Holiday Motorists ! ( a breed of their own)

The annual Silly Season on the roads has hit us...and out of hiding have come all the incompetent, got their licence at woolies, motorists...and the, "yeah, she'll be right for the trip" type who's car only putt-putts to work n back, who you invariably see ...broken down, hood up etc. with a clueless look of despair flagging down help..
.The run down the freeway has given the ol car a major coronary....
"you want me to go 110?....after all this time?... and I havent been over 70 for over a year?...you sure?...cough cough...what about my coolant that hasn't been changed for years! all these kids and luggage sure are heavy!!....and the sludge, er oil! or lack of it should I say!.. and why am I pulling to one side I hear you curse?...um..perhaps before you loaded me with a ton of people and accessories you should have checked my tyre pressure......
...and road rules? what are they...we're on holidays!, we're allowed to drive with no peripheral vision and no consideration for the other motorists, we have to get to our destination as quick as we can! there's last years record we have to beat!
You see them....bucket hats are a giveaway!, poorly levelled caravan hitching is another, drifting in and out of lanes without indicating, trying to u-turn to go back to the exit they missed...
A bloke has his work cut out, just keeping clear of these idiots to go somewhere to get his work done!
Can't wait for it to be over...I'm over it!

ho ho ho

Christmas comes but once a year, and yes, my fridge is stocked with beer!

...Ahh, another year nearly over, and the potholes are quite exited at the impending visit of the Jolly Fat Man. ..no political correctness here...;-)
I tend to think the 8 and 9 year olds have it figured, but they will still happily sit on the old buggers knee for a photo. The youngest "Herbie" (5) ..well.....this was the first year he actually sat on Santa's knee and smiled, last year he frowned and sat off to the side, and previous years, the Princess Bride or Tim have had to sit in on the shoot just to get him to co-operate...mind you he's been a stubborn l'il bugger for a few years now, but his first year at infants school in Joeys (early learners) has improved his social participation mildly. (still some way to go here!).

All 3 got good school reports this year, which is a relief considering some of the discussions with the youngest pair's teachers over the year....|-( I mean, they aren't bad kids, .. we try not to stifle their individuality..we don't want them to all be the exact same product so to speak...but some teachers just don't seem to know how to cope with kids who are a little off centre to the "norm"..but other teachers can take their nuances and run with them for outstanding results...

Miss Elle has had a full on year with her "rent a toddler" (daycare) job and deserves a good break....as nice as some of the little tikes are, there always seems to be one having an off day or terrorising the others or sent to daycare with a contagious disease loosely disguised with panadol so the parent thinks they can get to work that day....(or worse still have a day off to themselves)

Tim (..our ex-pothole..now a fully fledged Pitts), appears to be making forward progress this year, with regular weekly visits for a chat over dinner..still hard to contact during daylight hours, he keeps a mainly nocturnal schedule of online gaming (World of Warcraft ), participating in "raids" as part of the "guild" he is a member of.

I've taken on some contract work that has been pretty full on in the weeks up to Christmas, which has been a bit of a shock to the system, seeing as though I haven't been out in the field on a daily basis for 12 months plus...

Well, here's to stuffing ourselves stupid over Chrissy, Watching the Yacht Race and Boxing Day Test, eating leftovers for a few more days, have a brief pause, drinking ourselves to oblivion on New Years Eve...and then tackling 2007.... YAY!!!

Contractural Obligation

Just won some subcontract work for a major IT service provider...
Start an orientation on Thursday.
Should keep me busy, although, it is working in the same area of IT that I have spent my whole IT Career in, the Retail and Financial sectors, so I am very conversant, so to speak...
I'll still be doing the PC repair / upgrade and ADSL Sales side of my business as the sub-contract work is going to be in varying amounts, due to sharing the workload, for the equivalent of 6 months of the year, with another local sub-contractor.
Should get me out of the Princess Brides hair a bit more often!!!!

hasta la VISTA baby

...sorry , couldn't think of any thing else or more appropriate to call this post.
I am currently exploring "windows vista", discovering its nuances etc. A necessary evil in my line of work as an IT tech.
I have installed it twice now, onto my trusty "testbed" PC, first time upgrading from XP Pro to Vista and then a performing a clean install...
hmmmmm, my initial recommendation....don't bother trying to upgrade...back up your files and start with a clean install...
Why?..While Vista managed the upgrade reasonably well, and no files were lost, it took a long long long time to do it! and the end result was a little sus. I did run the Vista ready program beforehand so i had some idea what to expect it would have a problem with both hardware and software wise. What I didn't count on was a few little driver errors that seemed to relate to hardware my PC just did not have!!!
I then tried a clean install and by comparison it was heaps quicker and the end result was much much better...no apparent issues (as yet!) ..other than it trying to "hibernate" my PC , which it did... but I could not wake it up.!!!....well yes I did...with a power reset.@#$%!!!..have to look into that one...I've dissabled that function temporarily..lol.

AND concurrently with all this, (dual booted) on the same box I have installed the latest Ubuntu Linux 6.10 (Edgy Eft), which by comparison has been blissfully simple and no-fuss.....say no more!

Hit em high, hit em low....again

Back in May I had a stab at "low irritant" fly spray ......
Today it's "fast knockdown" fly spray....
What's the go with THAT!... Again I say, if the li'l bastards are annoying you, you don't want them to have a quick death....let 'em suffer I say!! ...a long, drawn out, painfull cessation of life will serve the buggers right for pestering you!
AND...how do they know you've gone and got the spray?????, I mean the minute you leave the room to get it and come back, THEY'VE GONE!!!!!, nowhere to be seen!!!! Damn annoying that!
I must be warped..but there is something amusing about that blowfly you just sprayed desperately trying to get out through the window, buzzing incessantly, banging its head continually on the glass etc..............lol............
I'll get you , you little b@st@rds!!!!

Rain

Good to see some good soaking rain , the grass was looking a little worse for wear, and not growing anywhere near its usual spring rate. Can't complain about the lack of mowing though !!

of pills and ills

The Doctor is changing my "Happy" medication...its been a while since they did it last time but apparently the effect of the pills I've been on (max dosage and all) tends to become a little ineffective after long term use....no crap! tell me something we hadn't sort of noticed here ourselves!
Oh well , I should probably be gratefull they are trying an alternative, I just hope I'm not too unbearable to live with while the new ones "kick in!"...

..oh yeah...and I'll still rattle more than the car! (Because of all the pills!!!)..lol

more power

I just noticed this morning the blender has "more power" than our vacuum cleaner! ...admittedly the old electrolux is from the era when stuff was built to last a lifetime, so was probably a hot unit in its heyday...
perhaps i can convert the blender into one of those cyclonic vacuums..........

In Business !!....

Well I did it....I got myself an ABN, so now I'm officially a "sole trader". I'm going to be fixing PC's, upgrading PC's, building / selling PC's, removing virii and mal/spyware, advising people on appropriate computer security and also selling broadband accounts and netcomm modems etc through eXetel as an agent.

My Advert

Current step is getting the word out there..have made my own business cards, have "tear-off" posters ready to go up at the shops and will have to investigate an ad in the "local rags".
Might look into a listing on the web through those business listing sites but not so sure on whether they are successful at generating business...besides which I have to make a web site for my business yet...next on the to do list.
As for a business name? at the moment I'm trading under my own name but I have the paperwork to register a name when I come up with something suitable...I have a couple on the short list but not 100% sure yet....
So if you know someone who could use my services.........

cheers
geoff

I know how they feel now!

It has been said this week of Steve Irwins death, that children the globe over have felt his passing deeply, as he was a larger than life icon, seemingly immortal, idolised by the young ... well I must admit I was saddened by his passing but obviously not as much as some of the young'uns around here..I know of some kids who were too upset to go to school the following day after hearing the news...
But now after hearing of Peter Brocks passing I can truly relate to their feelings...I was a young lad when Brocky was in his heyday, and to me as a "car mad" boy he too was an invincible rolemodel. I remember fondly laying on the floor in front of the tele for hour after hour watching him race at "Bathurst", only leaving the room in the ad. breaks. I must admit I teared up when I saw the news article on Sky News, thinking this just cannot have happened!, not Brocky!, not"Peter Perfect"!, my most admired racing car driver of my youth!, my inspiration to be a good driver when I grew up.!!

Rest in Peace Steve and Peter, you will be sadly missed by all, may your legends live forever.

What Should I use then?

I am sometimes asked by people about software for their PC, particularly people I have helped reload software for after suffering some form of attack from malware etc....and from the cost concsious user, who like me, don't have a lot of cash to waste on expensive software!
so I have pieced together my recommendations....

Geoff's Recommended FREE Software for your Windows PC

Whether you just want to stay with Windows or you just have to run a Windows box for particular software you need, or just want to steer clear of expensive (Microsft office) and dangerous (read Microsoft OE and IE) software on your windows PC, I recommend and use this software on the Windows Boxes here at home......

Mozilla Firefox, Browser. Open sourced browser, less vunerable to attack than Internet Explorer and is FREE

Mozilla Thunderbird, Email. Open sourced Email program. Does not automatically open your mail when it downloads (as does Outlook Express when preview pane is enabled) which gives you an opportunity to screen for junk etc, has goodies like a “learning” junk mail filter . it too is FREE

Open Office 2, Office package. Open sourced office suite, compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, but its FREE! and works well. Can export your documents in PDF format also.

Zone Alarm, Firewall, award winning , far superioir to windows firewall. Basic firewall version is FREE. (can upgrade for a cost to higher levels of protection.)

AVG Free, antivirus software. Excellent FREE antivirus software. Has email checking.

Adaware and or Spybot Search and Destroy, to find and help you control adware, malware, spyware etc

All this software is free and hence fully legal to run on your PC without having to pay licencing fees or upfront purchase costs, and they all do an excellent job!, Better still if you use Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office, you will be far less exposed to common exploits aimed at Billy Gates (Microsoft) software.

other free utilities you may wish to try are...

The GIMP, image manipulation software, FREE

Picasa, photo management software from Google, FREE.

Nvu, web page creation software, FREE

Be Security Wise. Of course there is no substitute for being vigilant and taking a close watch on what you are downloading and opening. Always look for the original software publishers download site if possible as some third party download sites will often add their spyware and malware to the download. Running a good firewall will protect you not only from attempts to access your PC from the outside world, but also help stop any spyware you may have on your PC from sending data back out from your PC to the writers of the spyware. Keep your windows installation up to date with security patches....enable automatic updates if you have a legitimate windows installation.

cheers
and Happy Personal Computing
Geoff

Dads Day

Well!... its just after 10:30 on Fathers Day, and do i feel spoilt!
Greeted in bed this morning by the "potholes" (pre-pubescent Pitts) with the sunday paper and a coffee, then a load of cards and pressies...."whacko!" as my old man used to say!
I share a love of dogs with my dad and my grandfather, having a Border Collie named Holly, now going on 11 human years old. (77 in dog years?) She can now support my favourite footy team the Eels with me as I got some Eels gear for her for Fathers Day. Holly the Collie now looks smart in her new Eels collar and ID tag, we can go for a walk with her new Eels Leash, can play frisbee with her new Eels dog frisbee...(She just loves playing frisbee and with balls) and have a feed from her new Eels dog bowl....Hmmm you don't think it was all meant for me?..perhaps the bowl is actually for me when I'm "in the doghouse" so to speak ;-)

After the pressies it was time for a good 'ol cooked breaky, bacon, eggs (sunny side up and runny please), mushroom, tomato, hash browns, toasted english muffins and a home made iced coffee......and finish reading the paper.

so far so good....an excellent morning! might go and have a cuppa now in my new Eels coffee cup i got as well...Happy Fathers Day!

BLACKHAWKS WIN THE GRAND FINAL!

Yes they did it!, Mikes soccer team, the Warners Bay Blackhawks, have won the Grand Final today.
They are now both Premiers AND Grand Final Winners for then 2006 season.
It was another tight match against "Lake Macquarie" going into extra time after no result at the full time whistle....they then managed to score in the first 10 minutes of extra time coming out victors 1-nil.



CONGRATULATIONS ON AN EXCELLENT SEASON BOYS !!!!!

Many thanks and Top Marks to the boys coach Lee, who has taken the team ahead in their abilities "leaps and bounds" through this season.




My "Pothole" Mike with his Premiers Trophy and Grand Final Winners Medalion.

GO BLACKHAWKS

My nine year old Pothole's soccer team
The Blackhawks
has blitzed its way through the local competition and won the Premiership, Major Semi Final and now will play in the Grand Final in a couple of weeks!


__W E L L__D O N E__B O Y S__!__

ADSL2+ speeds?

looking at changing over to ADSL2+ in October as my ISP will be providing it from early Oct.?, so I have been doing my research on line speeds possible at my distance from the exchange..

using the formula attenuation in decibels/13.81 (13.81 db loss per km of telstra copper wire) where my line attenuation at the moment as reported by my modem is 51db, I'm approximately 3.7 km from the exchange as the electrons flow...

using my 51db figure...


here is a link to a site that gives you the graphical representation shown above...just feed it your attenuation figure if known.

here is a link to the oz-broadband speed test site

this all adds up to a theoretical speed around 5500k which is about 21 times faster than my 256k adsl1 connection now but only about a quarter of the speed someone living next door to the exchange will theoretically get...(up to 24000)

be interesting to see what i get in reality!

Hair (not the musical...more the lack of it!)

Got the poops with my hair being a bit long last week so i got the clippers out and gave m'self a "number 4" ,...( just as well the potholes gave me a "Parra" beanie...it REALLY comes in handy on those cold days now!)...one of the mates online commented my msn mug shot looked like "chopper" ..lol






..Though my Princess Bride says "the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is about a week!"

Ubuntu to you too

Yes, Ubuntu
I have of late been trying different Linux Distributions, and stumbled onto ubuntu linux courtesy of PC User magazine.
I must say I am impressed with this one ...
Apparently based on the ever reliable Debian, it is way ahead of most i've tried, with up to date software inclusions, excellent software management / download facilities and most importantly for me its GNOME desktop is not a windows desktop clone as so many other distro's are trying to be!

So far it is working extremely well with my hardware, an AMD Sempron based PC, built from leftover/scrounged bits n pieces. It is set up as a dual booted unit alongside Windows XP Pro (which hasn't been touched now for weeks!)
Samba was a cinch to set up and I have full network access to the other PC's in the house (all Windows boxes)
My only issue at the moment is tracking down a printer driver for my canon i350 printer, so i have to save my work i wish to print to one of the windows boxes then print it from there.

Next up on my list of distros to look at will probably be the recently released "Freespire" by Linspire..but it looks a bit windowsy...so I'm a bit reluctant to let Ubuntu go just yet......

cheers
Cecil

Scrap Heap?

I'm starting to wonder if I'm "too old" to regain employment in my "trade"...considering the number of job apps that have led to nil lately ....seems maturity and experience counts for nought eh!...
.....have put myself back in the "job market" after taking some "time off for me"....seems self employment is the only viable option?...think I'll apply for an ABN and put some flyers out ;-)
...and see what happens.

Jimmy's Ankle

One of our Potholes, Jimmy D, recently fractured a bone in his ankle.
A "chip" fracture, caused no less than by an overextension of one of the tendons connected to the ankle bone, reaching its limit and snapping a piece of bone off! This happened during a bad landing on the trampoline.


He has been 2 weeks "immobilised" in a "slab cast", but today it was removed after another x-ray, as the doctors at the Hospital were happy with the healing so far and their current philosophy with this type of injury to a child of his age is to let them walk on it fairly early on as long as the pain is not unbearable/unmanageable.
Here's to youth and quick healing!

Mum's the world

The Potholes and I took Misselle to Hunter Valley Gardens for Mothers Day....

. ^ Michelle and all Her Boys at Hunter Valley Gardens


"Mum" has been wanting to see the Gardens for ages, (and "Dad" has never been allowed to forget it!) So this year for Mums Day a picnic there was planned. After a BIG cooked breakfast we set off to the Vinyards...It was a thoroughly enjoyable outing...even the "Teenager" attended... :-o ...which pleased her immensely.




At first the concern was that the kids would get bored, but that notion was soon disproved, as they had a ball with all the paths and observation platforms etc to explore. They really enjoyed Storybook Garden, The Border Garden, and the Waterfall Lookout area.



After our Picnic we then ventured to my sister Alison's house to wish my Mum a Happy Mothers Day, and also wish the Potholes cousin Caitlin a Happy Birthday!

Home for a quick tea and the boys crashed out in no time....just in time to watch one of her favourite shows on the teev!

low irritant?

What the hey is low irritant insect spray about?... I mean, you're out to kill 'em, so who cares if you irritate them in the process!!!!!

When you think you are alone.....

another theory ?.....sort of...it seems to work too well!
I'm talking about when you break wind..bottom burp so to speak..when you have been alone in a room for a while and you think it's safe to let a little one slip, (to equalise the pressure as you do!)....someone always apears out of nowhere!!!, before the evidence has disbursed! Of course nothing is said, but you both know what has happened....embarrasing? sometimes...
BUT.. i did find the theory usefull in my time as a field tech. You see quite often you would be left in a room to fix a piece of equipment and the person responsible to report back to when finished would dissapear into thin air elsewhere in the building. No amount of looking or waiting seems to find them but then I started using the "break wind and they shall come" theory. And by jove it had a higher than expected success rate...if not the staff member you were looking for at least someone would appear not long after "being summoned" who could track down the wayward associate for you.
Good to know Murphy can work in your favour!

I think I could be a Cruise Junkie!

We're Back!
Yes from our 12 Day Cruise to Vanuatu....and boy what a GREAT HOLIDAY!
I have never eaten so much, drunk so much (grog), been entertained so much or seen so many sights, in such a short time. Never been anywhere more romantic as going on this cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!I certainly did not want this holiday to ever end!!
This was our 10th Anniversary present to each other, and we renewed our vows on board with the Captain. So I guess you would call it a "Second Honeymoon".
We cruised with friends Kathy and Frank , Kristine and Russell.
If you have never cruised, I strongly urge you to consider it. The staff on board are absolutely fabulous, friendly and all want you to enjoy your cruise so the service is first rate. The food is just laid on and on and on... and is top class tucker....There are Bars all over the ship, so the chronic alcho in all of us has no excuse not to be happy!(I think Russell still wins on the bar tab count!...undefeated champion?...look out next cruise Rus, Frank and I will try harder!)....There are entertainment shows nearly every night in the main lounge and live bands / dj's etc in other bars to cater to all tastes from hip hop to jazz , rock, crooners etc....Gambling in the Casino..."Miss Elle" was quite a champion on the Roulette table as was Kathy, her best friend who came cruising with us to witness our renewal of vows (Kathy was Michelles original Matron of Honour at our wedding)
The Islands we visited were a mixed bunch ranging from "westernised" to "original culture".
The best being Wala and Pentecost and the least favorite would be Luganvile.
We witnessed the "Land Diving" at Pentecost (from which modern day bungy jumping was derived) where the locals jump from a huge tower made of sticks with vines tied to their ankles! UNFKNBLVBL !!!!!
I sampled the traditional "Kava" drink at Wala, made from the root of some tree, makes your mouth go numb and tingly!!!! You could actually get to like it after a few I reckon! good stuff!!!
At Port Vila I went on the jetboat ride with Frank and did a guided pub crawl with Miss Elle in the afternoon....on an empty stomach as I'd missed lunch...and with extra free beers as some people who had booked the tour didn't show so the guide (who must have liked me..good on ya Helen!) gave me more than my fair share of the extra drinks!!!! plus a couple of Miss Elles as she didn't want to tank up at every stop....Needless to say I was fairly "wonky" by the time we got back to the ship!!!!
After our last port of call, Lifou, in the Loyalty Islands, we hit some heavy swell for about a day and a half on our return voyage to Sydney. This certainly sorted the landlubbers from those who had found their sea legs, with "convenience bags" at strategic locations around the ship and lots of "green faces". Michelle and I found it to be good fun and didn't get sick, but Kathy and Frank were a bit seedy for a while.....The rocking motion of the ship is actually quite comforting after a while and I'm sure it rocks you to sleep quicker than you would normally nod off!

So ...we are all keen for another cruise as soon as we can afford it....anyone interested?

Jay Leno has similar theory

Jay Leno said the other night on his show that apparently pole dancers spin anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere (OZ), compared to clockwise in the US.......see, I'm not crazy!

note... see prev post "stuff" november 2005

AHOY! Not long now....

Just under a week to go now until we embark on our 10th Wedding Anniversary Cruise..
We will be cruising the South Pacific for 11 days . . . and we just can't wait!!!. The "potholes" are going to stay at Grandma's while we renew our vows and enjoy a "Second Honeymoon" aboard the Pacific Sun...take in the tropical sun...visit some of the islands in Vanuatu...drink heaps of grog...spoil ourselves stupid really!!! Sure we'll miss the kids (?) but they are really looking forward to holidaying with Grandma...Heath, infact thought that he was going there this last weekend, and was a little upset to find out he had to wait another week...Mike started packing things to take up there weeks ago!!!...and James has been fairly quiet about the whole deal (I think he will be the most emotional about us going initially)...
The days are going faster the closer it gets...can't wait, can't wait, can't wait........

webcam off now

I have turned off the webcam software for now....
It seemed fairly stable, but didn't cope 100 % with all the other stuff happening on this PC...
Some other software when run, hampered its ability to reliably upload images....
Left to its own devices on a quieter, perhaps dedicated PC it would possibly work without hiccup.
If I find another program to try, I will set it up again "on trial".
The "eyetoy" camera itself ...as stated in a previous remark , seems to suffer from auto exposure problems, but served its purpose for testing ...a better cam will have to be sourced if I put one online permanently.

cec.

I'd like to buy a vowel please...

e-mail, e-business, e-commerce, imac, ipod, itunes....etc... so forth, need iquote more?
The point is, someone comes up with an IT buzzword abreviation starting with a vowel and every man and his dotcom follows the leader...so whats next, imean the irish probably have dibs on "o" (o'reilly,o'rourke,o'donahugh......) and nobody would be silly e-nough to steal that one!... "a" is sort of taken with our e-mail addresses in @. But we could probably use it at a-pinch... so that leaves "u" which I dare say, other than U-Haul, is probably out there somewhere but not as well used.... unix, uucp, u-tarzan?....I guess the unix camp have rights to it...


So that means there are no more vowels . . .hmmm

More webcam experimentation

experimenting with the "eyetoy" cam....uploading images to my webspace at exetel.
http://home.exetel.com.au/pitts/webcam.html ...will probably have it up as much as possible over the next couple of days to test software to see if i like it...if it works out i might get a weather proof cam and mount it outside ($ permitting) permanently....cecil

YEEE HAW

Must have been a cowboy in a past life!
After months of pain i finally asked the doc to look at my sore heel.
He sent me to radiology for an Xray....see pic.
You've got a heel spur!....great all i need now is the Horse!

Eye Toy as a webcam

After pondering the potholes "eye toy" for their PS2, I got to thinking ... this is just a USB webcam isn't it?.... a quick google and by golly I was right .... a few sites came up detailing how to use it on your PC as a webcam. (Its not quite plug and play as it is). Followed the "destructions" and it works like a beaut! see pic ... audio and all..even with msn etc...

The office is always open.....or it should be!

I have been using "open office" lately and am quite happy with it as a whole. (as opposed Bills office software which is a hole...and i was dreading paying for a more recent version than what i had)
I feel much better using "software written for the masses" so to speak than contributing to Mr Gates retirement fund, and also not being so exposed to anti Bill worms etc.

speaking of "open". . . can anone tell me why Mandrake Linux changed their name to Mandriva?...maybe the magician complained?

I'd like to get a Linux box off the ground to stuff around with,,,,I've got a nearly historic Smelleron 400 that I'm assuming has enough grunt to run Linux provided I get a version that supports its hardware. I can boot it to "mandrake move" which is a single cd-rom portable version so I'm hopefull "Mandriva" will work. I tried "debian" but it didn't take too kindly to the Lan card I had installed so I've canned that distribution for now!

Wouldn't it be nice if I could ditch all the window boxes in the house, and teach the kids n wife to use Linux instead!...I don't see many kids games on the shelves ported to linux yet so it probably won't happen lol! (i don't see "world of warcraft" for linux yet which is quite perplexing considering its global popularity!)...

Lets hope that the "open" movement continues, and isn't absorbed by the big players protecting their own bottom line.....

Wailing!

well Whaling anyway.... what gives the Japs the right to whinge about environmental protesters having a bit of fun disrupting their so called "research". Bring it on I say!!!! In fact, lets all chip in and buy a few ex navy destroyers and frigates etc. (maybe Johnny would sell us his dud Collins class subs cheap) and become Environmental Pirates. We'd probably have to find a deserted pacific island for our base, as 'Lil Johnny would probably have some political objection to basing a pirate fleet here in Oz. Capture the "researchers", investigate their vessels, send 'em home and then strip and scuttle their vessels....perhaps sink them somewhere where we need a new artificial reef in a marine sanctuary would be fitting.
Another "milder" campaign could be to get everyone to stop Japanese tourists in the street and ask them about the results and benifits they receive from their "Whaling Research". Sure . . . it might dent tourism a little, but do we really want money from a country too gutless to admit to what they are really doing? . . . I sure don't, so a little pressure on their visiting populous may (or may not) induce some pressure from the more morally conscious Japanese, to campaign their own government against whaling.

welcome twenty'o'six

Another year down at the Pitts'
Christmas is over, lets sound a cheer. We've just welcomed in, another new year.
The garbage bin's full, of wrapping and food. But the holiday's not over, for most of the brood.
Another month of play, pity the weather's not cool. Before they go back, to boring 'ol school.
Another year of budgeting, for me and the wife. To live life the fullest, get the most out of life.
This year we'll go cruising, to the isles in the Pacific. To relax and unwind, and do nothing specific.
The "potholes" will grow, here in our comfort zone. and before we will know it, they'll be "Pitts" on their own.
For the years seem too short, they slip by way too fast. And the time with our kids, seemingly won't last.
so here's to twenty o six, three cheers and hooray. lets enjoy it, have fun, and cherish each day.