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Thurs 6^th

Going to be hot today. Predicted 37C. Lucky I’m going to be driving around in an airconditioned truck.

The young bloke sat his yr 4 piano exam yesterday. His teacher said he did well. The results will tell the story. If its not a B+ or better then there’s not much point in paying out heaps each term for his lessons. He can now play well and when he puts his mind to it can learn a new piece in no time.

We heldthe local swimming carnival last Sunday. Great day. 90 swimmers. Heaps of PBs and even a record broken. Our young bloke achieved 5 PB out of 8 races and one of those was a non counting relay.

Two more carnivals in the next couple of weeks prior to the Xmas break then back into it again after new year.

I think Stu Mc Gill has gone for good from the test scene. At his age and with surgery looming I doubt that he will ever get a spot back. I feel for him. I’ve had Carpul Tunnel synd for years and its not nice. You wake during the night with your fingers numb to the point that they hurt. In the mornings  your thumb, little and ring fingers feel dead and it takes a lot of flapping your hand back and forth to get them right. I’d do something about it but surgery means weeks off work and I can’t afford to do that.

Speaking of affording things. I came up with the brilliant idea that a great Xmas present for my wife and son would be tickets to the Australian Open. They both love watching the event on TV. Well wasn’t I in for a shock. First round, day session and top deck (in the sun) a minimum of $195 per ticket. They go up to $1495 for lower deck finals tickets. I’ll look at the crowd in a new light from now on. They must be ALL rich.

Forgot to mention. We have received over 20mm of rain since I last made an entry. Yippee!!!!!

Nearly time to wake the family so I’d better be off.

Wed 28^th

Well, the rain has missed us yet again. Comes up look’n good then just wonders on by. Plenty has fallen in the north of the Shire and I was down in the SE today and it was raining but not in town.

The cocky I mentioned last post has finally got his crop off. Now he can relax a bit and enjoy Xmas.

I was wrong about Baddley wasn’t I. The lad did well. I bet the nerves were on edge when they teed off on the first play-off hole.

I didn’t get pushed into the pool on Monday night. They were just not quite game enough.:)))

The Executive of the club have invited an ex-coach now living in Jerilderie to give us a hand at training. Hmmm! Trying not to get my hackles up about it but it’s hard. I bust my gut to coach these kids and they ( the exec) bring in an unregistered ring in to “assist”. Well I’m told that she will be helping with the little kids (6 – 8 year olds) that are just starting out. That will be OK ‘cause they need a lot of help and I just don’t get the time to put in as much as I should with them.

The girl is off to an undies (can’t spell the right word) party tonight. How did she put it? Over priced and uncomfortable. Never mind she’ll get to chat with the girlfriends and have a good time anyway.

Fire Brigade training last night. The stuff up with our trucks has been resolved. We are to run the new ISUZU as a composite tanker during summer and revert it back to a Primary Rescue vehicle during Autumn and winter. Our other truck , the type 1 Pumper is now our Primary Rescue vehicle during summer and the town pumper during winter. Stupid arrangement if you ask me but we don’t get much say.

Sat 01 Dec

Hey it’s December! Time to put up the Xmas tree and all the lights. Ever wondered how much all the lights add to green house gases and global warning. (punn intended) -J

Well! We’ve had a bit of rain. The towns folk got together and decided that enough was enough. If the thunder storms were going to persist in just missing us we would have to do something about it. Yesterday there was a really large thunderstorm approaching from the south and heading NNW. It was going to miss town by only a couple of hundred meters so we all got on the eastern edge of town and pushed the whole damn place a bit west till we were in the path of the rain. Of cause, after the event we pushed town back in place to avoid upsetting the map makers and the highway builders. Really, its true.-J

Swimming carnival here tomorrow. We have 90 swimmers entered which is really good. The last time we ran a carnival, or tried, we only got 40 swimmers including our own so we cancelled the event. It will be interesting to see how many of our parents are prepared to enter their kids in other carnivals at other towns. For several years this club has had only one representitive going to other carnivals. Our son. The excuses form parents are varied but regular. “ Too busy”, “Too far”, “Too expensive”, (can still go overseas for 2months) “Johnny isn’t competitive”. “ That will be fine, what time are you going to pick Mary up?”. Any wonder we transferred the main man to a neighboring club. He got tired of being a one out representitive of the club. Wanted some company. He also wanted to swim in Vic meets and be able to qualify for Vic state championships. Anyway ,I shouldn’t bitch. Different folks have different strokes.

I have been attempting to improve my writing skills in recent times. I had noticed that when writing reports for work, notes to workmates or friends etc there seemed to be an ever increasing use of words such as ‘got’, ‘went’, ‘had’, ‘did’ and so on. I decided that it was high time that an attempt was made to improve my writing . Now when I begin to make a statement such as “ I got a new battery for my torch yesterday” I try to use a better word than ‘got’. Purchased, procured come to mind. Let me say that this process is not in the least an easy one. Over the years I have become so lazy with the use of these words that they just flow out and a concious effort is required to use better words. I am becoming (instead of getting) more adept (instesd of better) at the process and the resulting sense of satisfaction when I proof read my work is terrific. Now I need to work on punctuation. Always been a failure of mine.

Speaking of writing, did anyone listen to the talk back program on radio Australia regarding the loss of the populations ability to write? Very interesting. Because of the ever increasing use of PCs and key boards it seems that there is a general decline in the use of hand writing to communicate. We have an ever increasing number of ways to communicate, ie Blogs, MSN, text etc but all accomplished with the use of a keyboard. How good do you feel when a friend or relative sends a hand written letter or card. I don’t know about anyone else but it makes me feel special -- that the sender has thought enough of me to take the time to hand write a note to me. Then, look at what we are doing right now. I we were to revert to hand writing, Blogs and bloggers would dissappear.

Hungry! Going to have some breakfast.   

Sunday 7:00AM

Well it’s almost done and dusted. Some will be happy and some very dissapointed. I don’t like debating politics ‘cause most time it degenerates into an argument but I feel the need to say something on the current election.

We have had 11 yrs of a Liberal government. This means that there are hundreds of thousands, probably millions of people in their late 20s that have known nothing but Liberal government. This also applies to the first time voters that have, since the age of 7 and not comprehending politics but listening to parents talk and watching TV known nothing but Liberal governance. These people I’m certain have said. “Well lets see what the other mob can do.” It happened at the end of the 9yr run of the Labor party and its happening now. Kevin Rudd and his team will have one term to prove that they can do the job. Australians aren’t idiots when it comes to electing government and if the serving power aren’t doing the job they (the government) will get ejected. Personally I voted the way I did ‘cause I was afraid for my working conditions. An unusual step for me but one has to protect self and home. We own our own home and need to grow our savings so if interest rates rise then its to our advantage. I hope I’ve made the right choice. Not that it mattered in this seat .It was never going to change hands. Susan Ley needed a 16.6% swing to be dethroned. I’m not sure how the numbers are going but I am certain that she will remain.

This little commentary may or may not attract comments but I’m not going to get into any arguments with fellow bloggers because of it so don’t expect return comments.

Other stuff.

More rain expected this week coming. Hope it slides overus. Last week it stopped short by 10 km would you believe. The top half of the Shire received up to 50mm.

I was talking to one particular land manager in the supermarket yesterday and commented on the good fall he had received and got a tirade of grumbles in return. “Bloody rain. Won’t fall when you really need it and comes down in bucket fulls when you don’t” He was one of the lucky ones that was fortunate enough to have a reasonable crop  to strip. His problem is that hes right in the middle of harvest and is bogging the equipment trying to get the job done. I can understand his frustration but he should consider himself fortunate. The properties around him can’t even grow weeds they are so dry. Having said that, with the falls they had on Thursday last the weed situation will quickly change. The first thing to raize its head after rain is weeds. Never mind. Keeps me in a job.

Going to lay back and watch the golf on TV today. Baddely is going well but I don’t think he has the winning streak in him and doubt that he will be able to finish off. The Swede, Daniel Chopra is doing well and is in hot form after a recent win in the states. Looks good to watch as well.

I thought about playing here today but the fairways are dead I I can’t get enthused at all.

Had some friends over for a BBQ last night. Lovely evening, The kids played in the pool, we had a couple of drinks while I cooked. My old mate bought a bottle of Glnfiddich with him. Oh my, isn’t that a beautiful whisky. The kids were full of cheek during the meal and have threatened to throw the coach in on Monday night. We will see. If they succeed I can see 400M of fly right after it.

She who must be obeyed has just called for a cuppa so  had better run.

Just remembered, it would have been my mums 93^rd birthday today if she were alive.

Saturday. (Election Day) No further comments on that.

I’ve got the Social club Xmas party today. Don’t think I’ll go. It’s not the party it’s self but the getting over it. I get the impression (altho he never says anything) that my son does not approve of me coming home after such an event a bit under the weather. Also it must be to do with age but I can now feel what I’ll be like later on and it’s not a good feeling so I think I’ll do some gardening instead. Penny will be peed off ‘cause if I had of decided not to go yesterday she would have invited friends around for a BBQ tonight. Maybe theres still time.

Been hot down here this past week. 41C on Tuesday then down to about 18C Thursday. The poor kids at swimming trials nearly froze when they left the water.

We havehad excellent rain in the north of the shire on Thursday. Enabled me to get my Spiny Burrgrass treatment done. At least most of it. Finish it on Monday.

Gotta go to Albury on Tuesday, Penny has a medic appointment. That will give me the chance to pick up my latest book from Dymocks. Been waiting for it for so long I’ve forgotten the name but its written by Patrica Cornwell so it will be good. Notice that I’ve given her a tick of approval after reservations at first? After a slow start or me taking a while to get used to her style I found “The Book of the Dead” difficult to put down.

Our Main Man has been away from school since Wednesday whith a very nasty throat infection. His grandparents have it also but theirs is far worse than Rhys’s. They can hardly talk and don’t seem to be getting better. Rhys has come good to the point of being able to play tennis last night. (He won by the way).

Speaking of sport I wouldn’t mind playing golf tomorrow but it’s hard to get enthused when all the fairways are dead from lack of water. The club has barely enough to keep the greens alive and none for the fairways. Seems odd when there is a creek running right through the middle of it.

Well I’m going to look at the Bigpond sites that Grotty has suggested to me. Have to download tis compression program. Photos take up sooooo much space on a Blog .

Thanks for the MS Word tip Grotty. I’ve created a new sub folder and have started pre writing my updates (like this one) on it. Great idea.

Bloody thing has done it again. I sit here and write an epistle,go to publish and am denied access to the URL. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!