be able to get some wear out of it. It probably cost Charles a packet, & he is reputed to be tight. So he would applaud her frugality. She did have a new, very stylish hat.
Give the poor woman a break. She looked very nervous as this was her first official joint engagement, and I thought she carried it off with great aplomb.

Shapelle Corby

I have just heard the verdict & sentence for Shapelle, & I am horrified & appalled. In Australia this is probably deemed a 'light' sentence for this crime, but I have always believed this young woman to have been set up & innocent of the charge
Our government has announced, now the verdict has been brought down, they will send two QC's to help her appeal against the sentence! Where were they when this whole shameful mess started? Why were they not made available at the beginning? Shapelle & her family are going to need all the finacial, physical, legal, spiritual & emotional help they can get. If Jonh Howard & his government have been doing as much as they have said, why have we not been made aware of it?
Is it more important to protect relations with Indonesia, or any country for that matter, at the expense of one of our citizens? When is this guy going to show some real leadership & moral backbone?

I'm baack!

Vale, Graham Kennedy.
I never liked the man, or his brand of 'humour', but I never like to hear of anyone suffering, for what ever reason. At least now, he is not suffering any more. May he rest in peace.
Grandies.
My daughter & her family have been quite ill with severe chest infections, my daughter in particular. Today she is improving, but she did not need to have to wash the doonas! It was not a good day for washing, but Riley, her two and a half year old, wanted a drink of cordial. He is not supposed to get it out of the 'fridge, but boys will be boys. His older brother had all the doonas in tha passage, who konws why, & Riley took the bottle to his Mum, & dropped it, the result being, of course, it burst!!!
Lachlan, the eldest, started school this term. He was five, along with my son's boy, Yu-Jin, two days before term started.in May, as they were born on the same day. Lachlan is loving it, & told me he has made lots of friends. So far that is two girls & one boy.
Creative writing.
I have signed up for a short course at T.A.F.E. {Technical And Further Education} I have no illusions, but am bored out of my brain. I doubt that I will be able to write poetry, but am hoping to write a short children's story. The readers of my Blog may think I am wasting my time, but time will tell.