Wilkie or won't he

Image by Matt Golding- WA Today

And he did...sort of.   Andrew Wilkie withdrew his support for the Gillard Labor government because they failed to honour a written commitment given to him as they were scrambling to form government, that they would support mandatory precommitment in poker machine venues.  Setting aside whether that would have worked or not what really happened here?

Julia Gillard reneged on an agreement she had given him supposedly because it didn't have the required Parliamentary support.   She gave the commitment at a time when she needed his support to form government When Peter Slipper jumped ship from the Liberal Party to become Speaker in the House of Representatives therefore giving her an extra vote she no longer needed Wilkie's support.  She couldn't continue to push ahead with what he was asking because members of her own party in New South Wales and Queensland who are in marginal seats were under a lot of pressure from their local clubs not to support the legislation.  A bad look if a Prime Minister gets rolled by her own party on the floor of the House, so easier to break a promise.

And let's face it she doesn't have a problem breaking promises...."Kevin Rudd has my full support"..."there will be no carbon tax under any government I lead".   Political expediency is everything for our Julia.

And what about Andrew Wilkie.   Some will say a man of conviction, a man who stands by his principles.   This is a bloke who stood up to the Federal government over whether or not Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or not.    I would argue that point with him because I spent a fair bit of time with a lot of Melbourne Kurdish people a number of years ago who had first hand knowledge of entire villages wiped out by chemical weapons that Saddam used on them.  So I''ve always been a bit skeptical about Andrew Wilkie's assessment of Iraqi capabilities at the time the second Gulf War began.

In this case though, Wilkie has decided that he can no longer support a government who broke a commitment they gave him.   He had no trouble supporting that same government when it broke a pre-election commitment given to the Australian people about the fact that a carbon tax wouldn't be introduced.  And that is the problem with moral high horses, you run the risk of being called a hypocrit if you don't consistently apply the same standards to all promises instead of just the ones that you want them to keep.  You cannot vote to support legislation that breaks one promise and then yell and scream about the same people breaking another one.

The sooner the next election comes the better.  Irrespective of who has the power let's hope that we don't have to put up with wacky independents with pet causes that hamstring proper decisive and honest governance.

I am judgemental

I try not to be but sometimes it happens.   For example I drive past a new build in Chantenay Parade every day and like most new builds there is a bin out on the nature strip so that the builder can get rid of the rubbish.  Now some muppet or collection of muppets has been dumping their unwanted furniture around the bin.  There are beds and mattresses, chairs, a table, an old treadmill and a couple of ancient TVs as well as boxes of general household garbage.   These idiots are showing absolutely no respect for people who are going to be their new neighbours.

Woolen Trousers, Levis and Bum Cracks

Must admit that my favourite jeans are Levi 101's.  Pulling on a pair with button up fly is like meeting an old friend.  Of course these days the waist has gotten somewhat bigger than that of my first pair circa 1974.

It was a long time before Mum agreed to let me wear denim.  She'd send me to the snow in shorts in winter and off to school in grey woollen sorts all year round but there wasn't a pair of long legged trousers to be seen anywhere in my single wardrobe at Box Hill South.  Until Form 1 that is.

That year, 1969, we had an excursion at the end of the year to the gold mining town of Maldon and I was the somewhat embarrassed wearer of the only pair of long pants I owned - brown checked woollen trousers.  At least I was warm but when everyone else is wearing jeans it was a bit hard to take.

Mum eventually realised that maybe denim wasn't so bad after all and I got a pair of Stirling jeans - the ones with the checkered flag logo and a really cool pocket on the side of the leg where you could fit a comb.  Not that I needed one because they were the years when Dad would take me up to the barbers on the corner of Middleborough and Eley Roads for a college cut.   These days it would be called a number one.

After the Stirling jeans came my first really expensive pair - Amco Heavyweights with a suede patch on the back.  Not quite Levis but I was getting there.  Of course as I got older and graduated to Lee Jeans which were bought at a mens wear store in Flinders street in the City next to Lindrums Pool Hall.  If you read this Andrew help me out here.

And as we got older the jeans were pulled down a little further exposing both the few pubic hairs we had at the front and the bum crack at the back - unless Mum was around of course.

Mid to late 70's the fashion changes again.  The legs got wider and Juz Jeans and Staggers were the brand of choice.  I bought a pair of Staggers that were so tight I could barely move.  The sales girl told me they would stretch but after a couple of wears I gave them to my sister Karen because my voice kept getting higher.

Another thing I remember about the jeans of Burwood High days were that for a while there is was really cool to wear them as low down as possible, showing a few pubic hairs if you had them or exposing the bum crack if you didn't.  Of course we had graduated from y fronts to jockettes in those days which were pretty brief and not big enough to show above the waist of the jeans anyway.

Jeans are still my trouser of choice these days and over the years I've gone through the plain navy denim, light blue denim, brown denim and white denim.  The there were the acid wash and stone washed versions in black or navy mostly with legs that varied from stove pipe to wide flares.  But through all that the 501's have remained the favourite.

Less than 33 days

Not sure who you are but if you thought it might have been a good idea to tell my daughters about my 33 Days post, it wasn't.   Apparently I shouldn't be guilt tripping them because they are very busy and I now live too far away for them to be able to find the time to visit once a month.  So I stopped trying to ring them once a week to see how they are and I have no intention of guilt tripping them any more.   So I appreciate that you may have thought you were doing the right thing by me but to be honest, please don't do it again.  It's not worth my grief and as I was told this isn't about me anyway.   They'll get around to contacting me sooner or later.  Maybe.

Now onto things that are about me.  I had a lump come up on the palm of my left hand a few weeks back.  The doctor thought it was a ganglion cyst but sent me off for an ultrasound which pointed to it being a possible tumor.   I saw a surgeon had it removed and it turned out to be a ganglion cyst which I am happy about.

My lady had a bad back, saw a doctor who told her that she should go home take some panadol and he would refer her to a counselor because she was depressed.   She got a second opinion and that doctor sent her off for an MRI and on getting the results told her to get straight to hospital because she needed an emergency operation to remover the pressure on the nerves in her spinal cord or risk becoming a paraplegic.   She was admitted that day, operated on the next and sent home the day after that.  Now more than three weeks into an initial 6 week convalescence she is pain free if still unable to move totally freely and improving every day.

Which brings me to my next point and the fact that we have both started a Light and Easy diet.  Which I'm finding Light and Difficult having cut my food intake by half.  Still I have dropped from 92 kgs, last time I gave blood a month ago to 87.9 kg at the end of the first week of the diet and 84.6 kg when I weighed myself this morning at the end of the second week.   That bit of a pot belly that men of a certain age get has already shrunk significantly and I can stand in a certain place now and see my naughty bits.   That has to be good I think.    The thought of a leg of lamb or a whole roast chicken is still pretty good though.

My first Sunday breakfast on the diet and I had one egg and even that had a sad face.   And then I remember how many people in this world do actually go to bed genuinely hungry every day and I realise once again how lucky I really am.

It was 30 years ago today....

..that I entered the Police Academy in Glen Waverley and commenced a journey that was to last 16 years.  This Friday night I am attending a reunion of Squads 22 and 23 of 1981 and of the 50 who walked in that day, fourteen are left in the job.  Of those 9 are attending the reunion together with myself and one other.  I'm looking forward to it.

And here's a few memories

Perspective

In 2001 I was the Executive Officer of the Victorian Basketball League and at the end of each season our Champion and Runner-up in both men and women came together with the winners of other Leagues to compete in the Australian Basketball Championships to determine who was the best team in the country.  It was September and on the Tuesday prior to the weekend of the Championships the date was one that would go down as one of the most infamous in history, September 11.   That same week Ansett Airlines here in Australia collapsed and that meant that the teams could not get to Bendigo in regional Victoria to compete.

The Championships were cancelled that year and there was a major hue and cry from many people about what a tragedy it was.  I wrote an article for the VBL website that week and said in part that there were thousands of people who would go to bed that night never seeing their mother, father, son, daughter, husband and wife again.   I told people to get a grip and understand what true tragedy was and it wasn't about the cancellation of basketball games.

In the past couple of days we've seen another airline, Qantas shut down for a few days and the ranting and raving of people stranded around the world and unable to get home.  There was a photo of a bloke in the Sunday Herald Sun who refused to give his name but who was displaying such anger and hatred in his expression that it looked as if he could have gotten hold of Qantas CEO Alan Joyce that he would have ripped his throat out.

And at the same time that the Qantas Board made the decision to ground the airline on Saturday there were a company of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan who were being slaughtered by an Afghan soldier they had  mentored.  Three brave young Australians and an Afghan interpreter were killed and seven other Australians injured.   This act had it's genesis on that same day more than ten years ago and it sickens me that I sit here now having to write the same thing that I did back then.

I don't give a stuff about an airline going bust or being grounded.  It's an inconvenience for all those people delayed.   The sun will come up tomorrow and other planes will fly.  But again we have young wives who won't see their husbands, children without fathers, Mums and Dads who will wake to nightmare again tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.

Get some perspective people.  Understand what really matters.  RIP guys may you never be forgotten.

Thirty Three Days

One of the most commonly visited pages on this blog is one I called “The Loneliness of theLong Distance Father” which was at a time shortly after my separation where my kids didn’t really want to have a lot to do with me.  

As with many things, time alone can cure some of the angst and distress that comes to most kids when their parents break up.   But whilst the pain eases for the kids perhaps so too does the desire to keep contact with both parents, or maybe it’s just the classic cats in the cradle stuff, the natural pulling away as you get older and become more independent.

We built a big house because at the time we entered into the contract we had four of the six kids we have between us that needed a place to live.   Over the months of waiting for the title to settle and the house to be built their needs changed and so we have a four bedroom house occupied by the two of us and the two furkids and in an area now far away from where the kids mostly reside.

And that’s OK, the place is there if some time in the future they need it, but there are times when I miss knowing what is happening in their lives.   It seems that unless I make a call then we don’t talk and I am left to watching facebook for updates.

Last week I asked my two daughters if they would like to set aside one Sunday evening per month, visit us for dinner and watch a movie.  I was actually hoping that maybe we would just sit around the dinner table and chat and just find out who they were loving or feuding with, what books they were reading or movies they had seen, any one of hundreds of mundane day to day things that they do.  One daughter said she heard me but it would have to wait awhile because she’s working a lot of overtime and very busy but I did find out on Facebook that she enjoyed her day at the Races and her roast dinner at her mothers in the past few days.   Daughter number two has been silent and that usually means I am in the bad books with her.

It got me thinking that if they spent 3 hours one day a month with me that would be a total of 1 and a half days a year.  If I live as long as my father (and I hope it is longer than that) then I have 22 years left and that would mean that for the rest of my life I would spend a maximum of 33 days with my kids, half of which I would probably be sleeping.

So if the remainder of my life was equivalent to an hour on a clock for every month that passes without seeing them the clock advances another two minutes and we all know that as you get older time speeds up and the 33 days will rapidly become 30 and then 20 and 5, until those last few precious minutes come in a huge rush.

And knowing all that makes me regret the times I didn’t call my own Mum and Dad other than on the special occasions.   So maybe what goes around…

My Money Ralph

Last week we settled on the old house and Raelene deposited a Commonwealth Bank Bank Cheque into our Commonwealth Bank account.  That was Tuesday.  On Friday I sent an email asking why a Bank Cheque which is supposed to be as good as cash from what I remember, still hadn't cleared.    Today I get this back from the Bank - "Dear Laurence,

My name is xxxx your Online Specialist, I am pleased to assist you today with your recent email enquiry in regards to clearance fo bank cheque.

First of all I would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in my response as our team are currently receiving a high number of online enquiries.

Laurence, it is a Business Rule for cheques to get cleared in 3 business days and not calendar days.

What I can suggest for further clarifications, you can contact us on 13 2221, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or visit any of the nearest branches.

It has been a pleasure assisting you Laurence, I hope this information has assisted with your enquiry today and I wish you all the best for the rest of your week.

Sincerely, xxxx"

So I of course had to reply  "I understand that but that was not the question. Your own website states - "Cheque deposits attract a number of clearance days as the cheque itself is a paper based payment instrument. This requires the physical cheque to be forwarded to the drawing institution to determine the payment decision after inspecting the cheque for authorised signatures". However, in this case you were the drawing institution. Why does it take 3 days to forward a cheque to yourself to gain approval?" CBA if you monitor this sort of thing maybe you can reply.

I miss you Mum

Dear Mum
Hard to believe that it was a year ago today that I last saw you.  A lot has happened in that time.  I left my job, went to another company that ended up in liquidation and found a new job as a contractor but am likely to be put onto a long term contract in the next few weeks.

The new house has been built and Raels and I have been here now for 6 weeks.   Funny but it is home already unlike the last couple of places I've lived.  Maybe that's because we've built this from scratch.  I wish I could have shown you what it's like.

I imagine you riding off on that horse you told us about in the last few days.  I don't know where that came from because I don't ever remember you talking much about wanting to ride horses despite loving to bet on them.   Maybe that was the little girl speaking.

I think I told you that Dad visited me one night not long after I'd moved into the flat on Burwood Highway and I sometimes wonder if you'll ever do the same.  But then again maybe you know that I'm happy now and that you don't need to set me straight.

Karen,  Deb and I celebrated Christmas together last year like we always used to, but I think that may well have been the last time we'll do that.  You were the glue that held that together and I'm guessing that we'll probably not find the time to do it too often in the future given the kids have grown and will be splitting time between the new families they'll make over the next few years.    Karen is off to Queensland this year to spend Christmas with Jacob and Jenna, Luke may be back In Adelaide and your other grandkids are also starting to spread their wings.  Spending time with old Aunties and Uncles doesn't seem as important as when they were little.    But don't worry about that, it's just part of growing older.

Funny but I was really conscious of you and Dad being gone last Christmas, my first as an orphan, and my first Easter and Mother's Day this year followed by my first birthday.  Weird being a 54 year old orphan.  Sometimes I get a bit taken aback looking at the old bloke in the mirror because it's not how I see myself.

I know what you meant now when you said that there wasn't a day go by when you didn't think of Nana and Grandad because it's the same with me.   I miss you both very much and wish I'd told you that more often.

You gave me a great start to life Mum and I will be forever grateful for that.  Sure there were moments, but we had a great upbringing.  I always knew you were proud of me even if I didn't know why.

Thanks Mum.  I love you very much and miss you terribly

Love Laurie  XXX

Happy Fathers Day

For all those Fathers out there may I wish you well today.  Not a day goes by when I don't miss my Dad and this year a week before the anniversary of Mum's passing it is a little more poignant.  Son number 2 and girlfriend and both daughters came over for a BBQ lunch and we spent the afternoon watching the Return of the King in the home theatre.

And the new house is now home - we've spent much of the past couple of weekends cleaning up the old one and have in fact now walked out the door up there for the last time.  Raels has posted some updated photos over at Destination 3977.

My contract at work finishes at the end of next month but it looks like I'll be offered a longer term one to stay on and finish off what I've started.   The works interesting, I'm still learning, and the people are good.  Doesn't need to be anything else really does there.

So just a short update this time - i've got a few other posts on the go but haven't managed to finish them yet.  I reckon things might slow down a bit over the next few weeks and I'll get a bit more time to write.