When it rains it pours...

After my little sob story about how arid it is here, we copped a huge thunder storm today!! Fortunately it is nothing compared to the Tsunami overseas... RIP to the tens of thousands that have died and best wishes to their families and friends.

Back to the story... In approximately an hour and a half we received nearly 17mm of rain today, which is more than our monthly average for December...
Our city relies on spoon drains (lumps in the road that channel the water) and limited underground drainage to direct the flow of storm water into Gribble Creek. The creek then flows out to a huge salt lake. It was amazing how quickly this creek filled today...

And what do you know... the neighbours have their sprinklers going...

HotFM does it again...

I sent an email to RadioWest/HotFM today stating my concerns about the weather report stuff-ups... I haven't received an email back, but as if to say, "Screw you, we'll do whatever we want...", HotFM made four stuff-ups in twenty minutes while I was listening this afternoon... They played the intro for the news at 5.41pm, then had the usual 30 secs of silence, they decided to start a song and cut to another before it finished, and finally for good measure they threw in another 30 second silence... I haven't had a radio in da Sil for months, so I'm not sure how regular an occurrence this is, but judging by my limited listening time it must happen a heck of a lot!!

I know you like a pretty garden, but for f**ks sake...

I live in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, which has an average temperature of 33.6 degrees celcius during our hottest month, with a max quite often up to 40. Rainfall is around 300mm per year.
Basically what I am saying is it is a relatively dry area. In fact the majority, if not all, of the water is supplied via a pipeline that travels the 550 or so kilometres from Mundaring, near Perth, to the holding tanks in Kalgoorlie. There isn't any publicly available ground water, as far as I am aware, as it is either too hard to find or very salty.

Okay enough of the history, on to my rant... It's about water wasters... It is great that we have fresh water available to this wonderful city, but just remember we live in an arid area and should treat this precious resource with the respect it deserves! The number of times I come home to find a river running down the street from the water wasters over-watering their lawns is unbelievable, even in Winter!!

Here's a quote from the Australian Water Corporation's website. http://www.water.com.au/savingwater/savingwater_irrigation.cfm

Operation Set your controller to deliver a 'standard drink' of 10mm per application. Then follow the guidelines below, changing your schedule as indicated. Month Frequency January Twice a week February Twice a week March Twice a week April Every fifth day May No watering June No watering July No watering August Once a fortnight (if needed) September Once a week (if needed) October Every fourth day November Twice a week December Twice a week

		In exceptionally hot weather the frequency may have to be increased slightly but it should be returned to the recommended rates once conditions return to normal.
		Water early in the morning (5am to 8am). Never water during the heat of the day.

If only people would follow some of the guidelines... Over-watering is bad for your lawn too you know. All that fertiliser you lovingly spread out... gone... It's flowing down the street with all that water and I know the street won't grow...

Geez I hate blisters...

Yesterday, I bought a heat gun to help take the double sided tape off my gf's car after removing the wind deflectors that she didn't like. Anyway, I didn't have any fishing line which my mate suggested to use for removing the tape, so I thought I would use a plastic knife as it wouldn't damage the duco. What was I thinking!?! The idea of the heat gun was to make the tape soft and floppy... So what happened to the knife? It went soft and floppy... Derr... :-)
End of that idea.

The second and final idea was to heat the tape and then roll it back with my bare fingers... What a doofus I am... This worked great, but the heat caused a blister on my right index finger and thumb.
Any smart person would've worn gloves, but I'm too manly to wear gloves... :-)

I promise I'll be smarter next time... We'll see... hehe

HotFM Kalgoorlie, get it together would ya...

Seriously people its about time you hired a couple of new monkeys in the Kalgoorlie office, preferably ones that like to press the correct buttons. I would say there is at least 3 times a week that you don't play the weather, all you get is 30 seconds of silence and then straight into the morning show out of Albany. No apologies, nothing...
Surely with all the new, fandangled computer type things you could set it up to automatically play a pre-recorded weather segment without too much stress...

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas...

I would just like to say that this is THE best game I have ever played on the Playstation 2. Essentially it is the shear size of the game, as well as the freedom this game allows that makes it so excellent, although the violence and comedy is very cool!! Come on Ms.Roberts, ban this game too... :-)
A small intro to GTA:San Andreas. You play CJ, who can run around the huge playing area stealing cars, planes, bikes, boats or trucks, killing people, get it on with hookers and numerous other 'enjoyable' tasks. Complete missions or if you're feeling a bit brain dead simply drive around the city and have some fun... :-)

I've been doing reasonably well with this game and up to 62% complete without really doing anything but the main missions. I was initially stuck on the 'OG Loc - Life is a Beach' mission, which almost made me give up entirely. It was one of those tasks where you have to push the correct button to make your character dance in time with the music. After numerous attempts and a break of three weeks I gave it another try... Success... I even got 500 points more than I required. Woohoo!! :-)

So now I'm stuck again... This time it is the first Zero mission, where you have to shoot down the RC planes with a machine gun. What a piss off... You have to make very subtle movements with the analog sticks to get in front of the planes and shoot them down before they drop their bombs, destroying Zero's radio towers. Fortunately, with the design of this great game you don't have to complete a mission before doing another, as there are usually 3 or so other missions you can attempt before going back to the one you're having trouble with.

Bl**dy commas...

I admit it, I am a comma abuser...
I would like to think that I can put a paragraph together, but I suffer from a disease I call 'Commaoveritis'... My girlfriend, who is a teacher, quite often picks me up on my overuse of commas and unfortunately I have to agree. My idea about them is that I put a comma where I pause in a sentence, which I have recently found is not entirely correct. I am trying my darndest to beat this disease, so you will probably find times where I haven't added a comma when I should have.

My pet driving hate... Right lane drivers.

As you would've figured out by now, I can not stand poor or inconsiderate drivers.
This rant is about my all time favourite driving hate, that being right lane drivers. In Western Australia, where I live, there is a law stating you are not to drive in the right lane of a dual lane road unless you are either overtaking or will soon be turning right.

In Perth there is a major dual lane road called the Kwinana Freeway. This freeway is speed limited to 100kph and is a great time saver for people travelling south to Mandurah. Now this freeway has entries and exits to the left of the road meaning there is no reason at all to be in the right lane unless you are overtaking. I'll be fair here, as I can understand people sticking to the right lane close to Perth because of the numerous entry roads filtering cars on to the freeway, but there is no excuse whatsoever for drivers to be sticking to the right lane after that where the entry/exit roads are a fair distance apart.

I don't really condone severe speeding, but I really hate seeing the quicker moving cars having to slow down for a 'tool box' sitting in the right lane doing less than the speed limit or the same speed as the car next to them. Worse still, having to divert from the right, overtaking, lane to the left lane when the 'ass clown' thinks he is better than every other driver and doesn't have to drive in the left lane, even though it is clear for kilometres...

Merry Christmas :-)

I know, I know... He's started this thing just to rant at anything and everything... That's true, but isn't that what most blogs are about? :-)

Merry Christmas to everybody out there... Please have an enjoyable time and make sure you stay safe, especially on the roads!!

I'm not religious at all, other than I like to believe my deceased Dad is in some sort of heavenly place, so I will not ramble on about the meaning of Christmas etc.
What I will go on about is the shopping... Geez I hate it!! I am very fortunate to have a girlfriend that really enjoys choosing presents for everybody, which has been fantastic for me!! Before this wonderful person came along my gift of choice was the good old voucher.
Yeah, yeah, I hear you... "Use your brain... Be imaginative..." That's fine, but I hate the look of disdain you recieve from a loved one as they open the present you spent hours deliberating over because it wasn't the latest Inker-Billy Fruitcake doll or something...
Had that been a voucher, said loved one could have nicked off down to the shops for the after-Christmas sales, probably save 40% or more and still have enough left for the matching genuine mink shawl... See I am thinking... ;-)

So just so you don't think I am McScrooge, as has been suggested, I do like giving presents, I just hate choosing them as it takes me ages and I'm sure I always pick the wrong one.

How hard is it to indicate at a roundabout?

Another rant... Get used to it... hahaha

Why is it that people do not know how to indicate at a roundabout?
Is it really that hard to be courteous to your fellow road-users?

Here's some tips for the drivers that are a little slow to catch on...

Step 1 : Approach the roundabout. Hopefully you know which direction you wish to turn before arriving at the roundabout.
Step 2(a) : So you wish to turn off at the first exit to your left? Before entering the roundabout indicate left so people know you are turning left. Wait for any traffic to your right, or near you on the roundabout to complete their maneuvre, before entering the roundabout and turning left.
Step 2(b) : So you wish to go straight through? After allowing for the other traffic as in Step 2(a), proceed through the roundabout and indicate left before exiting.
Step 2(c) : So you wish to turn right? I'll try and explain this slowly as it seems to confuse quite a few drivers, it seems especially older drivers. As per Step 2(a), wait for the traffic to your right and traffic already on the roundabout. Now this is going to be tricky, but I know you can do it, after entering the roundabout you will need to indicate right. I know, it's a strange concept, but it does work and other drivers will appreciate your thoughtfulness... Okay, now here's the extra tricky bit, before exiting the roundabout onto the road of your choice you will need to indicate left. Phewww!! How did you go? Practise on a big roundabout and you will be an indicating legend in no time. :-)

Here's a link, with diagrams no less, of how to negotiate a roundabout... Good luck!!
Road Safety WA - Roundabouts

What is it with do-gooders?

To quote Ted Bullpitt from Kingswood Country, "Someone should blow do-gooders up!!"

What is it with you people? Are you so unhappy with your sad, sorry little lives that you feel the need to inflict your desires on an unsuspecting community as well? I don't care if you feel you are doing what's best for me... Believe it or not, it is my decision what I should or shouldn't be doing with my time on this planet. Below are some examples of where do-gooders have pissed me off...

Censorship
I am all for censorship within reason, but I totally disagree with politicians getting involved in it when there is an actual censorship board set up to deal with such matters. Case in point, the game "Manhunt", which was recently banned by Justice Minister Michelle Roberts. Why should she have the right to ban a game which had already been in circulation for a year? Yes, it is a gruesome game with the idea being to stealthily kill animated computer characters and it shouldn't be available to people under the age of 18, but unfortunately the game ratings don't include an R18+ category. Either way, the current ratings aren't enforced and young people are getting their hands on games they legally shouldn't be playing. Once again the onus comes back on the parents. Watch what your kids are playing and leave me alone to watch and play what I want in peace... My choice is not to watch news, as the 'real' violence I see on tv disturbs me more than any video game ever could.

Here's a small article about the banning of Manhunt.
Australia bans Manhunt

Kids have too many rights
What is it with the kids of today? They seem to lack common respect for their elders, as well as an annoying knowledge of the rights society have provided them. There are no more smacks, caning, litter duty and other such punishments available to parents and teachers, thanx to do-gooders who probably don't have kids themselves... I hope you people are happy. I much prefer the adage, "This is my house and while you live under my roof you follow MY rules..."
None of this, "If you touch me I'm going to Child Services and going to sue you..." backchat from snotty nosed brats.
When I was at school you had the utmost respect for your teacher and feared the Principal. Not any more, teachers are being physically assaulted with the only punishment for the child being a day off from school... Where are the rights for the teachers?

Banning TV Ads
Here's one person that is all for the erradication of motor vehicles, his name is Harold Scruby, and he is the head of the Pedestrian Council of Australia. I didn't know about the bloke until he played a big part in having the 4wd Mitsubishi Magna ad cancelled, claiming that the public would not be able to tell that the advert was made in a controlled environment and that they would instantly go out and start rally driving in their family sedans.
Here's a link to their press release about the canning of the Magna ad.
http://www.walk.com.au/pedestriancouncil/Page.asp?PageID=759

As well written as some of his arguments seem to be, in all of the correspondence I have seen from him he doesn't answer the concerns of the writer. Instead he attacks the writer's lack of literary skills. I'm all for good grammar and spelling, but when a concerned community member takes the time to write to you, at least have the decency to answer their questions without trying to belittle them with piss-poor little statements about how their letter was written.

That'll do... I'm sure you all think I am an angry person with nothing but hatred in my life... :-)

Learn to merge for f**k's sake...

People say I suffer from 'road rage', not to the extent where I will get out of my car and verbally or physically abuse other drivers though. I believe 70% of drivers would be in the same class as me. What, you don't think you're like me? So you can honestly tell me you are totally calm in every traffic situation where you have been cut off or worse? Okay, bully for you... :-)
Yes, I know I should calm down and just go with the flow, but alas, poor drivers sh!t me to tears...

This rant is about 'merging', as in where two lanes merge into one lane. In a perfect world where everyone was courteous to one another this could be such an easy task... That would be too easy though and I would be left with nothing to rant about. We can't have that now, can we? :-)

Let's say there are two cars (A and B) in Lane 1 and one car (C) in Lane 2. Uh oh, Lane 1 and Lane 2 are converging into a single lane, whatever will we do!?!
Here's the simple solution, if everyone applies a little courtesy and common sense...
Car A enters the single lane first, Car C adjusts their speed so the front of the car is just behind the rear bumper of Car A and Car B does the same to Car C... As if by magic the three cars will merge into the single lane allowing a virtually unimpeded driving experience for all parties involved.
As simple as this may seem, people get it wrong... a lot!!
You find situations where Car C doesn't want Car A to be first in to the merging road and vice-versa, with neither car giving an inch until they are at a point where one of the cars will be forced off the road. At this point they both apply their brakes, coming to a complete halt, holding up themselves as well as the following frustrated travellers. Grow a brain people and your lives will be less stressful for you and the people around you.

A real life example of this happens every peak hour in Mandurah at one of the single lane bridges. The bridge designer should take a good deal of the blame, as this bridge should never have been single lane with dual lanes feeding it from both sides. However, poor driving skills make a slight annoyance a down right pain in the ass...
Because certain drivers have no idea about merging, the traffic during these peak periods piles up for over a kilometre. At this particular bridge you find the situation outlined above in my hypothetical example, as well as drivers who can never decide which lane they want to be in... Listen to me when I say this, the bridge only has one lane, it doesn't matter which lane you are in, you will get over the bridge, have patience... The fact that you took the time to change lanes in the first place cost you more time, and car spots, than if you had stayed put...

What is it with speed changes?

My first rant...

What is it with the powers at be changing speeds on roads?

Recently in my home town the council, I assume, has decided that a major dual lane road, Gatacre for those that know it, is no longer suitable to be traversed at 80kph. Instead the speed has been changed to 70. Now this isn't a short road, the visibility on most of it is very good and it is hardly a high traffic street, but alas some ning-nong has decided that every driver is crap and should be penalised as such... They couldn't even impose the speed restriction on the trouble spot, it had to be on the whole road. Now if that isn't a blatant excuse for revenue raising, I don't know what is...

Although I don't know the facts, this is my blog and I'm allowed to rant unashamedly uninformed, I believe the speed change was initiated because of a couple of accidents where people entered the above mentioned road from a side street, Johnston St. A number of times I have passed this side street and very regularly a car will pull out without having paused at the intersection. If the stop sign, I'll have to check if there is one, side street was policed more thoroughly, I'm sure the number of accidents would be reduced.

I noticed the same in Perth when I was visiting... Streets that I felt comfortable doing the speed limit of 80 along, I am no gung-ho driver, have been reduced to 70. The media keeps thrashing out that "Speed Kills" and that's fine, but I believe its the slow drivers that cause the accidents in a lot of cases. A road that has a speed limit of 100 will be fine as long as all the drivers are doing the same speed. Slow drivers cause frustration to the drivers that want to do the speed limit and in some cases these drivers attempt risky maneuvres to overtake, sometimes causing accidents.
Of course the finger gets pointed at the person overtaking, but had Mr.Slow been doing the speed limit in the first place, that accident may have never happened...

An introduction to my blog...

G'day, I'm Randal and welcome to my blog...

I've set this up essentially to have a bitch, whinge, rant or whatever else you would like to call it...
I'm into cars, have a website devoted to my car (www.daSilvia.org) and I detest inconsiderate drivers and lots of other things. Please feel free to leave any comments on whatever you like... Even have a rant about my rant... :-)

Now please don't think I am a complete nutter when you read the following, I'm actually quite sane... At least the voices in my head tell me I am... hahaha

Thanx for dropping by. :-)