US$ Craziness

The Aussie dollar has hit US 93 cents... that, in my life time is unprecedented and given when I went to the US at one stage with the rate at 43 cents, I cannot fathom how this change has come on... the US cut interest rates last night whilst ours will probably go up next week so I anticipate this rate differential will see the Aussie dollar surge past the $1 mark and we will be stronger than the US currency.

 

And why do I propose this macro-economic theory on Foreign Exchange and how its influenced by the differentials in interest rates?  Is it because I am concerned about our budget surplus isnt working hard enough to pay off foreign debt?  Am I worried about the "Economic Tsunami" that Treasurer Peter Costello predicted last week?  Am I worried that the floundering US economy may propagate further military adventurism from the US as they seek to gain resources by force??

 

NO!

 

I am thinking of all the shit I can buy from the US at huge discounts!!  For me, next month, I expect to place large orders at www.us.gamesworkshop.com; www.amazon.com; www.thinkgeek.com; www.wizards.com; and of course I will be browsing www.ebay.com for bargains as well!!

 

Happy Days!

 

It is my birthday in early December,.... dont say I haven't directed you to somewhere appropriate for all your "Clay Gift Buying" needs :-)

Am I alone in seeing something wrong?

Reverse the genders... 30 year old man has sex with 15 yr old girl... who is his student.

Would we be comfortable with it being called a "foolish lapse"?

'Foolish lapse' of woman, 30, with boy - National - smh.com.au

Anzac Day

Had a good Anzac Day yesterday with a BBQ at our place.  Despite the weather, we had about a dozen people over and we gorged on chips, dips, nibbles, BBQ, salads and then some desert with heaps of beer and wine thrown in.

Basically we sat at the table from 11-11:30 and nobody moved until 5:30pm... except for a quick foray into the lounge room to watch my Saints get bitch slapped by the Roosters (thats another rant I wont bore you with).

Alot of old stories told, new ones shared and people getting too pissed... happy days.

For the formal part of the day, we couldnt get to Dawn Service this year as Kate was a bit crook (she had Tuesday off school with vomiting) and we thought it was too much to wake her at 5:30 and drag her out into the cold.  The girls did watch the march on tele and they do have a good understanding of what the day means.  We havent done anything over the top to push this message so most of their knowledge must have come from school.  They say that Anzac Day is increasingly for younger Australians and I liked the idea of the concert on the Gold Coast on the weekend as well... more of it I say!

ANZAC Day - The Week That Isn't.

Two days at work and then another day off... whilst I welcome the day off, the gap week is rather disruptive for work.... but I wont complain!

We're planning to go to Dawn Service at Glenbrook tomorrow and then a quick tidy up around the house before we have people coming around for a BBQ.  Lazy afternoon planned with the weather probably being crappy, the football will be turned on at 3pm to see Saints and the Roosters blunder their way to hopefully a Saints win.

Then it will be left overs for dinner (if I can fit them in) and then an early night due to too much beer and food.

Then off to work on Thursday in which productivity will be shot due to a) hangover and b) wishing the weekend was already here.

Australia

Long time Lime Kettle member chunky has provided this link over on the forums... I am bringing it out to the main blog to edumacate (sic) any foreign visitors to this blog and/or Australia. I am also a big Douglas Adams fan :-)

Enjoy.

Halloween In Australia...

Last night was Halloween… did any of you dear readers get a knock on the door from kids looking for lollies? We only got one door knock from the kids across the road, but then my girls actually did go out with some school friends and tricked and treated around our suburb. Kate dressed as a witch and Brookie as Cinderella went around and door knocked. I got home from work during this and I went walking around the block trying to find them and didn’t see a soul. Mind you it was quarter to nine at this stage and probably too late. However one house had a jack-o-lantern on the front verandah and the girls did come home at 9:30 loaded to the nines with lollies and chips. One person even gave Kate, Brooke and their friends a $20 note!!

Niki said that whilst people were friendly and had stuff to give she felt very awkward knocking on doors, but the kids loved it. But why are we doing this? Even the media seems to be partially behind it and twice I have heard the story “its not American, its actually British”. What crap… yes, it probably is a celebration brought to America by British settlers on the Mayflower, but this doesn’t mean we in Australia need to celebrate it. Do the Americans celebrate the Queens Birthday like we do… yes, its British, but this bad logic doesn’t apply to them. Why do we need to follow American tradition and excuse it on the basis it originated in the UK? Seems like another case of Americanism gone wrong…

Having said that… I didn’t mind having a few chockies courtesy of the neighbours last night!