red750

I saw a good anagram of Elon Musk today - Leon Skum.

Another thing that enfuriates me is pedestrian crossings with traffic lights that stop the traffic when there is no-one within a bulls roar of the crossing. As deserted as a ghost town, but the lights turn red as you approach. I don't mean at intersections, I mean mid block. You get stopped enough at intersections without that.

This appeared on Facebook. Naturally, there were a lots of comments, (eg. Grudge baby - someone had it in for him) However an ex serviceman said that on a 3 year posting servicemen get to come home a few times on leave, so it might not be what a lot thought.

We have a tree in the back yard which die about six months ago. I went to the council offices and asked if a permit was required. I showed the guy a photo on my phone (see below). Disregard the gum tree behind it. He gave me a slip with the council email address on it and said, "Email that photo to this address, attention Planning Dept., and arrange for an arborist to come and certify that the tree is dead. They will issue a letter confirming that the tree had been cleared to be removed. Give that to the person doing the cutting. That clears him from any complaints from neighbours if they complain about the chainsaw noise." I'm pretty sure the tree is a Japanese Box. My wife always referred to it as a Money Tree, not that it brought us any luck or money.

Well we had a lovely sunny day today, an occasional cloud, but no rain. The temperature still didn't get to 20, topping out at 18. Tomorrow should reach 20, and possibly 21 in some suburbs, but back to 17 on Friday. Another band of rain on its way.

Photos in the Daily Fail show Noni Hazelhurst being pushed through Sydney Airort in a wheelchair. The report did not indicate what her medical condition was. Noni is 71.

Daylight saving starts on the first Sunday in October, and ends on the first Sunday in April. So this year, it started in 6 October and will finish 6 April 2925 in NSW, Vic, SA and Tasmania. Officially, the change to and from DST takes place at 02:00 local standard time (which is 03:00 DST) on the appropriate Sunday. So, at the start, 2 am becomes 3 am (DST). At the end, 2 am (DST) becomes 1 am. Queensland, WA and NT do not observe DST.

Just to clarify....

A young couple were killed in a car accident and were met at the Pearly Gates by Saint Peter. "Welcome to Heaven. Before you come in, do you have any questions?" "Yes" says the girl, "We were going to get married but didn't get the chance. Can we get married in heaven?" "That's a good question ," said St Peter. He thought for a while, then said, "I'll go and find out for you." While the couple sat and waited, they thought about various things. They realised they would be in Heaven for eternity. Eternity is a very long time. After six weeks, St Peter returned. "I've got good news. Yes, you can get married in Heaven." The girl said, "We've been thinking. Eternity is an awfully long time. What if we don't want to be married any more? Can we get divorced in Heaven?" St. Peter looked perplexed and said, "It took me six weeks to find a priest. How long do you think it will take to find a lawyer?"

Ed Wheeler, who appeared in Blue Bloods and Law and Order, died of complications to pneumonia at the age of 88.

Here is an extract from the council website regarding permits to remove trees.

Ok. I'll set you right. It's 3rd Sept. The month is determined by the first initial, and the date by the number of letters in the name. So Sam is 3 September.

They have to make sure you are not breaching any green overlay by cutting down trees or overpruning them. That's what our mob do.

I know I've dragged this way off the subject (holidays, governments, councils, Men's Shed), so I might as well continue. When I joined the Shed in 2011, we were known as Whitehorse Men's Shed although we were not associated with the Whitehorse City Council. We werte run by a community health service. They were amalgamated with healthAbility Health Serice, and our name changed to healthAbility Men's Shed. We operate three days a week, Monday, Thursday and Friday. I attend all three days. Many of our members stopped coming when we had to relocated, because the shared Shed is too far and difficult to get to. Some may return when we move back to Nunawading. We currently have about 12 attending each day but many of them don't come some days.In our original location, the Shed operated on Wednesday to provide training for young people, male and female, who were at a loose end, some school drop-outs, where they learnt skills which could help them get employment. It is proposed when we get our own location in our suburb, that this training will continue. Experienced but retired tradespeople act as volunteer mentors, but unfortunately in the meantime a couple of them have passed away. We are also considering providing an opportunity for women to attend on the Tuesday. Our current members, retired or physically handicapped (stroke victims for example) prefer to operate in a men only environment. Our youngest member is probably in his 60's and our oldest is 93. I turn 80 next week.

Local government has two sections (like other levels of government), the elected councillors and the council staff. And they don't talk to each other. We at the Men's Shed have had an ongoing problem with our local coujncil for more than two years. Our Shed was located in a couple of rooms at the premises of Nadrasca, an organisation which deals with handicapped adults. (I know I've told you this before.) In 2022, they advised that they wanted their rooms back, and we had to vacate by 31 July. Whitehorse City Council came to our rescue(?) and offered to erect a building for us, on the basis that we would share it with other community groups. Obviously this was going to take some time, but they had another building that had been standing empty for more than 12 months, which we could use until the new building was available. We expected to be in the temporary building by Christmas 2022, but so far have not spent one day there. They set down conditions for renovations which were required before we moved in, which we were required to pay for, but which had to be done by their contractors or staff. Meetings and negotiations have been going on for two years, and at last we have been given a key after someone tried to set fire to the place. We will still be lucky to be in by Christmas. When our managing body spoke to a councillor recently, he was flabbergasted that we were not in the building. At the current rate, I don't expect the new building to be started, let alone completed, while I'm still on this earth. We have even taken on providing a repair cafe on the first Saturday of each month on behalf of the council, in another meeting room belonging to the council, but which is far too small to accomodate our members and woodworking equipment. In the meantime, we have been sharing the premises of another Men's Shed 12 km away.

You weren't the one I was expecting.

I just know that there's an outcry when just one government department changes its name about the cost of throwing out and replacing its letterheads and stationery for no great gain.

Peas rolling off the plate are they?

P.S. Not mention every map, guide, review ... The mind boggles.

Just think of the cost of changing state nemes. Every sign, logo, etc needing to be scrapped and replaced. Even your car rego plates. Get Jerry to do a cost benefit analysis.

When I was a few years younger, I used to plant begonias in the garden along side the driveway. (I can't get down on my knees now, if I do, I can't get up). I used to have them planted by Melbourne Cup Day so they presented a pretty garden for Christmas. Regular rains till Cup Day. I have colour slides somewhere, but not scanned onto the computer.

Call me soft if you like, I know one of you will, but last night I threw a tartan travel rug over the blankets for a bit of extra warmth, and wore a beanie pulled down over my ears. Nose is still dripping like a tap that needs a new washer.