The End

Finished TAFE yesterday......YAY!!!!

I might see my results next week or the week after.......


cecil

Genetically Engineered Food

I'm not a big fan of Genetically modified food...I really don't see why it's necessary. Some companies are developing foods that are resistant to stronger more dangerous pesticides...seems like that's the total opposite of organic foods which are better for human consumption.(albeit more expensive! there again you can't beat home grown.)

Anyway if you share a concern for the development /sale of GM/GE food you can sign a petition to have all GM food labeled as such....
cheers
Cecil

A Trivial Pursuit?

Some would say that partaking in on line surveys is somewhat of a trivial pursuit. But today, participation with one of my "regular" online survey companies has paid off!
I am participating in a continued survey with regard to board games, the idea being is you play board games with your family over a four week period and answer the survey questions. One of the perks is that you get to choose a game which is then sent to you gratis!
Our game turned up today! - "Trivial Pursuit Family Edition, which has kids cards and adult cards.
... Looks like the perfect weather to stay in and play at the moment as well!

cecil

doing things backwards?

I've come to the conclusion that I'm possibly losing weight at the wrong time of the year. Most people would probably try to lose weight to look good in the summer time...but here "down under" I started my weight loss program at the end of Summer heading into Autumn. We're just experiencing our first coldish weather for the year and I'm starting to wonder if a reduction in "insulation" going into winter is a good thing. I mean bears eat heaps, fatten themselves up and sleep through winter don't they? (not that we have bears here in Oz). In the northern hemisphere they "fatten up" things for Christmas Dinner in their winter. But here am I trying to shed the fat and the cold season is approaching. Shouldn't complain, being a coastal dweller it really does not get that cold here as technically we are in a "Sub Tropical" climate. The up side is we are taking a holiday in the winter up to the warmer latitudes, the Whitsundays region on the Great Barrier Reef...with any luck it might even be warm enough up there to go snorkeling etc....so a few inches off the waistline won't hurt! (Like most middle aged males I am under the delusion that I'm only a few push-ups away from being ripped like Mr Universe...LOL)

....reminds me, must go for a walk today

cecil

treadmill power generation

Just did five k's on the treadmill as it's a bit damp outside today for my daily walk and was thinking...why don't we reverse the technology of the treadmill.....instead of it using power to move the belt for us to walk on why can't we use our legs to push the treadmill belt and generate power to put back into "the grid"!...same thing could work for exercise bikes! I might be a bit more inclined to jump on and sweat out a few k's if it meant I was cutting a few bucks off the power bill.......and get the kids into it....the "potholes" jump over each other here to get a go on the treadmill! "Sure Jimmy, you can watch Cartoon Network..but you provide the power for the TV!"

If the government is giving rebates for us all to install solar panels on our roofs and pump our excess juice back into "the grid" then surely they can cough up a few for us to buy power generating exercise gear...and it would help tackle the obesity epidemic / take some load off our health system....the benefits are enormous!.

And a Gym owner would become a small power plant owner!...not only would he save on his power bill.... he gets to charge his clients for the privilege of saving him money....cool! You could even target the "Green Set"..."Exercise at our Gym and save your life AND the planet!"

... I can feel a business venture coming on

cecil

Bits

Had a blackout last night....ah Energy Australia strikes again!..
......anyway , this morning I had to re-boot the ADSL modem and noted the highest sync speed since changing to ADSL2 ...4918Kbps. Our "distance" from the exchange here when calculated by our downstream attenuation of 51db vs 13.81 db loss per km of copper wire is about 3.7 km's. I suspect I could achieve higher speeds using HSPA mobile technology!!!.
.......roll on the new "high speed" internet infrastructure Mr Rudd!!!! (Though from what I've read our new High Speed is outdated before we even get it.....typical!)

new ubuntu release

The New Release for the Linux Operating System distribution Ubuntu is on the way:



the beta test version is available now.....

cecil

Shake it off!!!

I've been a long time critic of the diet shake industry, but have succumbed to requests from the Princess Bride to join her in a quest to reduce our waistlines, and as have such embarked on a diet shake frenzy!
Now I have to admit...something had to be done...I had blown out to an all time high score of 123 kilos...(I was 115 the month before Christmas...what happened?). A simple walk to the school with the potholes and back had me completely puffed!
I've been "shaking" for a month now and have lost just over 10 "killergrams"...the walk to school and back is a breeze now by comparison and feel I need to extend my walks so I'll start coming home the long way next week.
I don't expect the rate of loss to continue, the next ten are going to be harder to lose I'm sure!
And d'you know what I crave the most?....Vegemite!!!! ...Struth it's hard making breakfast or lunches for the boyz and smelling the 'ol yeast extract!!.....I don't miss all the bread, pasta, rice and spuds etc. at all, and have a renewed love affair with salads and vegies...(I'm still not a big fruit eater).
....Keep on shakin'

Dangerous Rodents!

The Pitts folding@home team has been relaunched by team founder Kiso under the new name Danger Mice. A new website is being constructed by Kiso and Miss Magoo with links to contributing team members pages. New members Keplerspeed and Emu legs are a welcome boost to the team numbers. Currently team Danger Mice have achieved over 158,000 points / 700+ workunits.

...Keep on Folding!

overcommitments

Ah.... football season has hit with the force of a Mack truck this year! 2 of the potholes are playing, with one of them also junior reffing we are in for a big year of football. And trial games...don't get me started!
We have just come home from "Rocketman's" first trial he has another this coming weekend as well as reffing the new SSF (Small Side Football) trial games that "Herbie" is playing in. (also this weekend). Between now and then we have training on two different nights, and the other commitments like Tennis for the "D-Man" , Art class for "Rocketman" and "Herbies" swimming.
Barely time to scratch oneself......

which way is the wind blowing?

....taken from todays Hunter area forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Forecast for Thursday
Isolated afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Local early fog patches. Light to moderate west to northwest winds tending southeast to northeast.

...that reads... west to northwest winds tending southeast to northeast......

so it's:

a) covering all bases
b) we have absolutely no idea...but there will be wind
c) all directions at once
d) all of the above

Serious Error

...just logged into the Win XP box in the lounge room

up pops the 'ol "Your System has recovered from a serious error" message

so I thinks to myself "The system (windows) IS a serious error!!!"

....but then again I'm glad its not Vista



I'm going back to the Linux box now.....

Shaved Ham

...well, theres nothing worse than buying a ham with bristles sticking out of it is there?

Movember

Tis the MOnth to grow hair on ones top lip to support Mens Health issues....
Being a long time wearer of a mo I fully support any mans desire to foliate their upper oral real estate!
I've sponsored a couple of mates who are growing a mo to raise MOney.
So guys...keep MOtivated as it's a MOst worthy cause.

convenient?

Great things cordless phones! you can walk around the house unencumbered by cords or get away from noisy co-habitants...
..BUT they are never close by or in the charging cradle when they ring!
You wander 'round the house following the ring desperately trying to find the bloody handset before the caller hangs up or the answering machine takes over the call...(doesn't help when you are half deaf in one ear and direction finding by sound is difficult!)
...and sometimes when you find the handset it's sitting within a metre of the second cordless handset, (also not in its charging base)....
Yep, damn fine invention that one!
(why is it that you can always remember where you put your mobile phone but not the home phone?)

CPI

The workers are getting a 21 dollar pay rise! and the pundits are speculating it will push up inflation and the CPI etc....

Now I remember when I was a young lad, my pocket money was initially indexed to the price of a Matchbox Car, and when a little older to the price of an LP... :)

WOFTAM

Laughed out loud when I read an article today stating microsoft is spending something like 300 million dollars on advertising for their Vista operating system, which they claim is working well now and is not as bad as everyone says it is......
I SAY
Microsoft...if Vista is that good, don´t waste your money on advertising. Release the Home Basic version for free instead. The resulting publicity would get better coverage than advertising, the resulting increase in user base would be quicker. You would then still profit from upgrades to the higher spec versions of Vista and sales of Office etc.... (assuming of course that people are happy with it)

For me?, I certainly would not pay for it, but would download a copy for free to try it again...(I tried out the release candidate).
...I´m not convinced that it works flawlessly yet, and I won´t take microsoft´s word for it!

Being Green (er)...and being ripped off by the power co.

It's startling to note the drop in water usage in the first water bill we have received after installing our new front load washing machine.
Our average daily water usage has dropped by around 1/3 (35.9% down from the last bill and 32.8% from the same period last year)
We have also noted a slight drop in power consumption.

We are now policing the potholes shower times, encouraging them to use a 4 minute timer, and encouraging them to switch off lights when they leave a room, along with turning off more appliances at the wall and not letting the computers run overnight.

And then....
Another win we have had, which should cut our power bill a bit is with the energy co. Some time ago they changed the meters in our meter box to "time of day" meters (so called "smart metering"), that record power used according to the time of day and we are billed according to what time the power was used at either peak, shoulder or off peak rates...
Fair enough I thought, until I recently started to scrutinise the bills looking for ways to reduce our consumption / cost. The off peak hot water (controlled by them remotely) was being billed at "off peak" for the bulk of its use, but when the second "boost" element cut in during the day we were being billed at "shoulder" or "peak" rates..
I checked with our "sparky", who lives on the corner, to see if he could put a switch in the meter box to isolate the boost element circuit, at least that way I could stop the high power usage during the peak period, but alas I would have to ring the energy co. because the existing master switch was sealed....
Then I checked the energy co. website and it implied that when they change you to "smart metering" your off peak hot water should not be affected..hmmmmm....so, as I was previously only ever being charged off peak rates for boosted hot water during the day, I rang 'em...
Two weeks later they got back to me... "yes, you have been overcharged for your hot water"..turns out, not only were they charging me full rates for the "boost" usage during the day, the smart metering "off peak rate" they were charging for the hot water was dearer than what it should have been (should have remained on "off peak 1")...the end result is they had to go back to the date they changed the meters and reissue every bill at the correct rates...so now we have a big chunk of our latest bill credited back....cool!
So...check your bills if they have changed you to the new fangled metering!!!! it could pay off!
cecil

Straight ahead eh!

I have been amused by the road markings on this roundabout for some time now. It is near Nelson Bay....according to the road markings as you approach (from bottom of picture) you can turn left or go straight ahead from the left lane, turn right or go straight ahead from the right lane....the thing is, ... straight ahead puts you into the trees!, as in reality, you can only go left or right ....gotta laugh!
note: there is a similar marking on the inside lane approaching from the right of the picture.

International Rescue?

Was watching the news this morning and noticed these dudes in funny hats trying to stop the "pro Tibetan / anti Chinese Olympic Torch Relay" demonstrators.....

Thunderbirds are go.....! good to see they're out of retirement...

cecil

new Ubuntu coming soon

I am eagerly awaiting the latest Ubuntu release.8.04.."Hardy Herron". I was going to completely rebuild the Linux box at the release of the last version, but opted to upgrade instead...this time I am going to do it, I swear!..
...the system as it stands now dual boots with windows Vista, which I have absolutely no interest in, as it's such a bloated piece of CRAP!...those I know, who have now gone from Vista to Vista SP1 are saying it is really no better than before....best left alone is my theory..perhaps it will die the death it deserves...and besides, it's wasting a perfectly good Hard Drive that can be deployed elsewhere!

So , again I say, Ubuntu rocks!, well worth a play with, it comes as a complete distribution with software included for most everything you need for day to day computing, and a huge on line repository of alternate software at your fingertips.......best of all..its FREE.

Scaredy Cat

Our "Ginger" Persian Garfield, "the great Camellia Hunter", is scared of our new washing machine. Its funny really, as the old machine was way noisier, in fact it could be heard throughout the whole house and then some!....the new machine by comparison is whisper quiet...so why is he scared?
The different noises it does make may be of some concern to him, as he grew up from a kitten in the laundry with the old clunker and as such he may not be in his comfort zone now with the new intruder.....BUT the real scary bit seems to be that he can now see the clothes moving through the door, as the new unit is a front loader...he jumps a mile and cowers if he sees it move!....
One would assume he would get used to it fairly quickly but we've had it a few weeks now and he still doesn't like it!.....and doesn't like going near it when it's on....
Cecil

STOP PRESS! SANTA IN TRAIN WRECK !

News Just to hand, Santa was found today trapped in the Locomotive Cabin of his Christmas Express Train.

SEND HELP!

Suspect caught on camera earlier ?

Internet scammer and my response....

An internet scam got through the "filter" today so I read it and responded... as follows

From Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah
Royal Family of King Haji Omar Ali Sadul Khairi
of Brunei Darussalam.

GOOD DAY,My dear, Please read very carefully, It is with tears that I am writing this message to you from a hospital bed far away from my home where I have no mother,father, sister , brother or any relative, in the mist of strangers with a diffrent language that I don't understand, imaging how painful it is being a cancer patient, Firstly let me introduce myself to you.

I am Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah, a widow to Late Sheik Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, I am 45years old and I have a son of 16years of age who is at the moment in Benin Republic and I am suffering from cancer of the lungs which I will soon undergo the operation, I want to also let you know that I am writing you this mail from a private hospital here where I am taking my part-time treatments, what will you do if your doctor come up and tell you that you have only few weeks to live? you can imagine the kind of pains I am going through.

My husband is the first Son to the last wife of King Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sadul Khairi Waddien, the former Prime minister of Brunei Darussalam, the tiny oil-rich country on the Island in South-Eastern Asia,let me save your time by not amplifying my extended royal family history which has already been disseminated by the international media during the controversial dispute that erupted between my Husband and his step-brother, the sultan of Brunei H.M.Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah who is the present King/prime minister of Brunei.

As you may know from the international media, the sultan of Brunei accused my husband who is his step-brother for financial mismanagement and impropriety of US$14.8 billion dollars and this was as a result of the Asian Financial crisis that made my husband's company Amedeo Development Company that was inherited by my husband and government owned Brunei investment company to be declared bankrupt during his tenure in the office.
However my my husband was kept under house arrest by his own step brother, our bank accounts and private properties including a crude oil export refinery were later confiscated by the sultan and to worsen the whole thing, he has to assassinate my beloved husband and I was placed under house arrest by the sultan so that I will not tell the international community what has happened and that is where I developed this cancer of the lungs which is killing me now but I still believe that it is the will of God that life treat me this way.

To avoid further prosecution and sufferings from the sultan and his security operatives since I have lost my husband and I have my only child to keep me happy, I decided to leave my country Brunei to Benin Republic in West Africa where my husband has deposited the sum of ( US$15 Million Dollars) in a reputable bank but unfortunately for me this my illness has became worst and I have been placed at the hospital for medical attention here, so I am planing to fly to abroad for good medication and a perfect surgical operation because according to what my doctor told me that I may not live for more than a month without this operation,I am so scared about this because she has made me understand that I have only 20% chance to survive this surgery and for that reason, I want to make a future for my only son before undergoing this surgery so that even if I die on the process of this surgery, my son will be taken care of by you.

The reason why I am contacting you is to know if you can arrange for a better hospital over there so that I can come there for a better surgery and aslo to know if you can take care of my son when I will be undergoing this surgery, I have decided to give you this sum of (US$ 15 Milion) that I inherited from my late husband so that you can invest it in a very lucrative business in your country, we never can tell what will happen during the surgery, so that in case if anything happen to me during this operation, my son will have someone to take care of him and a business/funds to inherit for a good future or if this surgery goes well, I will have a business that I can use to take care of my only son.

Please note that this fund is lying with a reputable Bank here in Benin Republic of West Africa and as I am writing this message to you from a hospital Bed, I am not sure that I will survive this operation but even if I have to die, first I want to secure a future for my only son. You may ask yourself why am I saying all this but I believe you never experience this kind of problem either have you meet anyone in this kind of situation,have you ever use a lap-top in the hospital to write a letter to a stranger for help? from a foreign land where you have no father, mother or anyone who can help you? In the mist of people that speak entirely different language? when all the people you trust become the people after your life? well, you may not understand but I want you to take this more serious and urgently important.

All I WANT FROM YOU IS TO TAKE THE MONEY WITH MY SON AND INVEST IT SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF MY SON IF I DID NOT SURVIVE THIS. please get back to me very fast so that I can tell you what to do because my days now is being numberred. May the peace of God be with you.


Regards,
Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed Hassanal Bolkiah


And my response....

Dear Asiyah

I am very sorry to hear of your illness, but unfortunately the medical system here in Australia is *overloaded*, and I would not recommend you come to this country for treatment. Australian citizens are dying in their hundreds waiting for a hospital bed for life saving operations. Perhaps if you were to make a sizable donation to one of the Australian Hospitals instead then you may have a better chance here! or better still try a country with a better run Health System....

Once again sorry to hear you are ill, and hope you get the operation you need. Good Luck!

Cecil


(Now, sometimes when (if) I respond to these things (and its always tongue in cheek) I get a reply (they don't get my sarcasm) so if I get a response to this I will post it.)

cheers Cecil

and here it is...

Dear Cecil,

Thank you having good interest to help me and my only son, first I will want to assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free and the fund in question belongs to me and my husband before my husband was killed by the King of my nation and after the killing of my beloved husband I escape from my country to Benin Republic where me and my husband deposited the fund in question.

The deposit document of this fund is made in my name and is still with me to prove my legitimate in this transaction I will make this document available to you as soon as I receive the bellow information from you.

1 Telephone and fax
2 Occupation or name of your company
3 Age/ Full Name
4 Home and office address

I will also like to inform you that according to the doctor my chance to survive after sugary is 50/50 and that is why I will want you to make sure my son Ali is well taking care of even if I did not make it after the sugary operation. Thank you for your understanding.

I await your reply with understanding

Mrs Asiyah Ahmed

hmmmm, seems we have forgotten how to spell surgery since our first email..... but then again a sugary operation may have something to do with diabetes?

....more



Dear Cecil may the paece of GOD ALLAH be with you,
Please i am directing this latter of reminder to you regarding the massage i sent to you on last sunday please comfirm to me if you received it as i have not heard from you since.
thanks
mrs.asiyah ahmed

Allah now? hmmm
....a latter? ....and a massage? (sounding more like Peter Sellers)

...perhaps I should give them some details....like
Cecil Pitts age 47
Internet Fraud Squad
and the Phone no of the local cop shop...he he !

(Q. if her Son is 16yrs old, why is she so worried about him?, He's probably more than capable of fending for himself!....struth! , they marry them off earlier than that over there don't they?)

Cecil

vehicle signage

Signs on back of vehicles and what they could mean......

"Caution, May Reverse at any Time", ....truck owner cannot afford gearbox repairs?

"Caution, Vehicle Frequently Stopping", ....I need a mechanic!

"You are passing another Fox", ....Lindsay Fox bought underpowered trucks?

"If you cannot see my mirrors, I cannot see you" ....Like I check my mirrors, Ha!


There's bound to be more......

Jack is off his Perch?

Mike's budgie, Jack, is getting on in years for a budgerigar. At around 9 1/2 years old, he is at the "average life expectancy" for a bird of his species.
Of late the 'ol bird has seemingly been losing his balance / grip occasionally, and getting in a right "flap" when trying to extricate himself from being stuck upside down between his feed tray and the cage! I've had to rescue him a couple of times, reaching in and freeing him from his predicament before he flapped himself into heart failure! As tame as he is , the poor old fart is still a bit wary of being handled and sits quietly for a while contemplating the proceedings just past...seemingly in shock..
How much of this can he take?....don't really know...
We have been preparing Mike for the inevitable, telling him he's had a good innings and he's getting old now, and one day he'll be dead in the bottom of his cage. (tell 'em straight I reckon!)
But I feel deep down he is a survivor and he may bat on for some years yet, as he recovered quite unexpectedly from a traumatic incident years ago that we all thought he wouldn't recover from, where he was "drying out" after a "bath" in his cage on the trampoline and one of the dogs got a bit curious and knocked it off to the ground and tried to maul him through the bars...he lost some of his larger wing feathers and was very subdued and quiet for weeks and weeks, but slowly he came back, got active again, and started talking to us again.
(14 or 15 years is not unheard of for a Budgie and the record is around 20)
If we are lucky he should see a few more yet....Go Jack!

Doing our bit for the hole in the ozozne layer.....

Still another set of lights to go up yet..........

The other blog...

I am going to try to do more regular updates on my Vegemite blog. "Vegemite and the Dark Side of the Moon", as it has been dormant for some time...any photos or input would be appreciated.

Cecil

The air in Japan?

I was driving behind a Nissan Patrol the other day ( yeah, bad luck eh!) and noticed the sticker on the rear window "Genuine Nissan Air".....lovely thought...they must install a canister of air captured from some Japanese cherry orchard on a crisp spring morn and have a button somewhere so you can release it when the smog is just too much to bear.....
BUT
then i thought ...no it's probably a warning! those tyres have been filled with Japanese air at the factory in Japan so if you get a flat, you should probably call the EPA 'cause who knows what was in that air when it was pumped in! I mean we all know Horse Flu is rife over there, the wind could have been blowing from a racecourse over the Nissan factory that day and captured the Flu spores right into those tyres....
Thanks Nissan...how responsible of you!

Diet industry shake up

Seems I've missed out on getting in on the ground floor of the "Pharmacy Weight Loss Program" boom...
I can't get over the number of different programs one can choose from, in fact if the idea of consuming the same 'ol diet shakes day in day out turns you off, there would have to be enough different ones out there now to be able to do a different "program" each day of the week....Variety!!!
I suspect the next step will be the fast food chains will align themselves with these brands, selling the diet shakes over the counter...so you can stay on your "program" when out 'n about... ;-p
Cecil

Vegetarian Persian

Our Persian Cat, Garfield (aka Fluffy Nuts,.... yes, he answers to that name!) (Cruel aren't I!) has recently exhibited a very strange behavior.... When let outside a couple of times recently (He is an "indoors" cat) he has come back to the front door, very vocal, with a "prize". Not unusual for a cat you say..yes... except you see, his "treasure" is a dried up Camellia flower, all brown and crispy! I have not yet figured out why, but the obvious theory could be taste or texture? The first time he did it I just opened the door and he scampered past me, back to the cats retreat, the Laundry, and was very reluctant to release the dead flower, exactly the behavior shown by our current champion "mouser" Bingo when she has collared a rodent! On the theory side, another possibility may be he has seen a small skink lizard or bug disappear under the copious amounts of dropped flowers under one of our camellia bushes and just chomped into what he thought was his snack!

I don't think he's the brightest feline around, he still thinks he can catch the "Laser Pointer" light (which Bingo just totally ignores, she even gives you a "look" as if to say "yeah...its a light, so what!")
... and its not like he is a kitten anymore either at 3 yrs old!
All in all, I guess he's just another kooky pet in our menagerie! with his own odd-ball quirks and as such fits in well around here!!!
Cecil

Whether or not the moon affects the weather

Heard an interview on 2NC radio yesterday with a bloke named Ken Ring who does long range weather forecasting based on the Moons Cycles/Phases.
His website is : http://www.predictweather.com/ .
I find what he has to say very interesting and will be following this theory with much interest. He apparently predicted the heavy rainfall we experienced here in June, in his 2007 almanac.
He also has a staunch anti-global warming stance and has lots of thoughts on the matter, an interesting read !

Cecil

Football (soccer ) Season over for 2 Potholes

Our football season has now drawn to a late close (due to being delayed by the bad weather) with Mikes team making the finals but were eliminated in their second finals game on Saturday. Heath also has now finished his season after playing 2 Gala days on the last 2 Sundays.

Both parents are now fully over it for another year, and now we look forward to summer sport...

James has been going to Tennis lessons and will continue to do so as he is enjoying it a lot. Horse riding lessons will still be on the cards for the coming holidays also (equine influenza permitting ;-) )

Heath will probably be going back to swimming lessons this summer to increase his confidence in the water.

Mike looks like he will be doing indoor soccer with some of his mates and may sign up for junior cricket....

cecil