Polticians Are Idiots...

OK, regular readers of this blog know that I was anti-John Howard and that I wanted a change to take place to help us improve our social infrastructure. You know, hospitals, education and a generally more tolerant society to the minorities.

So thats all good, but then Rudd - as I have previously lamented - blew half the surplus on cash handouts.

Now the new NSW Premier has issued a mini-budget in which he has scrapped capital infrastructure in the form of rail and light rail and has instead decided to slug people an extra dollar on the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel during peak hour.

So instead of giving people a viable alternative to driving and hence increasing the congestion, he punishes people financially for utilising the ONLY mode of transport available to those who would have benefitted from the new rail / light rail projects.

I don't live in Sydney's North West, and I do have viable rail transport, but this really is a DUMB decision.

This story is best highlighted in this case study from the Herald.

The story on the budget announcement is here; and take note of the fact that the Premier doesnt have a drivers license... do we all remember the last Premier who didnt drive??

For the record and for comparison, my rail ticket is $178 a month.

Bashed By BO

Am back in the office today and will be heading to Adelaide Monday night for work Tues / Wed and then Canberra for the day on Friday...

 

All very busy!

 

Got home last night at a reasonable time after I was able to wrap up my Melbourne work and get on the 5pm plane back... but not before I had to endure probably the worst case of BO in my life.  The cab driver that picked me up from Williamstown to take me to the airport was the stinkiest man ever.  I was in the front and my two colleagues in the back as we crawled through afternoon traffic for 40mins or so with the windows down.

 

When we nearly got on the freeway, the turban headed cabbie started to wind up all the windows but we insisted he leave them down.  He couldnt understand why we in suits wanted the windows down as we got up to about 100km/hr on the freeway but the alternative was horrendous to comprehend.

 

Even when waiting for the plane, we all could still taste / smell the odour and we started wondering like that old episode of Seinfeld whether the smell would ever come out.

 

It wasnt a food smell, it was pure and simple body odour of the highest degree.

 

Other than that, the trip was excellent!

Buying a Car

Decided to take the late train today as I had a pretty free morning (gets me in right at 9am) and was cutting it fine to make the station and got held up at the only set of traffic lights behind my place and the station.  By the time I got through, the train was at the platform and I was no chance.  So now I am on the “Very Late” train and wont get into the office until 9:30… oh well, its not like I haven’t been working like a biatch lately anyways.

On other news, we’re buying a new car.  We’re trading in our 2001 Ford Futura Wagon and looking at a medium sized car whilst the kids are young enough to not require huge amounts of leg room.  I lease my cars so I will only keep this one for 3-4 years and by that stage Kate will be 10-11 yrs old and would be getting bigger to require going back to a Ford or Holden.

But in the interim we’re in the medium size car market.  But rather than beat the streets and legging it between car yards, I rang up “Quality Auto Search” (they have a website – google it) and I have been very impressed with their service.  Rang them up on Friday, spoke to the guy there about what we’re looking for, he agreed with my views on the kids, fuel economy etc etc and after giving him a price range, he undertook a desktop search.

He rings me yesterday and tells me he’s recommending the Camry Ateva or the Mazda 6.  Both retail for the same price and there are only marginal differences between the two and are good quality cars.  The next step is he’s ringing me today to arrange me to have an overnight test drive of each and he’ll bring me the car to my work and then we’ll also set a day in which I will drive the Ford into the office and he’ll come out and inspect it and so that he can get me a good trade in deal.

So by the end of this week, I’ll probably have had driven both cars, had my car valued for trade in and we’ll decide on which one we’d like and all of this without leaving my desk!

But where’s the catch?  When I spoke to Rod from Quality Auto Search I said “sounds great mate, but how much is all this” he said “For you, nothing.  We get our commission from the dealers” and he also assured me he could negotiate around 10% off the retail price and get some add-ins thrown in.

So… the proof is in the pudding and I will be getting prices today but so far, I have been very impressed with the service and he’s been prompt in calling me back when he said he would.

Also, if anyone has any experience with the Camry Ateva or the Mazda 6, let me know!

Listening:  Penny Century by The Clouds (an oldie but a goodie)

U2

Last night went to see the final U2 show at Telstra Stadium. It was a fantastic show, and Niki and I had a brilliant time. Seats were B Reserve which meant at the far end of the stadium but with elevation. This meant we were able to see the full (read 4 story high) video wall front on and the light show was excellent. Sound was clear with the exception that you had to strain to hear what Bono was saying when he went into his little monologues.

This all was a damn sight better than when Niki and I saw U2 at the SFS during their Zooropa tour (was that 1994??). That day, the sound was crap and the show was ruined. But last night, for the first time ever, I had a good experience at an outdoor concert. We only got the tickets on the cheap after one of the girls at work couldn’t go, so I am glad I went.

The concert itself was excellent with a mix of very old and new songs. In the very old playset was New Years Day; I Will Follow; October; and amazingly the very old B side song Party Girl. It seemed that the only people who knew the words to that song was myself and the guy on the other side of Niki. Everyone else around us was “huh?” and even U2 themselves stopped mid way through when Bono apologised for stuffing up the lyrics and called the band together half way through the song to sort it out.

“I know a girl, a girl called Party… Party Girl!”

Anyways, the night was also excellent on the transport front… drove from the city and parked at Lidcombe (across the road from Rookwood Cemetery – Niki was most impressed) and jumped on the Sprint Train into Olympic Park. Met Niki outside the bar at the Novotel and spent about half an hour inside with a beer and listening to the Rattle And Hum cover band. Then it was a kebab and straight into the stadium with no hassles.

Coming home was easy as well and I was really glad my car was at Lidcombe instead of trying to get a train back to the mountains as it was a pretty late night… the show finished after 11:00pm.

So in short, for those of you yet to see the show in other cities – enjoy!