The good old days. © PJ Croft 2014

My campaign about supermarket checkout scanning continues. Two incidents in the past few days.

At an IGA I use regularly and where I’ve found errors several times before, I bought three tins of herring fillets. Two were marked as $3.59 on the shelf but scanned at the original price, $3.99. The other one was marked at $2.49 but scanned at $2.99.

At the checkout, I noticed this and tried to correct it before I paid, but after I got through I found it hadn’t been fixed! All three were shown as $3.99! I stood there waiting while half a dozen other people went through, trying to resist my urge to shout, “Check your docket! This shop rips you off.”

Finally I got the attention of the chick who called someone to come over. I waited some more, and a more mature woman came, looked at the prices and then to her credit, refunded the whole cost of the three items, about $9.40 refund. This was a win for me, but just about every time I go there, I find errors like this. Their marked specials on the shelves do not reach the checkout scans. It’s always in their favour. A good way to boost profits.

Second, yesterday I found another customer’s item on my bill! I noticed that a couple of old ladies in head scarves were talking earnestly to the checkout girl at my Coles in Butler. They opened a plastic bag and I saw a big bag of potato crisps. I don’t know if the checkout girl challenged them, but after a few more words the girl scanned the bag of chips. I don’t know what happened then, but they moved off and it was my turn.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and checked my printout (I always check!) to find Smiths Thin Cut crisps listed at $3.19. Bloody hell! It’s bad enough being overcharged on things I buy, but to be charged for someone else’s item is a bit rich.

To give Coles its due, unlike Woolworths, I virtually never have scanning trouble in any Coles store. That’s why I only discovered this when I got home. I’ll be going back there today asking for my refund of $3.19.

The theme of all this is, scanning errors are rife, and they are virtually all in favour of the shop. And you almost never get the refund as the old Scanning Code of Practice promised. Beware.

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The cruise is firming up. When I enquired further, I found the cost of the cruise part is only $2,108. Add airfares and it’s still way down on the $4,990 airfares included I was told earlier.

The airfare from Beijing to Hanoi is US$312.50, and the fare from Hanoi to Bangkok is A$172. The fare from Bangkok to Perth is $240 on Air Asia (cattle class).

I’ve found I can get a frequent Flyer free (20,000 points) trip Perth to Singapore on Jetstar, so that’s easy. All up then, it’s $2,832 plus hotels. Much more affordable. I’ll be booking asap, but I’m worried about travel insurance. With all my existing medical conditions, they won’t like me.

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One odd thing is that the cruise ends at Tianjin, the port in China nearest Beijing. Even though they say -> Beijing in the schedule, they don’t actually take you there. Beijing is 150Km inland from Tianjin! The travel agent confirms that the cruise ends at the wharf and it’s up to you after that. I’m a bit miffed at that.

Apparently you can book a tour from the wharf which ends at Beijing airport, but that’s way out of town. Looks like a rickshaw ride for 150Km to our Beijing hotel.

Hotels in Beijing seem to be around $120 a night for 4 star, eg Novotel, Holiday Inn etc. But I’ve found one called Shichahai Art Hotel which is down a lane in a hutong (old street). It’s all done in Chinese art themes and looks very nice. The only problem is the reviews emphasis small rooms and little wardrobe space. Suitcases have to go on the floor. Don’t like that.

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I noticed Fargo collected an Emmy for Best Miniseries yesterday. I watched the repeat in the past few weeks out of morbid fascination. This program was an orgy of violence! The main character played by Billy Bob Thornton was a psychopath who killed without a second look. Shotguns, assault riles, pistols, knives.

So this bloody violence goes to air uncut and is awarded, but sexual content is slyly steered around and self censored. Not happy.

Grrrr!

Grrr again. I’ve calmed down now but I was fuming earlier today. I pulled in to my local service (hah! What service?) station to fill up at lunch time and when I went to pay, the guy said, quite gruffly, “Next time, you’ve got to face this way” (i.e. the car must face to office). The idea is so you can’t easily drive off without paying.

I said, “I’m a regular.”

He said, “You’re all regulars, mate.”

I said, loudly in the office, “I don’t like being accused of something I haven’t done!” He just shrugged.

So I take my business elsewhere. Jeez, I hate this. As if I would do a drive-off if I want to come back and buy fuel again! And as the fuel filler is on the left side of my car, I will only want to go to the right of the pumps, which everyone else will be queueing to do. Yes, I know you can drag the hose across, but you have to have the car in just the right position to do it and often it won’t reach and you spill fuel.

This is the third “service” station I’ve found doing this policy around here. Luckily there’s a Gull just up the road 3Km where you just naturally face the office. I’ll go there from now on. But boy! I was mad. On top of the Italian cafe making me pay up front if I sit outside! We are all being penalised for the few who do the wrong. OK, I, a good customer, go elsewhere. But soon there won’t be an elsewhere, will there?

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 Well, things change suddenly. I was in two minds about doing this cruise due to the cost for a single ticket. But one of the old school guys was around on Thursday and said count him in. He’s keen to come along and share the cabin and hotels. That’s brilliant. That makes it much more affordable. He wants to do the whole thing – staying on in Beijing, Hanoi, Bangkok. It halves the cost of hotels, already almost bargain prices in Asia these days compared to here or elsewhere.

So I’ve asked for a full quote and as soon as I get it, I’ll book. October 24. Quite excited about it.

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Definite touch of spring in the air, I reckon. And a change in the light, to the spring look. Very nice.

Here’s the image wrap cover in the flesh. This is my first attempt at this format.

It was a good day yesterday. Two deliveries, three books – one extra copy of Veni Vidi Pici Vol. 1 and two copies of Cinta Bali. There it is in its image wrap cover form. I thought this meant soft cover, but it’s a hard cover, which I like. They really make a superb job of the printing and binding. There’s nary a thing to criticise.

Here’s the shelf now. I must make edge labels for them.  Note the slip case for the first white one. It’s a $21 option.

I’ve just had a call from DHL. Another delivery tomorrow. That’ll be the Japan books. Thick and fast.

Later: yet another delivery! Another copy of this book arrived at midday – that makes three copies. I only ordered and paid for two, so that’s a bonus. I had a lot of hassles with this order, inability to log in, being told my files haven’t uploaded two or three times, having to upload again and again. I deserve this free copy.

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I’m also looking forward to going to the post office to collect another new camera this morning. What, another one? Yes, ‘fraid so. It’s a bit special, this one. It’s a Sigma DP1 Merrill.

This is the version I’m getting, with the top mounted optical viewfinder, a $150 extra.

Strange name you say? Yes, an American guy called Bob Merrill invented a different type of image sensor called a Foveon sensor. The Japanese company Sigma bought the US company and now are the sole producers of this type of camera, and they named the models after the inventor.

The thing is, the design of the camera is a bit clunky compared to the big names – no image stabilisation, slow writing to the card, slow to clear the buffer, slow autofocus, poor battery life.

But! The fixed 35mm 28mm equiv. lens (it’s not a zoom) is supposed to be absolutely superb, the equal of Leica, flawless across the frame. And the images it makes have a richness of detail and colour like no other digital camera produces. I’ll post samples soon.

It just means you have to operate the camera like a film camera – assume you have limited shots, hold the camera dead steady, work slowly, carry a spare battery (which I ordered).  More to come.

Why did I buy? They used to be $999, too expensive for what you got, but there’s a new model out so they’re discounting the old model to $699. I took the bait.

Later: it arrived and it turned out that there were two batteries in the box to start with. My added battery ($15) makes three. That’s OK, they are very small and light, so I’ll carry them with me. It’s too dull and wet to take photos today. I’ll try another day.

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ABC News this morning:

The White House says Barack Obama authorised the mission earlier this year and is believed to have been carried out by several dozen special forces troops.

Wow, they must have been crowded around him. Did they use a stretcher? Was he sick?

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The latest addition takes shape. I assume it’s going to be a cafe/restaurant. It was a very dull afternoon. My house is behind it, to the left of the spindly pine tree. The pub is just to the left.

If it’s a coffee place, they’re going to shake up the existing Italian cafe that I criticised a few days ago. Ciao.

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Speaking of exciting, I got a flyer yesterday addressed to me at this address from iiNet – “Upgrade to iiNet Fibre.” If it’s addressed to me, then I must assume fibre is available here. Wow. They say plans start at $24.95 $49.95 per month, and I know the installation cost for the interface boxes is around $800, I think. I’ll check it out.

If the fibre comes right to my house, I’ll be able to thumb my nose at Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull who is trying to restrict fibre to nodes nearby, using the existing copper wires for the final connection.

Fibre all the way to the house (ftth) = potential 1Gb/s. Using the copper wires (fttn) = 100Mb/s or less. Good one Malcolm. You are crippling Australia to save money.

This is the typical approach – oh, we can’t afford it now, we’ll do a sub standard job and maybe fix it later. Like the three lane (2+1) bridge over the freeway at Warwick, forever restricting Reid Highway to one lane each direction. One lane! For a major highway in Perth! Fools.

Not many posts recently, only because I’m quite busy with a couple of projects. I mentioned that Photobook Australia surprised me a couple of weeks ago by saying my vouchers were about to expire. I protested and they gave me a three weeks’ extension.

So I had three weeks to produce two photo books where each one would normally take me three months. I took a few short cuts and worked fast and got it done.

So that’s eight books I’ve produced now, with two copies of each. It’s becoming a shelf full. And I’ve found I still have two vouchers left, so there’s another book to come. I might do more words this time, with pictures to support the text. These only expire in 2016 so I’ve got time.

But I’m pretty browned off with Photobook. Springing this surprise on me, intermittent inability to log in to my on-line account, poor, old fashioned software, slooow saving, no page numbering and other gripes. I may have to go elsewhere.

Why do I stay with them? Dropped shadows. I love dropped shadows and last time I checked three years ago, even though their software seems more sophisticated, none of the competition offers it. Strange. Time to check again.

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I’ve been saying it for years, “Do it now, or you may not get the chance again”, and I think a such an opportunity has popped up. I baulked at the price initially, but I think I might have to grab this.

It’s a fly/cruise/fly deal, Perth to Singapore to join a cruise ship, the Sapphire Princess, then Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nagasaki, Busan and Beijing. The price includes  flying straight back to Perth from Beijing but I’ll end my cruise there and make my own way back. After all, I have no time constraints, no dog to worry about (sob) and an automatic watering system.

It’s a bit expensive, $4,990 for a single, but that’s for a balcony cabin. No more claustrophic windowless cabin, this one has 24 hr ocean views.

Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh and Shanghai are only one day stays, and Nagasaki/Busan are both in the one day! Not much time to see anything. But at Beijing, I’ll probably stay on a few more days. Once in a lifetime! I never dreamed I would get there, and it’s autumn, so it will be very pretty. The avg. mins are 0C and max. 10C, so I’ll need a parka and gloves, to be binned after my stay as I’ll be flying back to the tropics again.

I’m hoping to fly direct to Hanoi for an extended stay, to get a good feel of the place, then to Bangkok for a longer stay than I managed in 1988, the only time I was there. Maybe a week? Maybe longer? Hotel prices are under pressure at the moment due to the martial rule. Bargains. I can afford 5 star at these prices.

From Bangkok, I don’t know. My options are unlimited. Phuket? KL? Bali? I’ll decide when I’m there. I’m probably biting off more than I can chew, but we’ll see.

I forgot to mention – it starts on 24 October, two weeks after our reunion. Ideal. Return date would be around 27 November. Not sure of end date.

© PJ Croft 2014. Camera Sony RX10 with Zeiss 24-200mm lens

Grrr. Another restaurant rant. I had brekky at the local Italian restaurant this morning and asked to sit outside at a pavement table. Uh oh, no menus there. The waitress had to search for one for me. I sat inside to order, selected the bacon and eggs special, but the eggs are fried only, OK, and I particularly asked for buttered toast.

I sat outside, the coffee came but it was a short black, not the long black I asked for. And the toast was not buttered. There was a tub of butter but I had to do it myself on nearly cold toast.

Before the meal came, she said because I was sitting outside, I had to pay on the spot. Obviously they thought I might do a runner. I don’t care if they have trouble with other people not paying, I still object to being put in that category for no reason!

One guy sitting near me was a very amicable talker and he agreed, and also said he’d been asked to stop calling the waitress “darling”. He was a Pom and I could hear him calling the two other women with him darling all the time. It was just his way. I think if the waitress was so sensitive to such a trivial thing, maybe she should consider being in another job.

And if you think I’m an MCP, next time a woman calls me sweetie or dear, a very common thing,  perhaps I should complain to the management?

Foggy this morning, wannit?

About 5am

Very nice!

The quadrangle. The tower with the badge on it is a lift! It’s for disabled kids and only works if you have a card. The left side and north side as far as the lift were built after I was was there. © PJ Croft 2014

I went up to Northam yesterday with an old school mate to take photos of our old high school. It was a perfect day, 25C and almost windless.

The school is the same, but different if you know what I mean. It felt familiar, but there are so many new buildings! You can see them in this aerial shot, courtesy of another school mate, Norm, who went ballooning for the Avon Descent.

Looking west from a hot air balloon. Our old school colleague Norm Liddelow was there last Saturday for the Avon Descent. © N. Liddelow 2014

The two storey school and the manual arts complex are pretty much the same (although the manual arts block seems to be expanded. I don’t remember that quadrangle in the middle). But all those buildings to the right are new, as is the massive new development in the left foreground.

A nicer view, looking West. © N. Liddelow 2014

The domestic science block at the upper (West) side has also been doubled in size and includes a large, modern cafeteria, used to train restaurant chefs and staff.

The old boys hostel, St Christopher’s House, can just be seen in the upper right corner. We drove past but it’s completely fenced off, no entry. I could see through a window to a burnt open roof in the old rec hall. Someone set it on fire a few years ago and there it lies, decaying, abandoned. Very strange. Surely it could have been used for something? Refugees come to mind.

My old home room in my later years (18). That fire hose wasn’t there. I got the cuts in that room.

Some more shots –

Looking across the Avon River, with the weir in the left foreground. © N. Liddelow 2014

A closer view of the old flour mill and the hotel at the left where we occasionally got an illicit bottle of Swan Lager. © N. Liddelow 2014

The quad. © PJ Croft 2014

This hasn’t changed in nearly 100 years. © PJ Croft 2014

Aaaah, this is our kinda car. It’s a 1964 model too. The EH Holden, oft remembered as the best Holden (of those times) ever made. © PJ Croft 2014

We came back via Toodyay for lunch. I don’t think I’ve ever been there except maybe passing through once. It’s a very nice little town with some really old and interesting buildings.

Then back to Perth on the Toodyay road. All in all it was a great day, especially riding in a big BMW X6 on leather seats with climate controlled air con and a great stereo system.

At the request of Get Up! I’ve sent in my job application, one of the 40 per month that Senator Abetz requires. I’m working on the other 39 distinct applications, but I can tell you now, all of them will be to his office.

Dear Senator Abetz,

I wish to apply for employment in your office as a Policy Advisor. I believe I could bring a wealth of experience to the position, and with a lifetime’s life experience and a tonne of common sense, I believe I could do at least as well, and probably better, than your current staff. Let’s face it, I’m way overqualified.

I’m 67 but I’m willing to lie about my age. I’m in poor health but that won’t matter to you, will it? After all, you won’t care.

I was an electronics technician all my life so I’m very used to dealing with complex ideas. That will almost certainly make me overqualified for a job with you as you only deal in simplistic concepts However, I’ll try to reduce myself to your level. I’ll never get down there, but I’m a trier.

I’m willing to work for low pay since you believe everyone below your position should work for next to nothing. I’ll buy that. Actually, I won’t be able to afford to, but I’ll throw myself on your mercy. Heh heh.

I’ll await your immediate reply. After all, you do very little, so you will have plenty of time to treat my application very, very seriously.

Yours in eager anticipation,
Peter Croft
Butler, WA

As I was saying, uuurrrrggh. Not many posts lately. This is the third week of one of the most persistent colds I’ve ever had. It’s not flu, just chest gurgling congestion. It’s very slowly improving but I woke at 3am last night and didn’t sleep again, having a coughing fit every five minutes or so. Tired now.

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I was forced to do a fast track book composition as I mentioned, and I sent it off for printing on Monday.

Title page © PJ Croft 2014

This is the format I used this time, due to the rush job. I think it’s quite effective. © PJ Croft 2014

But I’ve realised I forgot to put my name to it as the author. I’ll have to print my name on a separate sheet, cut it out and glue it onto the cover.

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I’ve had my car in being serviced this morning. Since I only do it once a year and it uses absolutely no oil in between, at $350 I can’t complain.

But I’ve been noticing hints of misfiring for some time. Since it’s still on the original plugs, again I can’t complain, but you can’t just change the plugs like the old days. To do the front three is not a problem, but the rear three are underneath the exhaust (or inlet?) manifold, which has to be removed to get access. Big cost. And they tell me the rocker cover gaskets have to be replaced at the same time, and the plug leads replaced.

The spark plugs are $32 each x 6 = $186. The plug leads are $154. The gaskets are about $35 each, plus labour for all this, it will amount to near $800! Just to change the spark plugs!

I’ve said no, forget it for now. This is a 13yo car and I’ve been told it’s probably only worth $500 or so. It’s not worth doing. It’s running beautifully apart from little hesitations sometimes. It’ll have to wait until it really goes wrong.

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What kind of fool would I be, then, to buy a 2003 Porsche Boxster? There was one advertised in Perth recently at a price just within my reach. But if I can’t afford the servicing on my Magna, I think I’d choke on Porsche service prices. Nice thought, but no.

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I had breakfast in a cafe this morning while waiting for my car. The scrambled eggs were served on two small pieces of toast, but they weren’t buttered. This seems to be the norm these days, but I was annoyed. The coffee was insipid.

When I went to pay, I stood at the till with my wallet out and said, “Mine was the scrambled eggs and coffee.”  The guy looked blankly at me and mumbled something. I asked him to repeat. He said, “You want to pay?”

Er no mate, I always stand like this for no good reason. I said yes, and he said, “Where were you sitting?” Bloody hell, he’d been serving me! At 9.30am it wasn’t busy. It was only a couple of tables away. I showed him where and it seemed to get through this time. But all in all, I came away from there with a bad feeling and no desire to return.

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I thought I’d found my next cruise, but I’ve just received the revised fare with single supplement. It bumps it from $3099 to $4999. It’s out of the question, I’m afraid, at that price. Pity, it’s a really fascinating Asian itinerary.

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What on Earth is going on with this WordPress rubbish??? I compose a page as above, but I can’t find a way to post it. Or rather, if I don’t preview it, I can post it, but if I preview it, the option to post disappears! At this moment, I’ve tried everything including Publish Immediately, but nothing happens. I can’t even go to Dashboard to check its status. Beep beep POOP!

PS: well, something worked to get it on-line here, but I have no idea how I published.  I’d get onto them to point out these bugs, but I can’t see a way to do that either. Weird.

Every time I look at my image browser program of my Japan trip, I’m bowled over. Like this:

These are just random samples of the 350+ images from that Japan trip. That trip was remarkable and though it sounds boastful, I was hot! This is good travel photography. I want to show it because it gives me endless pleasure to look at it.