Author Archives: Pete

Silver linings

Light dawns! Reflecting on Buddha  Tokyo 1992   © PJ Croft 2012
I was blind, and now I can see.  I didn’t listen to my inner voice!

Sometimes what seems like a bad day turns out to be a lucky escape.

I had nearly taken out a contract with a bank that might have locked me in for some years, but a shocking communication has suddenly shown me that I was on the wrong path.
For the past couple of years I’ve been lost, wondering what to do. Now, suddenly, my path is clear. I am going to sell this house and move to a retirement village in another beach-side suburb. This will give me a much higher standard of living and release the equity in this house without having to be tied into a bank contract. 
The village units are much newer and well designed and are much less expensive than the value of this house. Importantly, they are also freehold, so if I want to, at a later date, I’ll be able to do a reverse mortgage even there. I’ve already asked the bank and they said, yes, sure can, when you’re ready.
I first thought of this a few years ago and went to view some units, but wasn’t ready then. Now I am. This village will allow a dog by prior agreement and Minnie will be able to come with me for her final year or two. She is still OK (snoring quietly beside me now) and wants nothing more than to sleep the day away. She makes an occasional woof, but I don’t think she’ll bother anyone in a village.  
(By the way, speaking of bothering people, I’m thinking of ringing Stirling City Council – there’s someone over the back of me here who has a workshop, but the work that’s going on in this workshop is on an industrial scale! A power  saw is cutting wood all day, weekends and all, it’s going on even now, along with loud shaper noises, a big belt sander and welding sounds. This is way beyond a home cabinet maker’s noise. I should know, I used to make cabinets.)
This will free me up in so many ways, to travel, to live better, and as the villas have an attached enclosed garage, to do my model trains or whatever.
Phew! Luckily, I haven’t re-cluttered this house. Everything is still packed away and I haven’t wasted money on new furniture or alterations. All I need to do is complete the packing and probably rent a temporary storage unit.
The estate agent tells me, yes, new carpets, and a new lawn at the back, but otherwise, do nothing. Suits me. Easy. I’ve had a valuation and it’s about what I thought.
How ironic. I think I’ve got a share in a Bali villa and find out I haven’t, but it opens up the path to a real villa, fully owned freehold in a small local community without having to emigrate. I’ll still be able to make Bali trips, but on my terms. Phew!
___________________________________

I forgot one

Window of opportunity?

I forgot to include probably my most important principle last night. Bit pissed, I suppose.

  • Dad always taught me, there are always two sides to every story. That is, no matter how something appears, don’t jump to a conclusion until you find out the full facts.
I’ve been guilty of making snap judgements and I often live to regret them. It’s amazing how wrong your ideas can be when you finally find out the full story.

I’m forever grateful to Dad for that legacy.

People who say things like “they reckon”; “a mate told me”; “it stands to reason”; “somebody oughta do somethin’ “; “Well, I don’t need to find out the facts, I know” are moved to my outer circle.

Principles

Water fowl, Carine swamp 14 July 2012. True friends.
Finally, finally! at 10.05pm, I can post. I have spent the day waiting, waiting, waiting for Vivid Wireless to get back on air. I HATE Vivid Wireless. Utterly unreliable. They will be hearing from me.  I would have posted before now, today, but my Vivid Wireless internet modem is constantly losing the connection, impossibly so. I cannot stay connected. I have restarted the modem over and over, but usually to no avail. 
I went out for a couple of hours 2-4pm and when I came home, it was back on line. Great. I got a short interval to check emails and now it’s gone down again. I’m writing this in WordPad so that I can try to post if it comes back tonight! As of 8pm, it has not reconnected, despite my reboots.
Vivid Wireless? Forget it. Full of promises – 40Mb/s! Bulldust. You won’t get it, not-even-close!
___________________________________________________________

I want to set out my principles.

I’ve had some shocks in the past couple of weeks, and especially in the past couple of days. I’m having to recalibrate who my friends are and who I allow close to me, and I’m moving other former friends  to my outer circles. These are people I’ll tolerate or be polite to (as always!), but who I don’t really want to spend much time with.
I hate doing it, but I wonder why I tolerated such abusive relationships up to now. That’s the way I see it — abusing my friendship, continuing to talk poison I have said I don’t want to hear, continuing to “deal” in ways I can’t abide. Enough!
My principles:
  • Honesty – sort of goes without saying and most people are pretty honest, but I try harder, get it? More, MUCH MUCH more to come. It’s too much to post now.
  • Politeness – when someone speaks to me, I answer straight away, or as soon as I become aware they’ve spoken to me. I answer emails asap. I admit, I have the time and others often don’t, but … I get tired of people who don’t answer. It’s the same as if you spoke to me on the street and I turned away without answering. How would you feel?
  • Be nice – always maintain a cheery attitude, even if I’m hurt. “Leave ’em laughing.” People say to me at the end of phone calls, “Good conversation, Pete.”  I really, really, really, really try to be cheery and upbeat.
  • I am taking a stand against racism. This is a big issue with me. I have “friends” who speak of abos, boongs, coons and “illegals”. One in particular said, when I mentioned my sister’s loss of her purse to a thief in a supermarket, “Oh, that’ll be the coons.”

    He is so stupid, so dull that I know he doesn’t realise what he’s saying, but I’ve asked him to stop and he doesn’t.

    I have decided I will no longer accept it. These people have been moved to my outer circle or banished.

    One particular “friend” of 46 years still comes to my house cadging coffee and cake and calls them “illegal immigrants” despite my objections. It seems it doesn’t matter how many times I object, he continues. I wonder why I allow him into my house. I should not.

  • Charity. Simple enough. We live in an incredibly rich country and we should give to those who are desperately poor, destitute.

    I used to give to many charities but the events of last year set me back. I will now try to resume.

  • Obligation. I worked in a full time job all my working life and I paid my tax, every cent of it. I tried to claim any legitimate expenses, yes, but whatever happened, I paid my tax.

    I have become aware over the years of people who will go to almost any lengths to avoid paying their tax. They regard it as a sport, a legitimate way to have fun challenging the tax rules. They engage in family trusts, even though they don’t have a family. The trust is purely a means to minimise their tax, their obligations. The more they can avoid, the greater they feel. “Wow, look at me, I paid almost no tax last year. Aren’t I clever?” NO! NO! NO! You are in the outermost circle of my “friends” along with notorious tax avoiders like Kerry Packer.

  • Keeping my promises.  If I say I’ll be somewhere at some time, I’ll be there! If I say I’ll do something for someone, I’ll do it! If I can, I’ll keep my promise. This seems to be an old fashioned notion these days. Pity about that.
  • Loyalty. I stick with friends if I possibly can. I was stunned recently by a former work colleague, who I thought was a friend, who said, “Oh, Rex [name disguised} hasn’t made any effort to come down here [from near Merriwa], so I’m not going to bother any more.” Rex had a brain aneurysm in 2003 and doesn’t get out much any more. He lives a hermit existence. I visit him when I can. Hard to understand people who won’t make any effort.
  • Keeping up! I keep learning, keep doing, keep trying. It’s not good enough to say, “Oh, I can’t understand that stuff.” OK, boring, outer circle.
  • Oh, nearly forgot. Admit mistakes. Apologise. Say, “I got it wrong, sorry.” I try to do that at all times.
I think that’s probably enough. You get the idea. Mr Goody Twoshoes! Mr Perfect! Mr CanDoNoWrong! What a poseur.

Well, that’s the way I see it. I try to live up to ideals. I’m not always successful and if I have to, I’ll apologise, as I did last year when I lost my perspective for a month or two. I’ve actually said sorry at least five times, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. I am NOT going to go down on bended knee. I’ve done enough.

I also keep meticulous records and I have an elephantine memory, as well as an elephant body. If you want to dispute me, if you want to take me on, I will prove every statement I make. Count on it.

That’s me. Take it or leave it. I am moving many former friends to the outer circle at the moment because they don’t, won’t and can’t meet my standards. I don’t like what’s happening, but I see no other path.

I have a LOT, LOT more to say on this. If the cap fits … If you recognise anything, well, think on it.
_______________________________
Meanwhile, I love dogs. They are true friends. More than humans, by a long shot.

UFOs

Olympus E-PL2  with 14-150mm lens   12 July 2012
Unidentified Flare Objects.
This is BAD! This is one of the photos from yesterday’s sunset. Those red blobs should not be there.
This is a brand new camera, and the lens surfaces are brand new clean. I believe this is light reflecting off the CCD sensor in the camera, bouncing around in the “box” and being recorded as image when they are not from the outside sky. I can’t understand why I seem to be the only one who has ever commented on this. I bought the camera on the enthusiastic recommendation of several web reviews. It’s about two years out of production but still being sold as new.
This, in my opinion, is grounds under consumer law to return the camera as faulty. I mention this because I’ve been commenting on it on a US photography blog.
However, I’m not going to make a fuss. I will just regard the camera as “unsuitable for sunsets”, although I intend to try my main camera, the Pentax K-5, in the same situation and compare.

Devil Take the Hindmost

In poverty? Don’t expect conservatives to help.
The title above is a reference to the days of Maggie Thatcher and her Conservative government in Britain. She, along with Ronald Reagan, is probably the most conservative of conservatives, the style of political party which advocates minimum government, minimum interference in people’s lives, leaving it to the market to sort out the winners from the losers. The phrase, “There is no society” is attributed to her, along with the ideas of market forces, the weak and the strong and the Devil take the hindmost.
What she meant by “There is no society” was that the government is not responsible for people’s welfare – that the good of society (the people) is up to them and is not the responsibility of government.
The result of her period of government was the enrichment of the South East corner of Britain at the expense of the rest. London and the stockbroker suburbs and counties grew rich, rich, rich. The rest of Britain sank lower and one of the results is that Britain is now near to being a Third World country, hard as that is to believe. Poverty in Britain is now rising so fast that 1/3rd of Britons are now close to being unable to pay their living costs! One third!! Britain, once the world’s richest and most powerful country!
There is one word that describes the cause of this: GREED.
Greed has taken over at almost every level of business. I’ve heard some info today which goes a long way to explaining why the shopping is so poor in my area. More to come on that.
Banks in other countries are now havens for criminal managements. (Only other countries? Not in Australia? Australia, the only country in the world with honest bank managements? Now that’d be something to be believed.)
Politics in Britain:
An attempt by George Osborne [Conservative] to besmirch the reputation of Ed Balls [UK Labour shadow treasurer] by linking him directly to the Libor-fixing scandal lay in tatters on Monday night after the Bank of England cleared the shadow chancellor.
A Conservative MP, Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative member of the Treasury select committee piled the pressure on Osborne on Monday night.
The remarks by [Bank of England official] Tucker blew apart a campaign by Osborne to prove that Balls was one of a series of senior Labour figures who tried to “fiddle Libor”.
Conservative in Britain = Liberal in Australia = Republican in USA.
And from The Guardian’s editorial:

The wrecking of Barclays is organised looting by those at the very top

The way Barclays has been debased to enrich a few hundred of its elite employees is also the story of Britain in recent decades
 ———————–
Looting. LOOTING. Looting is a word usually used to talk about hooded gangs of youths and men who prey on disasters, yet here it’s describing the CEO and senior management of Barclays Bank!
GREED. Greed has taken over at every levgel of management, including Coles and Woolworths in Australia. Think on it. 
_______________________________
PS: I always wondered how Margaret Thatcher’s son came to be Sir Mark Thatcher, especially after he was implicated in mercenary activities in Africa. Yes?
The answer came a few months ago. When she was PM, Maggie Thatcher made her husband Dennis a Knight, but she also made it a hereditary knighthood! So her son and his heirs, no matter what their qualifications, inherit their title. Nice, eh? She herself, of course, is Baronet Thatcher, Her Ladyship for life. 
This is Conservative politics, and Maggie Thatcher is a heroine of the Liberal Party in Australia.

Minnie

Minnie 10 July 2012
Ha! 1 second previously, there was a bird on this twig, protesting loudly at Minnie
Lemon tree very pretty.
I saw the bank yesterday. Reverse mortgage approved today. Documents for me to take to my solicitor Thursday. Fast work. Easy.

Pushing them away

An Australian offshore island    © PJ Croft 2012
Yesterday I sent an email to a Liberal member of our Federal Parliament who seemed to be showing some empathy with the plight of boat people, refugees who try to reach Australia from Indonesian ports and often die in the process.
I’m angry about people who call these refugees “illegals”. It is NOT illegal to seek refugee status and constant repetition of the word does not make it so. One of my long term “friends” says it repeatedly and he’d better be aware that he risks getting the hot coffee he cadges off me thrown in his face next time.
The federal opposition under the Dear Leader Tony Abbott has stated that they will FORCE boat people back to Indonesian ports, using our Navy personnel to do it.
I sent the following to this Liberal Party MHR:

I was encouraged by your show of emotion about asylum seekers (and xxx my [local] member; Oh, wondrous heaven, will miracles never cease?)

But you are blindly showing allegiance to your leader who is preaching words to the Armed Forces akin to sedition! [No, wrong word, it’s not sedition. Incitement to mutiny?] He is saying he (you) will command the Navy to force the refugee boats back inside Indonesian territorial waters, inside the 12 mile limit. Command.

Oh yes?

Indonesia has already made plain that they can not and will not take action to stop the boats leaving, nor will they take them back to Indonesian ports. (I don’t like it but I can understand it.)

Therefore the Australian Navy has the task of physically pushing or towing the boats back into Indonesian waters or to Indonesian ports (or Malaysian ports, for that matter).

Our Navy commanders have an obligation under the Law of the Sea to render assistance to boats in distress. They have already said they may have to disobey orders if these requirements conflict.

If they continue to push boats back to Indonesia, and Indonesia objects and tries to force the boats back to sea, what happens then? Naval confrontations between our nations on the sea border?

Your leader says “The Navy must obey me.” Admiral Chris Barry says doing this may involve the Navy in conflict and endanger life, something the Navy does not want to do.

How do you propose to reconcile this? Order the captains to obey their orders no matter what? I predict they won’t.

How does this fit with your expressions of compassion? To me, it cannot.

Peter Croft 

Next step

I looked at my watch and it was quarter to twelve
She said “Come now” so I made my job shelve
And I went, reelin’ and a’rockin’
Rollin’ to the CBA.
I looked at my watch and it was quarter to one
The time for my appointment had just about come
So I went, reelin’ and rockin’
Rollin’ to the CBA.
I looked at my watch and it was right on time
To see the loans man and an interview, fine,
So I went, reelin’ and a’rockin’
Rollin’ to the CBA
I looked at my watch and we’d done the job
He done the paperwork and my uncle’s Bob
So it’s done, reelin’ and a’rockin’
Mortgage from the CBA!
Thanks Chuck Berry.
I’ve just come home from seeing the loans officer at the bank, and it’s all happening. Seniors’ Equity Unlock, they call it, and the papers are in for approval. I should have the contract to study (not sign, not yet) later this week. A valuer will be here Wednesday, I hope, to value the house for the bank. He’s not a bank employee – it’s an independent valuation, even if commissioned by the bank.
Assuming there are no hitches, it should all be done by the end of next week.
_________________________________
I think the bank loans officer was suitably impressed by my grasp of figures. Every time he asked about credit cards, account details, driver’s licence (for ID), shares, etc etc, I just reeled off the figures and numbers from memory. Talk about reelin’ and rockin’ – I have all these things in my head, no problem.
______________________________
I have been toying with the idea of a tablet/phone, the Samsung Note in particular. I’m not prepared to buy Apple, so those are out, and I think a 10″ tablet would sit at home unused.
I’m also finding the mechanical QWERTY keys on my Nokia phone too small, even though useful for texting.
The happy medium seems to be the Note, a phone with a 5.3″ OLED touch display that works just like a tablet. I think it may be usable as a newspaper reader for the new world of on-line news.  It’s $599, less on a plan. Maybe, given I’m paying about $30 a month for my pay as you go SIM card and $49 a month for my Vivid modem data allowance, I could combine the two for less?
However, now that South Korea has said it’s going to hunt whales, I feel like boycotting Korean products. That means Samsung. Hmmm.

___________________________________

PS: Brrrrrrrr! I’m cold. I gather it’s not just me – why are we feeling so cold, given that temps don’t seem unusually low?

I got my electricity account today –  how many people can say their electricity cost went down last quarter? A $4 drop to $166 for the quarter! Since electricity prices are increasing, I must be doing something right, ie switching all unnecessary lights off and doing quick, efficient cooking and washing.

___________________________________

The Federal opposition are so sick I can’t believe it. They’ve been trying to blame every price rise on the “Carbon Tax” since the beginning of the month, but when they’ve found there haven’t been any rises, they are saying businesses are too frightened to raise prices by threats from the ACCC!!

This is sophistry of the highest order. These sleazebags are trying to talk the economy down so as to blame the government, using any negative story they can make up.

In the past week or two, I’ve been leaving comments on the web pages of the good guys – Dr Craig Emerson, Tony Windsor, one or two others. I’ve also made some critical comments on two Liberal MPs sites.

It’s very noticeable that the good guys have personally emailed me back thanking me for the comments etc. But from the Libs, nothing, except an automatic reply inviting me to join the Liberal Party’s Newsletter!   Piss off!!!