Wow! Credit Thomas Blanchard, Video Artist.

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Ooops, missed another day. Never fear, I’m here. There’s an article in The Guardian today talking about lethargy and laziness in this self isolation time. I feel it. I’ve got into a rut, spending all day at this PC. Why? Because I find so many things to do, and they all lead into one another. If I can’t go out (or just shouldn’t), then I tend to just sit here. Tempus fugit.

The heat is making me lethargic too. I don’t work well when it’s hot and still. I feel much better when it’s low 20s and with a sea breeze blowing in the front door. Nice sleeping weather though.

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Having paid $1600 for that new CPAP machine a month or so ago, I’m not all that happy with it. First, the price included a new mask and tube which I didn’t really need, but there wasn’t a choice to delete it. These masks are around $250! For a piece of moulded plastic, no different to a $5 plastic kitchen utensil. And a neoprene rubber cushion, similar to a baby toy.

Anyway, I’ve had to go back to my old mask as I can’t make the new one seal reliably against my skin. I seem to wake up too often with a red warning “Mask seal”. It’s also uncomfortable as it’s much smaller than the old one and there’s less cushion contact. Not happy!

I’ve also had too many cases of the water reservoir boiling dry. When I feel the metal pad on the bottom, it’s too hot to touch! I’ve turned the heat down to 2/10 and it seems to help, and going back to the old mask with its better seal has helped too. I used to reliably get two nights from the water fill on the old machine. This one I have to top up every night.

Finally, I can hear the machine whining as I breathe in and out, a rising and falling whine. It’s not bad and doesn’t stop me sleeping, but the old one didn’t do that.

I don’t need the heated tube either! Yet I had to pay for it. I am not a fan of Resmed. They charge incredibly high prices for equipment which is effectively a kitchen appliance. They’ll say it has to be built to a medical standard, but amortised over thousands of sales, that shouldn’t raise the price so high. Anyway, how is it that they usually charge about $2,500, yet they can drop the price to $1,600 for a special? Nice profit margin!

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I’ve commented on Facebook on the High Court’s ruling on the case of Cardinal Pell’s conviction:
The hate merchants (Bolt, Henderson, the Murdoch press et al) are piling on the criticism of the ABC and the journalists over the acquittal of Cardinal Pell.

Don’t forget, a jury of 12 deliberated for five days and came back with a UNANIMOUS guilty verdict. On appeal, the Victorian Supreme Court agreed that the conviction should stand.

The High Court decision did NOT say the events didn’t happen. They did NOT say the boys who were molested lied or were wrong.

All they said is that there was room for reasonable doubt. That doesn’t mean the events didn’t happen! It doesn’t mean the boys lied or were wrong! All it means is that by the letter of the law, there was room for doubt. That does NOT mean the crime didn’t happen!

Never forget that the Catholic Church has shown a scandalous disregard for all these damaged boys’ well-being. The church has consistently lied and tried to use the law as a weapon to silence criticism and hide the crimes of the hundreds of paedophile priests in its employ. It’s sickening, shameful and shocking.

In today’s Saturday Paper, the lawyer and legal correspondent, Richard Ackland, wrote:
“There are so many puzzles about this case for citizens to play with over hot cross buns and Easter bunnies, after they’ve finished the jigsaws recommended by Schmo Morrison.

“Right after Sarah Ferguson on ABC TV added to suspicions that George Pell is a child molester, revealing there are several civil claims against the cardinal waiting in the wings, the High Court has gone and upset the apple cart with some complicated thinking about “reasonable doubt … unchallenged evidence … [and] innocence”.

“A jury, carefully instructed by the trial judge about the required standard, after hearing all the witnesses, thought Pell was guilty. Presumably, this meant they believed the accuser’s evidence was more sound than the evidence of Pell’s 20 or so “opportunity witnesses”.

“The High Court does not say the complainant was unreliable, a liar or inadequate – only that the jury should have had more doubt about the person they accepted as truthful.

“For many members of the community, the sight of the country’s highest appeal judges snitching away the verdict of a jury, in favour of a well-heeled and well-padded defendant, does not sit favourably. While the High Court ticks off the list of technicalities through which the criminal law jumps to protect the accused, victims become victims all over again.

“Chrissie Foster, whose daughters were abused by Catholic priests, remarked that Pell “had the best defence that money can buy for all his hearings”. It’s a rotten shame that in this country not everyone can afford that sort of get-out-of-jail card.”

Exactly. That’s what I said.

Then the paper’s editorial today said it so succinctly:
“George Pell has not been found innocent. It is wrong to say so.

The High Court allowed his appeal on the basis of reasonable doubt.“

That’s what I said. It was a ruling strictly on a point of law. It did not say the crime didn’t happen. It did not say the complainant was not telling the truth. All it said is that there is room for doubt. That’s all.

The newspapers also point out that the Catholic Church mounted a money no object defence, employing the best lawyers in the land. It’s a pity they don’t spend that kind of money on the victims.

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In keeping with a Facebook suggestion to take this opportunity to change things for the better in our lives, I have removed myself from those hi-fi and loudspeaker groups on Facebook. I was finding myself being increasingly upset by derogatory comments. Instead of reasonable chat, there were too many commenters saying this bit of equipment is rubbish, or this bit of technology is crap, or my amp is not good enough, or I must spend US$thousands and buy the speakers that this guy says are the only ones to buy. And I should buy them from this New York dealer.

Each time I visited these sites I came away feeling bruised. No more. I’ll do my own reading of proper, sensible reviews by experienced unbiased reviewers from now on thanks.

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There was a post on F/B by Adam Bandt, the Greens leader today, suggesting things to do in this period of “down time”. One was to get your old slides digitised.

I’ve answered, saying this is my speciality, I can do this, but would you be willing to pay $2 per slide, for example, because it’s all manual and takes a lot of time.

I also said I could scan all your old paper prints from your shoe boxes, and the negs if you want, if I buy the high speed scanner I know about. How much interest is there? I don’t know what to charge for this, I’d have to work it out, but because it’s automated and fast, it might not be expensive. What would take the time would be the packaging, the CD burning, the postage and the paperwork.

I’ve thought of this for years, but I’m afraid of disputes, arguments, accusations that I’ve damaged the materials, postage foul-ups and delays and non-payers. And Centrelink. I’ll await responses.

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I’ve added another 40 images: https://bullsnapper.picfair.com