Petrol Prices!

It’s official.  It is now way too expensive for me to drive to work.  I drove in yesterday and was running low on petrol on the way home and had no choice but to fill up and was horrified at the price of 129.9 a litre on all the petrol stations on Parramatta Rd.  It seems that the hurricane in Louisiana has suddenly made petrol jump 10c a litre in a mere 10 hours.  On the way into work, I was thinking of filling up but was running late and decided I would get it on the way home.  It was 119.9 a litre and the radio was telling me that oil had jumped to over US$70 a barrel and that the reason was this hurricane in the US.

It seems that a bit of a storm (it was downgraded to a Category 2) in the US’ Deep South suddenly made the petrol in our bowsers jump 10c in a mere 10 hours!!

I understand petrol is expensive, but I just think the combined effects of petrol company price collusion, over sensitivity to events on the other side of the world like hurricanes and our compounding effect taxes (GST on top of stamp duty on top of import tax) means that we suddenly have price swings of 10+ cents per litre for what I would consider trivial matters.

The government needs to look at the tax structure on petrol.  When petrol was in the 80-100 cent range, they made statements that the taxes were cheap and that in comparison to the rest of the world we had “cheap” petrol.  I didn’t buy that then and now with rampant oil prices, I am certainly not buying that argument now.  The government, as a flow on effect, is now reaping in huge amounts of fuel excise and must bring their tax rates down or the effect on the average householder is going to be dramatic.

For example, we talked at home about getting rid of one of our cars.  We have two – do we need them.  Yes its convenient on weekends and for social activities during the week, but at the prices of petrol, rego and tolls is it worth it?  At this stage we will preserve, but what about when it reaches 140 cents or 150 cents a litre??

On the positive side, the CEO of Forbes and leader of the CEO Conference in Sydney this week which is a gathering of the worlds top 350 business leaders predicts that oil prices will fall dramatically in the next 12 months and go back to US$35 a barrel.  God I hope he is right!

 

Stopping Spam

I have found and installed a word verification system for when people wish to leave comments.  You now no longer need to be a Blogger member to leave comments, but you will need to type a random alpha code word to do so… This “should” stop spammers…

Happenings in the House of Clay

I seem to be fairly well swamped at the moment and I guess this post is a bit about taking stock of what shit is going down at my place…

·          Firstly, all my “free” time is being taken up with painting Halflings for the Eucalyptus Bowl this Saturday.  I have painted 6 of the suckers and have 5 to go.  To be honest though, I haven’t had much free time and did some painting last night and the night before.  So effectively, 2 painting sessions for 6 Halflings.  I have 5 more to go which I will do this week.  Add to that, my Treeman I bought on eBay from the UK arrived and its arms had been detached for packaging reasons.  I reglued those back on last night as well which takes some time.  I had some Epoxy Bond glue stuff (you know the ones that warn you not to touch it or risk amputation) and it claims “Industrial Strength Set In 5 Mins”.  The reality its 10 mins and I lost a little bit of skin in the process as the epoxy bond took a liking to my finger tips… but he looks good.  The paint job was OK and is a bit old, so when I get around to it, I will give him a touch up, but that wont be likely before Saturday.

·          Sunday is Fathers Day and essentially my present is the day at the Eucalyptus Bowl on the Saturday.  The girls are gearing up and I have heard whispers of the school Fathers Day Stall.  I look forward to getting a little pressie of each of my girls!  Arrangements with my Dad are up in the air with Sunday lunch being on the cards.

·          Still on family, I am kicking myself because I keep meaning to call my Pop who is in a bad way.  I am going to fly up to the Gold Coast soon when he has gotten out of hospital and he is over the initial shock of the diagnosis… Mum will go up as well soon, so I am in a bit of a state of flux with when I think will be the best time to go up.

·          Some mundane things… my car rego is due tomorrow and we got the Pink Slip done last week, but then forgot to pay the Green Slip until today.  I will pay the rego via the RTA website once the greenslip has been processed through.  Also, my Passport expired and I need to get that done… it was in the front of my mind a month ago, but I simply forgot.  Also, I am yet to do my tax return!  Need to do it because the cash will be handy at the moment, but it’s a matter of booking in some time (on a Saturday) to do it.

·          Saturday week will see the start of the cricket season – need to buy new shoes and batting gloves, but all the rest of my gear is OK to go.  We are playing in a VERY social way this season and I have promised the guys to find a small BBQ to take to home games… have yet to get that done either!

·          Work is busy and I had a 7:30am meeting this morning (hence my late posting today) and I drove into the city.  I came through the city early and the traffic was fine – I will wait to see how easy it is getting out of the city given the new Cross City Tunnel.  I personally think the tunnel was a waste of time and is way over priced toll wise…. but I do need to get myself an eTag as it is the first motorway in Sydney that is eTag only… I have been getting by with cash on all tolls to date because I do keep a stack of coinage in the ashtray…

·          The comments on this blog still get occasionally Spammed and I had an email from my mate Tommy who wanted to comment but couldn’t unless re registered with Blogger… given I still get the odd spam, I may as well open up the comments again… you never know, maybe someone will have some desire for Gay Monkey Porn…

That’s about it… busy busy busy!

Are you a racist? Vote Liberal #1.

Rant day today, so please bear with me….

Apparently there was a debate on the Sunday program this weekend in which Bronwyn Bishop was debating that Muslim women should be banned from wearing their traditional head dresses and should be wearing “jeans” like the rest of us.  The debate is said to have degenerated into a farcical slanging match and has hence received broader media coverage this morning.  Channel 7’s Sunrise program mentioned it this morning and hence it must have been a doozy if Seven and cross referencing a Channel 9 program.

But what annoys me is that Seven gave the question more airtime by having a view poll about whether Muslim women should be allowed to dress in their cultural dress…

Am I the only one here who has missed the point?  There is no “debate” and of course Muslim women should be allowed to dress as their custom.  Why are we even considering this issue?  What has happened to Australia’s multi-cultural society and freedom of expression for all Australians – and I mean ALL, not just white Anglo-Saxons who go to good schools.

The fact that someone of supposedly high political standing such as Bronwyn Bishop can get up on national TV and sprout this racist garbage about banning Muslim dress is disgusting.  She would have needed Howard’s approval to do such a story and that is indicative of his views.

Then to top it all off, wannabe Premier John Brogden called, at an official function, the wife of former Premier Bob Carr a “mail order bride”.  Yes, Mrs Carr is of some Asian descent, but instantly Brogden assumes the worst from a racism slant and lets fly on a guy who he could not beat in political debate for so many years.  It was a cheap and nasty shot and is again a leading indicator of the views of some very powerful people in this country.

The Liberals have kept control of the parliament of this country on the base of racially driven campaigns for at least 2 elections and enough is enough.

Return Australia to a country of multi-cultural acceptance in which people of all backgrounds can live freely as our democratic constitution dictates.

NSW Liberal leader slurs Carr's wife

LOL Go the J-Bro! What a tosser... For all of you doubters of Bob Carr and the wondering of Morris Iemma, take a look at the tool who is the "alternative".

NSW Liberal leader slurs Carr's wife

Lost Finale...

OK, saw the final episode of the first season of LOST last night… if you don’t watch the show, then this post will be irrelevant to you.

My theories and questions are as follows:

• The men in the boat who took the boy (Michael?) are “the Others”.  They want children for some reason… to keep their “tribe” going? I am sure that the person who threw the Molotov cocktail onto the raft was a woman.  They are breeding in some way over say a long period… are they the crew or decedents of “the Black Rock”?
• The island security system is mechanical and invisible.  That is why we haven’t seen it… this points to some form of high tech government experiment or aliens.
• I would say the former… the numbers on the hatch, the cable out to sea, they are all man made.
• The French woman is legit… she is nutty and the sole survivor of her crew… the Others (the Black Rock gang) took her young son as well.  Her son would be in his early twenties… perhaps he was Ethan?
• Why did so many survive yet they did not get injured?  I suggest that they were placed there and that they are part of some govt experiment? Drugged mind control? Planted memories??
• Perhaps they are all clones or bred specifically for some experiment and their back stories are all fake…
• The hatch is the entry to whatever is running this experiment.  I doubt that there are “scientists” there, but that it is some form of control room.
• The numbers?  A planted clue in Hurley’s back story – this will be some form of pin number required inside the hatch.
• Locke’s miracle walking?  Again another back story glitch or clue.
• Overall, I think this is a massive government experiment in the workings of the mind and how people interact.  They have a long established original tribe “the others” and they have introduced a new tribe (the survivors) and are seeing how the dynamics interact.
• The Others didn’t attack the Survivors because they want the boy and followed him out to sea.  Why?
• No Flight Crew survived… the pilot was killed early, but no stewardesses survived… they are all featured in the back story, but none made it to the island.
• The black lady who in episode 2 or 3 claimed her husband was still alive somewhere – were is she?  She hasn’t been seen in ages??
• Holes in my theories: 1) the Others had a motorised boat and modern equipment (spot light)… where did they get these including the diesel to run the engines. 2) Time, the fact that this experiment seems to be running since the Black Rock set sail, yet they have installed all this modern equipment… too difficult to explain.

How about this heat?

The AirCon in this damn building has gone out today with no ETA on when it will return… Even though the outside temp is mild, I am on the north face of the building and have the sun beaming through the glass at me… temp inside is approaching 30 degrees and with all the hot air around in a typical office, the humidity is rising as well.  Its only 11:15am – god I hope its fixed soon!