Not using this blog now... See dasilvia.org/blog

I've setup my new Wordpress blog at daSilvia.org/blog, so I probably won't be using the blogger one anymore.

You can not be f*#king serious!?!

Swearing at police case dismissal sparks outrage

I am shocked by some of the stupid cases that seem to appear before our courts. What is even more shocking is that the police are calling for an appeal against the decision to throw it out.
Seriously, you people should have better things to do than appeal petty cases like this... Toughen your bitch asses up!!

Don't you have to slaughter man to be charged with manslaughter?

I'm sure they'll change the title soon, but the ABC News site has the title to a story as 'Man charged with manslaughter after 3 teens hit', but when you read the story, the dude has injured some kids by running them down with his car, not killed them... Attempted murder, fair enough, but he didn't accidentally kill them... Another attempt at media sensationalism gone wrong...

man·slaugh·ter
n. The unlawful killing of one human by another without express or implied intent to do injury.

Dolby Headphones...

Now this is verrry cool!!
The latest digg-nation podcast has a demo of the latest Dolby innovation, Dolby Headphones. It allows the headphone listener to hear sounds as though they were in different locations around the room. It is totally freaky, so check it out.

More info here...
Dolby.com Headphone Story

RSS Feeds...

I've been reading about the 'Really Simple Syndication Feeds' or whatever other name they are called, and they look very interesting.

Just for fun I created my own start page with all my favourite links, a Google search bar, and RSS Feeds showing the latest 'dugg' stories from digg.com and the latest Australian news from the ABC News site. If you want your own start page, but don't want to code it yourself, check this out Netvibes.com. It looks quite friendly to use. Guess where I found out about it!?! digg.com's RSS Feed of course!! :-)

Now all I need to do is get my own RSS Feed happening... Ohh hang on... I would actually need something that people would want to read first. :-)

I remodelled my daSilvia.org website too... Feel free to check it out and tell me how much you like or dislike the look. And if you have checked it out before, I do plan on getting some articles on there soon.

Podcasts and MP3 Players

I've become hooked on these little internet radio shows called podcasts. My fascination was sparked after they were mentioned on my favourite tech show, Call for Help, which is shown on the Foxtel How To channel.

So I downloaded a couple of the 'This Week in Tech' podcasts which is hosted by Leo Laporte from Call for Help. So after listening to a couple sitting at my computer desk, I felt there must be a better way to listen to these broadcasts... So I'm thinking hmmm... these shows are in MP3 format, what I need is an MP3 player. This would allow me to hear the shows while I am away from my computer, much to the disgust of my fiance. Selective hearing has gone to a complete new level... :-D

So which MP3 player to buy?. The obvious first player to pop into my head would be the Apple iPod in all its various guises. What erred me from choosing one of these machines was the price (AU$449 for 20GB) and there was no reason for me to need a 20GB iPod, as I would never fill it. The average podcast is around 30MB and runs for between 30 mins and an hour, so with the above iPod I could fit over 600 podcast episodes... Hmmm, I'm thinking overkill. The 512MB iPod Shuffle was the right size (would fit 15 or so episodes), but the fact that it had no screen didn't thrill me... Various other machines are around, similar in features to the above, but at slightly cheaper prices in most cases.

So to my all time favourite shopping centre I turned, eBay. To my delight I found a 512MB MP4 player, meaning it can play little movies, which plays MP3s, records voice, shows pictures, has an FM radio and allows you to transfer normal files from one place to the next.



All for $100 delivered to my door. I read somewhere that the battery life supposedly wasn't that great, but with the settings set to turn off the screen after a few seconds, I am relatively happy. Playing pretty much only MP3s, I got about 5 hours from the enclosed lithium ion battery.
Charging is performed by using the supplied wall charger or by plugging the USB cable into your computer.

Here is a link to an eBay MP3 Players Buying Guide, which is quite informative.

Here's some links to podcast sites.

Odeo
Podcast Alley
The Podcast Network
iTunes Podcasts

Farkn spam...

Don't you hate it when you have a blog that no-one reads and you actually receive a comment, only to find that it has been entered by some loser trying to advertise some completely unrelated crap.

Case in point, the comment to the post below...
As if someone reading a blog is going to take a home loan out with a spammer... I guess there are people more gullible than myself that might do things like that, but puuulease, get a grip.

I wonder how many buyers there are for viagra, v1aqra and whatever other fkn spellings they use to try and pass my email sorter... For fks sake, I didn't want it when it was spelt as 'viagra', so take the hint...

And those bloody Nigerians are still at it... "I am a well established business in the USA... Please send my goods to Nigeria, for which I will pay with this non-existant credit card. What goods you ask? Just whatever you sell will be fine..."

I know of one company that sent goods... silly peoples...
I look for three words in the emails I receive for work... "Nigeria" and "credit card"... DELETE!! To any legitimate Nigerian companies that have sent me emails requesting goods, my apologies...

Welcome back, me. Happy ranting... :-)

No blog for awhile due to lack of interest...

When I started this it was fun to just rant about whatever I liked, and if people read it cool, if not who cares... I'll still rant and rave about this and that but I don't really have the inclination at this moment in time.

I'm heading to Perth in a few weeks, so I'm sure I'll be back with a vengeance, ranting about all the piss poor drivers in the city... :-)

So I just got my new Mac Mini...

Boy oh boy... This is certainly going to be a learning experience.
Firstly, the buttons to close windows are on the 'wrong' side. Very strange after a millennium of using Windows.

My first real impression is that its very pretty, cute even... The way the windows fold away and the like is very cool. The size of the Mac Mini is unbelievable, but I can see why they say the case could be easily scratched as it looks quite delicate. It would be nice if there were a couple more lights to tell me when the hard disk and dvd were being accessed, but I guess it isn't really necessary.

More later, once I work it out more... I'm writing this using the Mac, so that's something. :-)

Perth's new Freeway River...

Pipes checked after leak chaos

A major burst water main spilt 12,000 kilolitres of water onto the freeway and into Perth businesses... This is terrible in itself, but my comment is on the unbelievable comments from the opposition, proving that any chance they get they'll have a dig.

Quote:

The WA Opposition said the burst pipe was "inexcusable".
"The water-main burst caused havoc on Perth's streets. Hopefully, this disaster will force the Labor Government and the Water Corporation to acknowledge that an independent review of Perth's ageing water, sewerage and drainage infrastructure is required," said Opposition water spokesman Paul Omodei.

I guess it would be the same if the now opposition was in power, but for fks sake, how about being a little constructive...

COPS marathon - 24hr Lockdown... More like 2hr repeatathon

I'm a fan of the TV show COPS, which shows the real life American police officers out on the streets. When the Crime & Investigation channel on Foxtel announced a 24 hour marathon, I thought it would be pretty cool to catch up on some of the episodes I missed.

What they didn't tell us, was the marathon was to have the same few episodes repeated over and over for 24 hours... In case you were wondering, no, I didn't watch for all 24 hours, but it seemed like every time I flicked back over, it was the same episode being replayed. There was the one where the old guy laid some smackdown on a drunk because he drew a knife on him and the one where the whacked dude was standing on his roof with burnt bare feet...

Geez, you guys hyped it up all week on your adverts, making my bro in law all excited, only to be let down... Pretty poor effort people...

Hello, hello...

A bit of mean muscle...

I just installed 'hello' to see how easy it is to add pics to my blog. I normally just link to the pics from my webspace, but this is a seriously good alternative.

Maybe the Yank cops need machine guns?

I saw the most unbelievable story on the news tonight... It was about how an unarmed, as in no guns, bloke who refused to pull over for police was cornered by ten officers firing at his vehicle. This was in a suburban street mind you, and the police fired 95 rounds into/across the 4x4!! Amazingly, one police officer was the only other casualty, besides the driver, in this debarcle. After all that, the driver (suspect) was only struck 4 times and survived, while the 4x4 still had air in it's tyres...

There musn't be much paperwork for cops to do over there, as I believe even if an Australian police officer unholsters their weapon in a 'situation' they have to explain their actions, let alone if they fired it. I'm sure a much simpler/safer outcome would have been to have one officer shoot out the tyres, and thus disable the vehicle, while the other officers remained at a safe distance.

Idiots!!

Home prices... How much higher can they go?

Beazley can't afford home

If a bloke on $200k a year can't afford a home, what's that say for the rest of us? I've never understood the crazy prices that the eastern states have had to put up with. Some places are at least double what Western Australians would be paying for an equivelent property. It seems as though the crazy price hikes are slowing as buyers come to the realisation that it's hard to pay back a $450k+ loan on an average wage.

I was in two minds about buying a $400k home in Perth recently with my fiance and her brother because I would have a $90k loan, after enjoying a year debt free... The truth is $400k doesn't buy a lot of house when you move closer to the city (Our place is around 10-15mins from the city centre). Of course I'm expecting/hoping for a good return on my investment in a couple of years, but who's to say the market wouldn't have slumped when we need/want to sell.

It gets back to logicality... The average wage rises each year by a very small amount, while prices for properties increase dramatically. Even my old 3 bedroom home that I bought for $106k sold for $165k a few years later. I still consider property a solid investment, but it can't keep supplying the returns that it has been.

School kids need to pull their heads in...

Proposed action against driver 'over the top'

I'm sort of in two minds about this one... The driver probably shouldn't have driven the bus away from his route, but I guess if he felt in danger the bus depot would be a safer area to retreat to. I just can't understand why the kids of today are so disrespectful to their elders...

When I was a kid the bus driver stopped once and kicked a couple of kids off, but that was because they were hanging out the windows and being general idiots, not because they were abusing the driver... They deserved it, the consequence was the troublemakers weren't allowed to use the bus service. Totally fair, and the parents accepted it, not like nowadays where their cherubs wouldn't do anything bad and it was all the bus driver's fault...

The bus had become an unsafe place to be as he wasn't able to concentrate on the road, but if he threw the kids off the bus there could've been repercussions because the munchkins were left to be attacked by boogie men and pedophiles. I guess he could've just gone on with the route and ignored the abuse, but the kids would be back the next day to do it all again... How it was done, hopefully they learnt a lesson and by getting the media involved perhaps the parents might learn a thing or two about the behaviour of their kids too...

Welcome to geek world...

I've been a closet geek for many years and have decided to come out... So here I am!! Pheww, that takes a load off my mind... :-D

I've seen Linux mentioned in magazines and the like for ages, but never took any notice of what it was because I thought it was some super difficult programming language or something. So, after reading a couple of articles on what Linux was, I discovered it was actually an alternative operating system to Windows which was open source... ie. FREEEEEBIE, zip, zero, nada... Not in all cases, but in lots you don't have to pay a cent to use it.

With my interest hyped my first play with Linux involved my regular Windows XP installed PC and a Live CD version of Linux called Knoppix. It seemed to boot up fine, and seemed to recognise all of the installed hardware without drama. The Live version runs from your CD drive without inflicting itself on the normal running of your system which is pretty cool.

The bro-in-law brought up his old system (P3 450mhz, 64mb RAM, 6gb hard disk, Win98) which was completely cactus, in that booting windows resulted in an instant crash of the desktop. So with a computer that seriously required a makeover, I decided to format the hard disk and install Ubuntu Linux, after a mate mentioned he had used it. I downloaded the Ubuntu .iso file and installed it onto the hard disk, and boy did it 'chug'. It worked, but not as well as I had hoped. After some more reading I discovered that if I changed the GUI from Gnome (?) to the less resource taxing xcfe the system would seem faster. I never got that far...

I installed a bigger hard disk and another 64mb of ram, more freebies, and then proceeded to install another version of Linux called SimplyMEPIS 3.3 (You can run it from CD like Knoppix if you wish). Now, if you are a novice like me and interested at all in using Linux instead of Windows on your system, this could well be the answer to your prayers.

SimplyMEPIS is easy to install, even more so than windows in some cases, as it happily runs along discovering which hardware makes up your system and installing the appropriate drivers. The best part about it is all of the applications software is installed at the same time. No spending 1-2 hours installing Windows and then another hour installing your word processor, spreadsheet, and the like... It's all on there ready to play with.

Just so you are aware, Windows programs don't work with Linux, so you need Linux specific versions of the software. The office suite that comes with SimplyMEPIS is compatible with MSOffice documents as far as I'm aware, and Firefox comes as standard for web browsing. Internet Explorer is crap anyway, and after writing a few W3C standards approved web pages I know for sure.

After playing with it for a couple of hours I am slowly getting the hang of it, although the nitty gritty (ie. installing other programs) is requiring some internet search time. Speed wise it seems quite reasonable, and I like how it has recognised all the hardware. It sees the other computers on my network and everything. All without me hardly touching the keyboard...

If I didn't use Windows programs like PhotoShop and MovieMaker, I'd probably convert my main system over to Linux.

Some links :
Mepis.org
Knoppix.net
UbuntuLinix.org

The AFL is a 'buzz'...

I don't normally comment on sports, as other than motorsport I don't really follow any, but this weeks story about the AFL football players taking caffeine pills is so ludicrous its worth a comment. My thoughts... Who gives a fk!?! There is no evidence to prove that they enhance a player's ability and they haven't been banned by the AFL governing body, so why has the media chosen to overhype this topic?

On one of the football TV shows a former player mentioned how he came down pretty hard after using a special caffeine concoction during his playing days. He was super-fine and buzzing for the first half of the game, but was pretty stuffed by the second half and for the next week, which would probably have effected his training...

As far as I'm concerned, let all of the players feel free to take them. If they feel the benefit of half a game's buzz is worth the disruption to their sleep patterns etc. good luck to them...

ANZACs didn't die for you to leave rubbish on their graves...

PM defends Anzac litter louts

I was disgusted to read the above story about the state that Anzac Cove was left in. As an Australian visiting another country you are acting as an ambassador for our great home, and by littering or defacing property you are making ALL Australians look bad in the eyes of the host country.

As the article says, Anzac Day is a commemoration, not a celebration. There is no need for loutish behaviour at a place where thousands lost their lives fighting for their respective countries. At the very least pick up your damn rubbish!!

No time wasters...

I tell you, it sh!ts me to tears when I read "No time wasters" in car advertisements... I mean, why do you think your car is so special? Will you label me a 'time waster' if I come and test drive your supposed pride and joy just to find it is a poorly tuned piece of proverbial and choose not to buy it? Am I a time waster if I call to find out further details about the car, and once hearing said details decide not to look at the car?

For me, when I see those fateful words I am automatically turned off. The advertiser strikes me as a punce who doesn't deserve my hard earned dollars, no matter how nice the car may look.

Many of the forums I read have a section for selling cars or parts. The great thing about forums is that you are aiming your sale at people that are interested in the type of product you're selling. The next great thing about forums, and the internet in general, is that it is pretty easy to post numerous pictures of your item without it costing you a cent, just a bit of time.

If you're the sort that adds 'no time wasters' in their adverts, add heaps of photos so the supposed 'time wasters' can view the item and decide whether it is what they require. If you lack the skills to upload a picture to the web, do a quick search on the 'net or ask a mate. There's almost no reason at all to use the old excuse, "I don't have a digital camera", as you WILL know someone with one, or you can buy one for as little as AU$150.

Remember this statement, "A picture is worth a thousand words...", there is nothing truer than that!! In a text advert for a car you have to describe the body, any body modifications or damage etc. and it is left up to the reader(buyer) to decide whether it is worth a look. Add a picture (or better, pictures), the text is reduced and the buyer has a better idea of what the car looks like, as well as allowing them to picture themselves in that car...

At the end of the day, you, as the seller, are trying to SELL something and need to pull out every trick in the book to get it sold. And just think, that 'time waster' that rang about your car yesterday might just have a mate who is a genuine buyer.

Banks are supposed to be kissing my ass, not vice-versa...

So with my girlfriend and her brother I have purchased a nice 2 storey home in Rivervale, a suburb of Perth. So far so good. We'll all put in equal amounts to purchase the home and hopefully make a tidy profit when it comes time to sell. Settlement is on Thursday, so we are trying to get everything finalised as soon as possible.

Here's where it gets difficult...
Today we had to sign the loan papers at Bank 1, so we all arranged to get off work to meet there.
"Sorry, we don't have the papers...", says the enquiries chick...
"But we were assured they would be here today", we reply.
So we head out to the street to call our settlement agent. Lucky we hung around for a while because the enquiries chick came out to say she had found the papers.
So back into the bank we go...

Now, after finally viewing the paperwork it's noticed that my girlfriend's bro's name has been spelt as 'James' instead of his name which is totally different. So then we have to find out what we need to do with regard to the error. It seems, and it better be right, that we just needed to correct the error and initial it. Anyway with other small anomalies and hold ups we get it all sorted.

Next we needed to get the money for our deposits organised and given to the settlement agent. No worries, we'll just get a bank cheque...
"You realise that a bank cheque takes 3 days to clear?", says the loans officer.
For fks sake, it is a BANK cheque, not a personal cheque, and it still takes three days to clear. If you can't trust a bank to have funds, who can you trust!?! I'm sure its a diddle on their part.

This is what I reckon happens... The customer asks Bank 1 for a bank cheque, B1 transfers the money to a holding account which accrues interest for 3 days, B1 finally transfers to B2... Think of the millions of dollars they'd make by doing that...

Anyway, the dude suggests we do an electronic bank transfer from our bank to the settlement agent's bank. Okay we'll do that, so off we toddle to Bank 2.
Thinking that this would be an abnormal thing we are doing, we wait in line to see the enquiries assistants. After fifteen or so minutes we get called up...
"We want to do this..."
"You can do that at the teller window...", says the assistant.
After muttering under our breath we go to a teller window.
"We want to do this..."
"Ohh, as you won't have more than $5000 left in the account you have to see the enquiries assistants to close the account..."
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK...

So they sort that bit out without us needing to go to the enquiries section again. So back to doing the electronic funds transfer...
"You realise this will take 3 days to clear?"
You'd understand how irate we are becoming now, but alas we keep a civil tongue, as abusing people gets you less than nowhere. This is an electronic funds transfer, which in this day and age when we can send emails around the world in seconds, should not be too difficult...

In the end they wrote up something called a 'warrant' which is physically taken to a branch of the receiving bank. If I get a call Tuesday asking for the funds, I'll be closing all of my accounts and going to another bank/building society (or credit union). I actually closed all my accounts with Bank 1 originally because of their fk ups. And they're obviously not trying to win me back with the latest effort.

Banks are the worst for providing what they charge for, in normal business people would complain to the fair trades commission, but banks seem immune... I pay to have my money with the bank, I pay to take money out of the bank, I pay to use their ATMs, I pay to speak to a teller... and the Government allows them to keep raising their fees while providing less service.
They want us all to be doing our banking electronically, which cuts the banks costs further, and yet half the time that is more difficult than walking in to a branch, getting the money out as cash and delivering it yourself to the payee.

To the banks, "You can all go and get fkkd!!"...

Experienced bushmen???

Men experienced, not 'idiots', say family

This is about a pair of blokes that perished near the desert in central Western Australia.
The mother of the younger bloke reckons they were 'well-experienced bushmen'. I mean really, if they were so experienced would they be stupid enough to go into the middle of the boonies with very little water supply, communications and maps!?!

Even if they only had a decent map which showed the location of water wells along the track they would be alive today. They walked 7km in the wrong direction to try and find water, when a well was 9km away in the opposite direction. If they had an Codan style HF radio or satellite phone, which are becoming quite economical, they could've called for assistance.

The final piece of safety equipment they could have used is an EPIRB that would transmit a distress signal and location to the authorities. I don't agree with people getting one of these and thinking that's all they need for a trip out to the bush, as it is for emergency use only, not because you've got a flat tyre and your GSM mobile isn't in range... That's what a satellite phone or Codan style HF radio are for.

They may be 'experienced bushmen'in that these blokes lived in the bush, but in my book they're still 'idiots' and have paid for it with their lives.

So they caught the bloke again...

Recaptured murderer appears in WA court

Finally they caught the dude again...
I guess he had urgent business to attend to, but why would you escape the the cushy 'confines' of a prison farm to go live in the bush? He gave up the three free meals a day and pleasant surroundings of the farm, to go and rough it in the bush on the outskirts of Perth, where he couldn't show his face anyway.

Now he should/will be thrown back into maximum security. He should've been there in the first place, but who can explain how some of the controlling bodies work!?!

Gas + ignition source = boom

Restaurant blown apart by roach bombs

An update on my last entry... It turns out that not only did they use an unbelievable number of roach bombs, they also left a pilot light for the stove on. So the large amount of gas from the bombs, along with the tiny flame created a BIG boom...

Urban warriors use new weapon... roach bombs

Cockroach bombs main suspect in explosion

When I first heard this story on the news this morning I laughed... Who in their right mind would use 36 roach bombs in a building at the same time!?! They must've had a huuge bug problem...

When I've used them I've used at most 2 for the whole house, so surely 4 or 5 would've been the most that they would've needed.
"We don't need an exterminator, let's get a heap of roach bombs instead and save money."
"Hmm... One bomb does two average size rooms... We better get four times the number recommended to do a real good job..."

I wonder how the bugs in the restaurant faired. Probably better than the silly blokes that set them off. It would be interesting to know what set it off...

Edit: It turns out that the numnuts left the pilot light for the stove light. Gas + Ignition source = Boom...

Feral cat removal should not involve beating it over the head...

Words almost fail me

The above story is about Cam's ghastly encounter with the pest controller from hell and a feral cat.
I was shocked to the point that I needed to write a letter to the local council about this matter. Thankfully, the team at the Kalgoorlie Boulder Council were also disgusted by the act and have requested the RSPCA to investigate the matter.

Below is the reply to my email sent to the council, and my original email.

Dear Randall

Thank you for your email regarding this unfortunate matter.

As such, I have the line management responsibility for animal control within the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

In the case of animal control, the City as a local government within Western Australia has responsibility under the Dog Act and its associated regulations to deal with dogs. There is no such legislation for the control of cats except where the Animal Welfare Act which allows certain officers to remove injured animals.

Until recently, the City would remove feral cats. However, this was changed in light of legal advice that the City could be held legally liable for disposing of a cat that may belong to another person.

The practice used by the contractor in this instance was inappropriate and regrettable. As a cat owner all my life, I found this incident very distressing and one of utter disbelief that such practices are still used in this day and age.

Accordingly, the RSPCA has now been requested by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to investigate this incident and I have directed the Ranger Services Branch to look at alternative arrangements for the removal of feral cats. I also understand that Peter Wilden the City's Senior Ranger, who handled and acted in good faith in this matter, has spoken to Cameron and they have discussed the above outcomes.

Should you need to discuss this matter further or if I can provide further advice, please contact me.

Regards



Sean Fletcher
Manager Governance and Administration

PO Box 2042
BOULDER WA 6432
Ph: 9021 9625
Fax: 9021 6113
Email: Sean_Fletcher@kalbould.wa.gov.au

To
mailbag@kalbould.wa.gov.au
cc

Subject
Cruelty to animals, pest or not...

Dear Sir

I am writing to you in disbelief after a friend of mine told me of what had happened at his home yesterday. My friend had a feral cat invade his home and terrorise his pets. He managed to lock it in the laundry, because it was 2am, and the next day (yesterday) called the ranger to arrange a humane removal of the animal.

After contacting the ranger, he said he couldn't do anything unless the animal was injured. I don't know how this could be correct as I often see ranger vehicles collecting stray dogs that appear in fine health to me. Anyway, the ranger put him onto a pest control service that the council had previously used.

The pest controller arrived and proceeded to beat the cat to death with a baton in my friend's laundry. This is appalling!! The fact that this heathen would use this manner to end the cat's life is terrible, but to
do it in front of my friend and his partner is disgusting and irresponsible!!

I believe the rules for the ranger should be changed to accommodate situations like this, and not advise people to use this imcompetent pest controller for anything but bug extermination.

What type of low life steals a bin?

The world's pretty messed up when dickheads start stealing your bin in broad daylight... *shakes head*

Friday is our bin day so I had the bin on the verge out the front of our block of units. I forgot to bring it in on Friday night and thought I would grab it when I got back from work on Saturday morning. It was there when I left for work Saturday...
So I get back from work... Hmmm, no bin, my gf must've brought it in.
"No, I didn't bring it in...", she says.
"Fk it, some low life, chicken ass lickin, pond scum has stolen our damn bin...", says me, or words to that effect... hehe

Anyway, this morning I rang the shire to get a new bin, thinking it wouldn't be a drama...
"You have to report the bin stolen to the police and get a number, and then contact SITA and they will replace the bin .", says the shire lady.
"Ahh, okay"...

So I ring the police and spoke to a nice, young sounding female constable.
"Hi, I need to report my bin stolen..."
"Uh huh... Whats the details of the bin?"
"Its a big green sulo bin...", says me, "You're not going to actually look for it are you?"
"No... Here's your IR number... Bye"

Ring back the shire, get put through to SITA and I'll have a 'new' bin Wednesday... I just thought it was so laughable that I actually had to report the bin stolen...

Anyway, I'll be painting some big ass numbers on the new bin. Maybe I should paint it pink too!! That should make it safer... :-)

Why the fk is a double murderer in Minimum Security in the first place???

Double murderer on the run

I mean really, why the fk would you have a 'extremely dangerous' prisoner that is in gaol for an indefinite term for double murder on a minimum security prison farm!?!

I'm reminded of the Rutger Hauer move 'Wedlock'. In that movie prisoners were free to roam the prison limits because they would be within a certain distance from their unknown wedlock prisoner/partner. Each prisoner had a neckband with explosives in it. Should the neckband be tampered with or the wedlocked pair of prisoners move too far apart, both neckbands would explode... I reckon that would be a great incentive for the prisoners to toe the line...

No more Rally Australia in Perth...

I must admit, I've never been to the city stages of the Rally Australia, but it is a sad state of affairs when the government decides its not worth having a world reknowned event in the state because its supposedly not making as much money as expected. Its not making a loss by any means, but obviously not enough for our greedy government to warrant forking out coin to run.

Rally drivers have raved about the different rally surface (round gravel tracks) that WA offers, compared to the other events around the world. Other states in Australia, I guess, could be likened to New Zealand in the road texture. It would be interesting to hear some comments from the WRC drivers.

I wonder how much additional tourism is created from people around the world watching Rally Australia TV coverage and seeing our gorgeous bushland and city. Well, its gone now... Well done Tourism Minister Mark McGowan...

Another sick f**k released to the world...

Child abuser to be deported

I don't understand why they are letting this derranged sexual predator out of gaol(jail). So they are deporting him back to England, but that just moves the problem. He is now free to attack English children. He had three chances out on parole during his time inside, and on each occasion he re-offended.
As much as I hate to have this sort of person living off our taxes in prison, I'd prefer that to having him sexually abusing defenceless children.

Prescription cigarettes?

Cigarette sales ban 'needed by 2050'

For the most part I agree with the above story, but this bit is kind of weird, " People would still be able to get cigarettes if they went to a GP and got a script."

I can see it now... "Doc, I've got a deathwish, give us a script for some ciggys would ya..."

Here's my idea... Add another 'tax' to cigarettes, say another $5 per packet, and call it a 'health care levy'. This would help cover the $millions it costs to look after the smokers that are suffering from smoking related health problems. Either that or force them to stop because its too expensive.
That would probably backfire, because they would starve their kids before going without cigarettes...

Up, up and away... in our stolen jet.

Drunken breach 'not serious'

This is a bit concerning, not that you'd catch me on a plane anyway...
How is it that 3 pissed blokes can scale a fence, walk across a tarmac and board a plane without being noticed?

As it is, it's sort of like locking your car doors but leaving the windows down... Customs officers/airport staff have the main door covered, but the back door is wide open. Surely it would be pretty easy to set up some sort of beam around the perimeter of the airport area to detect any intrusions.

Let's kill a shark...

Police call off hunt for great white

I disagree with the hunting of sharks if they have been involved in an attack on humans. People that choose to utilise the world's oceans should know that such creatures exist, and that they are entering their domain. Perhaps I would feel differently if it happened to someone I knew, but it still comes back to that person taking the risk in the first place.
I know they're there, somewhere, so I keep my lily white ass out of the pool...

So back to the story. The skipper of the boat got chomped by the shark at the Abrolhos Islands while snorkelling. The crew and passengers witnessed the ghastly scene. I hope I never see something like that. I still don't think it warrants the hunting of the shark, even if its in a section of the ocean that people don't expect it to be...

The dude obviously doesn't learn... nor his passengers

I don't have a link to the story unfortunately, but I was reading in today's West Australian about the idiot that smashed into a fence the other day, killing his 'best mate'... (See my previous entries)
The dickhead is at it AGAIN!!! This time he stole a car and was careening along Wellington St, a 60kmh zone I believe, at speeds over 100kmh. He had two young girls as passengers, who were injured when the fool lost control of the car. Once again he bolted from the scene and was caught in a backyard. High quality person we have here, folks. Look after number one, stuff your passengers, they'll be right...
Police had already aborted the pursuit when the speed had risen to 130kmh and the lights of the stolen car were turned off.

I don't really understand why he wasn't already in gaol (jail)... Through his actions he just killed someone, and now he's able to have a go at doing it again. What really annoys me is the lack of smarts the young girls (13 and 14) showed by being passengers. The parents obviously don't give a fk what their children are up to at 1am in the morning...

Must be time to bring in corporal punishment. You get caught in a stolen car, you lose a hand... Do it again, you're shipped off to the desert and left for the dingoes to chomp at ya...

A prime example of 'What not to wear...'

So I'm watching the British show, What Not to Wear, with the skinny chick and the better built chick... Anyway, I can not stand the way the skinny chick goes on about how other people dress when she appears to lack some style herself.

She's not too bad to look at, but has this bad habit of wearing no bra. She has hardly anything to look at anyway, but when your boobs are hanging 5" lower than they should be I think investing in a bra, perhaps a pushup, would make the world of difference...

I prefer girls with a bit of meat on their bones, so the other chick gets my vote for her outfits usually.

Before you ask, no I'm not gay, I just like looking at the female form... :-)

See... I told ya...

Police defend pursuit policy

"... the police have to have some responsibility."

I told you the family would come out whinging about their family member being killed in yesterday's crash. How is it the police department's fault that your assclown loved ones were doing burnouts in a stolen car, and then running from police? The idiot driving the car had just as much chance of slamming into a fence without the police chasing him.

I believe the Assistant Police Commissioner, Tim Atherton, sums it up well.
"If they'd stopped they would probably have been arrested, probably been charged with some offences - but they'd be alive."

Another one down, a few hundred more to go...

Teen dies in police chase

Another police chase in Perth, stolen car passenger dead, driver flees... This is a good result. There were no injuries to innocent parties, as far as I'm aware, and it means one less 'oxygen robber' on this Earth. It's great how the driver was so concerned for his mate, that he bolted from the scene... Fortunately the dickhead was caught and charged with the passenger's unlawful killing...

I expect another outcry from grieving parents/family, "Why'd they(the police) chase our boy to his grave??"... Well, your boy had a choice, he could joyride in the stolen car or could've been smart and lived. He chose poorly...

So would you watch the wedding?

With Prince Charlie in Australia at the moment it got me to thinking... If the proposed wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles were to be televised, would you bother watching it? Princess Di was a nice looking chick, so of course everyone would be watching that one, but this chick hasn't got much going for her at all...

Now a royal couple that I think are just the coolest are Princess Mary and Prince Frederik of Denmark. They look so laid back, considering they are royalty. They even took time out for a boat race, where the Princess kicked Prince Frederik's royal ass. :-)

Some people should be shot...

Sunbaking seal taunted, driven over

What is it with these low-lifes!?! A poor little seal is happily sunning itself and then these 'yobbos' decide it would be funny to taunt it, and then drive over it. How is that fun, I ask? How about you guys lie down and I chop each of your hands off with an axe. That would be fun, wouldn't it?

These imbeciles face UP TO $12000 and 12 months in jail. I hope the judge doesn't go soft and let them off with less... Especially the idiots that shot and killed the two seals with crossbows in an earlier incident.

Another union creating disputes to make itself look important.

Union dispute over a flag

What will they strike over next? You seem to constantly hear of stories like this, where a union has decided to strike because of some petty, unimportant matter.

The above story is about how an Electrical Trades Union's flag was removed from an Alcoa flag pole. The way I see it, is that the flag pole belongs to the company and thus the company can do whatever the hell they want to with it. If that means a union can't fly their flag, then so be it.
Have all your members wear an arm band proudly showing their support for your union, or whatever. Get back to doing what you're paid to do in protecting your members employment rights, not piss-poor flag debates.

Unions are worthwhile for the most part, but when they start doing this sort of crap, they just make it worse for everybody...

No extended shopping hours for WA...

Shop hours vote a win for small retailers

I'm against extended shopping hours for the most part. My thinking is that if you can't get off your butt and get to the shops during the 50 odd hours they are open, then you obviously don't want the item you are after.

Perhaps a solution would be to keep shops open until 6pm each night and 9pm Thursdays. Everyone deserves a day off, so Sundays should be a no-no except to businesses that do half their sales over weekends (ie. hardware stores, nurseries etc.)
This would give people a bit of extra time to grab that special something on the way home from work when they finished work.

They should've attached it to his head...

Angry girlfriend cuts off wing-wang...

So this chick and bloke are arguing about breaking up, one thing leads to another and they wind up in the sack. Kind of weird, but people say make-up sex is good. She offers to add some supposed kinkyness to the routine and tie him to the bed.... This is where it goes wrong, for him, as after he agrees and she ties him up, she proceeds to grab a kitchen knife and hack his Little Fella off!! To top that, she flushes it down the toilet!! I wonder what he did to deserve that?

She got off relatively lightly, as she was charged with assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence (was his member the evidence?), and jailed without bail. He was pretty lucky too, as he had 'it' reattached, although I reckon his 'wang' wouldn't have much 'wing' anymore...

And the moral of the story, children... Never let a pissed off woman tie you up, no matter how good the sex was/is/could be!!

And I'm sure Sydney doesn't give a fk if you come back...

I found this quite funny... Comedian slams Sydneysiders

As is said further down the article, the Sydney women obviously had no idea who the hell Jamie Kennedy is, so it made it harder for him to pick up. Try being a genuine person without the ego, instead of a wannabe superstar, and I'm sure you'd have more success, numnuts...

As far as the tipping goes, he should read up on the customs of the country he is visiting so he knows what to expect. As a general rule Australians don't tip, and if you want good service give the wait staff some courtesy and you usually get it in return. Money doesn't buy everything.

Abortion abomination...

At the risk of offending some of my non-existant readers, I am all for abortion, well more correctly the choice to have an abortion. Not as an option instead of safe sex, but as an option for those women that have become pregnant because of stupidity or rape.

The right-to-lifers seem to think that every baby has the right to live, which is fair enough for the babies that are born. Adoption is a definite answer for those unwanted babies, as there are many loving families that can't conceive children themselves, and those unwanted babies that are kept could suffer because of resentment from the parents.

Imagine the pain and anguish that a woman who has been raped has suffered, and the further distress when she finds out that she is pregnant from the encounter with the low-life scum rapist. The mental capacity of said low-life is questionable, so what about the poor kid that will be born into our increasingly dumber society?

Why do I say our society is increasingly dumber? Its because with today's lifestyle, the successful couples are both out working to support their extravagance, too busy to have kids, while people in the lower socio-economic areas have plenty of time to happily bonk away, popping out more kids to score extra welfare payments... Cap the payments after two kids, there will be no more. Get a job you lazy bums...

Now to the 'stupid' pregnancies. Kids are always going to experiment with sex, all the campaigns in the world won't stop it. These kids at 13-17 years of age shouldn't be burdened with the responsibilites of bringing up a child, as they are kids themselves. Abortion is a last resort, but it should be available, as once again it comes back to education. By bringing up a child, the studies of these girls will be affected. Their dreams of becoming a doctor, gone, replaced by the regret and resentment of being stuck at home with a child, while their former schoolmates live out their dreams.

So to all the right-to-lifers out there, are you happy to be feeding all these unwanted children with your taxes? I'm definitely not!!

A big burn, or a few little burns?

What is it with these dickhead arsonists? Do they get some kind of high from lighting these fires? The b@stards always seem to light the fires on the hottest, windiest days for that extra thrill, pushing our fire fighting resources to their limits and risking lives. If CALM (Department of Conservation and Land Management) was allowed more freedom to 'control burn' some forrest areas, the risks for everyone would be greatly reduced when the arse-hole-nists decide to be destructive.

I am totally for Controlled Burning. The greenies get all up in arms about burning out the forrest, but it is a natural phenomenon that will eventually happen no matter what, ie. lightning strike. The fact is, if the greenies get their way there will be no controlled burning, meaning the leaf litter and foliage on the ground accumulates leading to an even bigger fire when it occurs.

You'd think the recent fires around Perth would open the eyes of some of the hill's home owners, but you still see many houses with trees that overhang the roof, gutters overflowing with combustible material and overgrown 'gardens' just begging to burn.

Be fire safe hills people... Don't think it won't happen to you, because it just might.

Really, is it that hard?

I'm not impressed by the incompetence of the new furniture shop manager...
I ordered a computer desk through one of the staff, and she said it would be 2 weeks for delivery. No worries. I finally get a call to come and collect it, so I arrange to borrow the ute and get it at lunch time. I get there and they spend 20 minutes searching for it before bringing out the wrong one.
"Ohh", says the manager, "it must be at our offsite warehouse...". I had already said that was where it was, because the staff member that rang had told me.
Anyway, I meet them out there and she's forgotten her keys. So another 15 mins passes while the keys are retrieved and then another 15 mins while they search for the desk...
"Umm, we can't find it...", says the stores bloke, "We'll find it, if not we'll get it up from Perth and deliver it for free tomorrow."
I'm happy with this, so off I toddle after spending an hour waiting around.

So yesterday was 'tomorrow' and I call the manager to make sure it's all happening.
"It's still in Perth and won't be here until next Wednesday..."
Boy, was I ropeable, but I kept a civil tongue, knowing I'd get nothing at all by getting nasty.
I told her that I had been told it would be delivered overnight, and she replied that wouldn't happen because it was too expensive and they only had deliveries two times a week.
She's obviously not too concerned about keeping the customer happy. By Wednesday it will be just under one month from when I ordered it. Fk you very much!!

What is it with Taxi Drivers?

You know, I thought I would be safe from the stereotypical Taxi Driver, because I live in what I consider a country town. Alas, the b@stards are out here too, and a lot of them!! The number of times I've been cut off by a taxi around town is amazing...
This morning, one ass clown pulled out from a side street, forcing me to brake, when if he had waited a whole 10 seconds more I would've passed, and he could have dawdled out without interfering with any other traffic. But no, he had to do that in front of me... I took great pleasure in giving the Sil a bit of boost as I passed and letting off the blow off valve right next to his open window...

I'm sure the authorities have a test with questions like the following...
1) Have you never held a driving licence?
2) Do you have suicidal tendancies?
3) Is the indicator stalk only for asthetics?
4) Is it legal to do u-turns wherever you like?
5) Is it legal to reduce your speed to 5kph in the middle of the street while searching for a fare?
6) Is it legal to erratically change lanes, forcing your way between traffic without indicating?

If you answered 'yes' to the above questions, then congratulations you are now a 'qualified' taxi driver.

On a different theme... I really like the latest colour scheme of our local TransGoldfields buses. They are painted in a dark red/brown colour and bronze/gold. A lot snazzier than the TransPerth buses...

Water for all...

Our lovely state is getting drier. Greenhouse effect or not, our south/southwest is seemingly getting less and less rainfall. In fact one area, Ravensthorpe, has resorted to trucking water in from other areas to ensure enough water to keep their livestock alive, as well as for household use.

Years ago my gf's uncle, Ernie Bridge, had the bright idea to run a pipeline from the abundant fresh water supply in the northwest to Perth. This would relieve some of the strain placed on local water catchments. Unfortunately his plan was ridiculed, as would be expected I guess, because of the costs (around $3 billion) and the enormity of the project. Therefore it has never come to fruition.

More recently, there has been another idea brought forward by the Liberal leader Colin Barnett. This idea is to use a canal system instead of a pipeline to traverse the 2000+km to Perth. Projected costs for this is $2 billion, but I'm pretty sure that would blow out. Sure there is alot of planning to be done, but in the end our state needs water and this, on the surface at least, appears to be a good option.

I applaud this forward thinking, as the millions of litres of fresh water wasted by flowing out to sea could help so many water restricted communities between Perth and the northwest. I know I'm neglecting the people that live in the northwest, as some of them rely on the rivers flooding to service their crops etc. Hopefully most people will be able to be accomodated.

Kalgoorlie relies on a pipeline for its water supply, and without the imagination and determination of C.Y O'Connor to build the original pipeline from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie 100 years ago, there definitely wouldn't be a city here now!

Umm... The weather?

Hmmm... I haven't updated for a while, but there isn't really much to tell.

I may be out of a job soon, as the friendly come hostile takeover has come to a head. The other company won in the Supreme Court, so after 3 or whatever years we will finally be able to sort ourselves out.

In a southern drawl, "Well Maah, it's been a tad warm of late..." It was bloody 42c today!! That's nearly 108f in Yank speak. Thankfully I don't live further north, as they have been having days up to 47c. Tomorrow is expected to be 29c, so all good. :-)
See what it's come to!?! Now I'm a bloody weatherman!! hahaha

I don't read forums to look at your 5 meg avatar!!

This is to all the forum users out there that have no idea how to use an image editing program. I read forums to gain knowledge, not to look at your bloody huge avatar...
"But when I see it on the forum page it looks the right size!", I hear you exclaim.
That's because the forum has just changed the dimensions of the picture to fit their design, not physically made your picture smaller. If you Right click on the Image (your avatar, for example) and select Properties from the menu, check the size of your picture. If it's more than 20kb you need to resize it!!

Check this link... IrfanView.com
This program is so basic to use, and FREE, it allows even the most computer illiterate forum users to resize the picture they want in their avatar.

Step 1: Click File > Open (or the open folder icon on the top left of the window) and choose the big picture you want as your avatar.
Step 2: Click Image > Resize/Resample (or press CTRL + R)
Step 3: Type in a new size in pixels for the width eg. 100 pixels is plenty huge enough, smaller is better. Press ENTER and you're done.
Step 4: Save your file as a different file name by Clicking File > Save As ( or clicking on the little disc at the top of the window, or press S)

Now you have a nice small version of your big picture to use as an avatar. Upload it and make your fellow forum users happy.

Magazine errors...

So I was reading my new copy of Zoom magazine, a car magazine, reading all the great tech info, when I come across an article about an old shape Skyline. Being a Nissan it sparked my interest and I read on. My gripe with this article is that the author couldn't decide which motor was installed in the car. In one paragraph he decides the original naturally aspirated motor was replaced with an RB25DET, usually found in the R33 Skyline GTST, and in the next he has changed it to an RB20DET, found in the R32 Skyline GTST. So what is it!?!

Might I suggest to the magazine editors/writers that you actually send a copy of your article to the actual owner of the vehicle, or to the workshop that did the work. This would help confirm the details and hopefully reduce the mis-information being circulated in the motoring community. People often take what is written in magazine articles as gospel, which may be wrong, but when you read an article, you're expecting that the author has researched the topic well.

Jim Courier, you're the coolest. :-)

I've been watching a bit of the tennis lately and I've got to say, Jim Courier is one of THE best commentators I've ever heard. I guess its because he has a rapport with the players and can hang sh!t on them which makes his way of commentating very refreshing.

The other old fellas that have been doing it for the last 1000 years are well and truly past their use by dates. Guys like Fred Stolle, who admittedly was a great player in his time, are so damn boring to listen to. It's time to get some fresher blood in and I don't mean the generic commentators like Bruce Macavaney, who have hardly picked up a tennis racquet in their lives, yet consider themselves God's gift to tennis commentary. That may be a bit harsh as they do do a reasonable job under the circumstances, but I want to see the former characters of the game returning in these roles. It's a good start by having John McEnroe and Jim Courier in these positions, and I'm sure there's a heap more that would be suitable for the role.

Ant attack!!

Bloody ants... Not the big ones, these are the little sugar ants. I think thats what they're called, they're everywhere.

When we first moved to Kal we lived in a house that had a major ant problem. Everywhere you looked there would be ants. If you left any food residue (crumbs etc.) out overnight, by the morning it would be swarming with ants. At one stage we had an ant trail in the bed... Yes IN the bed!! Enough was enough, so after trying numerous pesticides without much success we called in the exterminator. It lasted a while, but not too long...

Fortunately, we had the opportunity to move to a better house, with no ants. Well, we thought there were none, but now they're in most rooms, although they tend to stick to the kitchen, family/dining room and bathrooms. It's like dejavu... If we find them in the bed, I'm leaving!! :-)

Apparently a lot of houses are affected by the ant invasion in Kal, so people just accept it.

HotFM... Good Work!!

It looks like HotFM's New Year's resolution was to put together a news/weather report without the stuff ups. I have been back in Kal for almost a week and not once have they messed up the 7am report. Well done, HotFM!! :-)

My rants are getting a bit light on... Hmmm, what can I rant about!?! :-)

Want to see a nice house!?!

Here's a gorgeous home that I have just written a webpage for. Bali Dream

I would almost go as far as to say it is my dream house. Except for the small theatre room, this is one awesome place. It should be ready for sale around July.

Channel 7... Man, what were you thinking?

Fortunately, when I am at home I don't have to watch much mainstream TV as I have Foxtel... And broadband internet. Geez I miss that while holidaying in Perth.

Anyway, so I'm watching Channel 7 and their new 2005 promo comes on... I watch in disbelief as a young lady dances around and then MARRIES a television... I mean, I've heard of mixed marriages before but this is just too strange. Try again Channel 7, try again... *shakes head*

Learning... for me

Still having fun learning about HTML etc.

It's great learning about something enjoyable for myself. I've never been a great student as far as learning in a regimented classroom environment, but when I can just go along in my own time reading and practicing, I find I learn a lot more... I put it down to me being most importantly interested in the subject and secondly, I don't have the pressure of approaching exams that give me huge cases of mental blank...

On my things to learn list is to teach myself how to arc weld... Now that should be interesting. :-)

A letter to HotFM...

Here's the letter I sent last week to HotFM about their weather reports. I guess it was too much to expect a reply, especially when the staff have enough trouble pushing the correct buttons for their primary job. I'm not a Triple J fan, but it seems increasingly like they will be receiving my listening ear... Is there any other 'mainstream' stations in Kalgoorlie?

Dear Sir

I am writing to you with regard to your morning
weather reports for Kalgoorlie, or rather lack of
them. I listen to your station because of the style of
music you play but find it increasingly frustrating
and unprofessional that the weather report gets messed
up so often. We get nothing but silence, or there's
other noise/music playing over it, or it cuts straight
to the Albany morning show.
Why does this happen? Is it not controlled by a
computer? Does the voice-over guy decide he's not
doing it some days?

Thank you,
Randal

Bet you thought my ranting days were over!! ;-)

This Web Design is great fun... :-)

I bought this web design book, Creating Web Pages : Weekend Crash Course by Charlie Morris, and it's the perfect tool for my developing HTML skills. Before picking this book up I had no idea how to make frames work and had never heard of Cascading Style Sheets, but now, thanx to this book, I've implemented it into my website.
For those that saw my website, www.daSilvia.org, in its original form, you can see what a difference some time and fresh ideas have made. I am SO inspired, that once I get my skills to a more professional level, I will be game enough to charge for my new found expertise. I've already named my 'company' WebbSpin Designs... :-)

Currently I'm working on a couple of unpaid sites for my family and friends, but I am thankful for the experience. My gf is already counting the extra money I'll be making... hahaha

So anyway, big thanx to Charlie Morris!! Great book, mate!! :-)

Web Design...

I've really been getting into Web Design/HTML of late. My recent delvings into this art began because my work website needed some updating and the original writer (boss' son) had nicked off, leaving us with a page and no writer. Having a little bit of experience with a website I wrote using a WYSIWYG editor, I put my hand up to have a bash...
It was great fun and I learnt a heap... In fact it inspired me so much that I have recently created a revised edition of my website for my car www.daSilvia.org. Now, I've bought a book to give me further ideas and knowledge to improve my site with flash gizmos like frames and things...

"Why isn't this a rant?", I hear you ask... I guess I've outlined my most 'rantable' material and have decided to show I'm not a total devil worshipper... :-) This is what interests me at the moment, so if it pisses me off I'll be sure to rant about it... hahaha

To the dude in the AU Falcon with MH-4.... Number Plates.

I could go on, as you would expect, but I will take a deep breath and say to this particular toolbox on the road today... "Please have a nice day, and remember,.. karma is a bitch..." :-)

And I thought Japanese language would be the hardest to learn...

This isn't a rant, for a change, more of an observation...

Until I started writing this blog I hadn't really taken much notice of how difficult the English language is to write. As English is the only language I attempt to speak or write, besides some swear words in a few other languages, I guess I've always taken it for granted.

I'm writing this because I was just correcting a few errors, namely where I had used "you're" in place of "your". No wonder it is difficult for people learning English as a second language...
We have so many uses for the same sounding words it isn't funny... Some examples, "saw" and "sore", "your", "yaw" and "you're", and there's heaps of others...
I hate to say it, but in a few cases the way Americans spell words is better than English English. :-)

Are your indicators painted on!?!

What is it with the lazy drivers who can't take a few seconds to let the drivers around them know what their intentions are? The number of times this happened today was unbelievable... Do you people think everyone uses the 'force' and can automatically sense what your next move will be... A bit more courtesy, there's that word again, would be nice...

Stoopid squeaky brakes...

You want to know the most irritating characteristics of my car!?! It's the squeaks and rattles!!

The bonnet hinge squeaks, the ECU, S-AFC and my toolbox all rattle, the rear suspension 'clinks' and the front suspension knocks, but the worst thing of all is the toothache inducing squeal produced by the brakes!! It is soo embarassing!! Driving up to a set of lights and all you can hear coming from my okay looking car is a dreadful high pitched scream.
I'm almost at the stage of changing the pads, which are near new, just to get rid of the noise!!

Dip your high beams... Oh, Happy New Year. :-)

Firstly, Happy New Year to everyone, I hope this year will be great for you.

I just travelled the 600km from Kalgoorlie to Perth and in that distance you are bound to find plenty of 'ass clowns' on the road... Here's my rants for the trip down... I'm sure there will be more as I cruise around the city. I've been cut off twice so far... All good. :-)

This time it was people with their high beams on during the day. By all means have your lights on (I do myself, as it makes you more visible on the road), but make sure you have them dipped to low-beam. The last thing I need is to have your four billion candle power spot lights blinding me as I pass you.
It doesn't help when our local car manufacturer, General Motors Holden, makes cars that switch your headlights off for you when you turn the motor off and exit the vehicle. Fine, it saves your battery if you are the sort that leaves your lights on, but if the Commodore owner had the high beams on when they got out of the car last night, the high beams will be on the next day when the motor is started... Great!!

As there wasn't a whole heap of traffic on the road, there wasn't a whole heap of things for me to get pissed about... Not even a sore back that I would normally get from driving my car. The new seats I have fitted are great!! :-)

But of course there's a couple more things... hehe
When myself and my gf come to Perth we usually bring two cars, as it makes it easier for us both to do our own thing and I can get my car serviced etc. and not be without a car. So we have CB radios to communicate with each other and leave enough space between us to allow faster travelling cars to leap-frog us... After all, it's the courteous thing to do...
It seems some people haven't caught onto this concept, as when travelling in convoy with friends/family some people leave hardly enough braking space for themselves, let alone enough room for an overtaking vehicle to slot in between them. What this means is the overtaking driver has to pass both vehicles in one maneuvre, which is unsafe and I believe also illegal.
On one trip down there was three caravans in a row with hardly two car lengths between them, and to make it worse they were travelling 20kph below the speed limit. I wonder how many 'near misses' were caused because of them...
When I overtook them, I ended up passing the first two and forcing my way in between the second and last van. I could've easily overtaken the lot but the road was coming to a crest... I'm sure other drivers would've taken the risk with a possibly catastrophic result.

Tailgaters... Geez I hate being tailgated. I've done the apply the brake pedal enough to make the brake lights work trick, to warn them to back off, but it never seems to work.
On the way to Perth this time, and it's happened heaps before, I noticed a car coming up behind me going approximately 10kph faster than me judging by how long it took them to catch up. I'm thinking, no worries, he'll be able to overtake easily after the next bend, but no, he (turns out to be a she) decides to sit on my ass for kilometres whilst having had at least five chances to overtake safely.
I'd had enough by this stage, as the distance they sat behind didn't allow enough braking distance for them if I needed to emergency brake for wildlife or something, so I waited for another safe straight and eased off the accelerator, forcing them to overtake. By this time there was approximately 6-800m between my car and my gf, but rather than just pulling in front of me and leaving a safe distance between the three cars, they insist on sitting right on the tail of my gf's car...