Today I was at the Post Office and was standing behind a man in the queue, seemed like a typical tradie or laborer, a little on the plump side though I wouldn't say he was too overweight. I soon noticed he was sending some money overseas to a lady in an Asian country, probably the Philippines, by means of some kind of wire transfer, possibly Western Union though I am not sure if one can do WU transactions at the Post Office, though considering one can do banking at the Post Office it probably wouldn't surprise me. Anyway it was quite a lot of money, and I overheard the sheila at the counter asking him questions, asking for his ID, etc, and asking if the lady would have ID so to collect the money on her side. When the sheila asked him the purpose of the money, he stated that it was so she could come to Australia! As soon as I heard that, my radar went through the roof, and one word screamed in my mind - SCAMMER!!!! This poor unfortunate guy is falling head long into a SCAM!!!! It echoes my recent experiences though I was never silly enough to go through with any financial transactions. But well I know one should not stereotype but this guy looked like he has more money than sense!! Tradies, even laborers, they earn a lot of money these days, certainly more than I do!!! And being obviously single, he'd be swimming in money, so he had money to burn - and burn he is doing it with this very tidy sum. Of course I could have warned him based on my experiences but it would have been a waste of time. As far as he was concerned, this woman is genuine and is about to be his future wife. A deceived person does not know he is being deceived, otherwise he would no longer be deceived!! He is destined to have his heart broken in pieces and a few thousands of dollars out of pocket. But it is for him to learn this bitter lesson. As an old saying goes, "there is a sucker born every minute", and that is why scammers exists - there will always be someone to fall for it. Most people are not such smart cookies as I am, if I shall say so myself.
Now as I slowly but surely turn into a nomad..... I have finished moving most of my surplus furniture and items into storage, so this weekend is the first weekend where I don't have to spend so much time in transportation of my items - collecting the trailer from the storage place on a Saturday, loading up the trailer, and moving the trailer load of items into storage on a Sunday. That has finished. I now have only small items to move, small enough to fit into the car. Therefore, I need only one trip to the self storage place, leaving me more time for other things. I still have not heard from the landlord, so with Xmas and the New Year being so close, it seems safe to assume that I will be here in this abode until well into 2014 - and here I thought I'd be kicked out before Xmas. But it seems all things are working out mostly to my liking, and I will hopefully have finished moving the last of my small items into storage by the New Year - after that I will need to visit my self storage unit perhaps only once per month or when I need something from there for some reason. That is until the time comes for me to move out of this house.... and that will depend on where I will move to and what living arrangements I choose to embrace.....
Xmas I hate with a passion, far too much pain and grief associated with this holiday...... as I said previously I did actually gotten an invite from my family for Xmas lunch, and this year it will be at Justin's new abode. Although this is a break from Mother's old house and hence will be mostly devoid of any reminders of Mother and the fact she is no longer here, I am still not so enthused about being at Justin's new house with the flaunting of the wealth and opulence. If Mother's house seemed like Buckingham Palace compared to our estate house in Wilson, Justin's house seemed positively like the Rhinehart's or the Rockafella's residences!! OK so it may be so that even in my situation I am extremely well off compared to perhaps 80% to 90% of this planet's population the vast majority whom lives in abject poverty in 3rd world countries, and as Mother always said, there is always someone who is worse off than me! However it doesn't make it any easier for me to cope with the fact that Justin have had a far better start in life than me hence his wealth and opulence. Justin have never had to suffer the 8 years of hell at the hands of an abusive step-father, not to mention the fact he has never had to suffer the trauma of growing up in a public housing estate. He went to a private school, albeit a Catholic school, nevertheless, a far better resourced school with far better environments for learning and studying. He never had to live in poverty, going without things that the other kids have, never had to go without treats and sweets, forever being taken to MacDonald's from an early age, and rarely if ever hearing the soul destroying words "we don't have the money....." Not to mention the fact that his parents helped him with the home loan enabling him to build this very house which we shall be spending this Xmas at this year. It really does go to show that your childhood circumstances really does shape the rest of your life, and with very few exceptions such as a lotto win or unexpected inheritance, if you grow up in poverty then you will spend the rest of your life in poverty, or at least in a lower socio-economic state than someone who never had to grow up in poverty.
And of course gender plays a part too. Though Debra grew up in the same poverty circumstances, she is in a better state economically than I am. For a woman, it is just a matter of marrying into a wealthy family. Andy did grow up in a wealthy family, he had a good job and lots of money. And so after successfully raising five well adjusted children, Debra is now in a relationship with Linda, both whom are working so can pool resources, and are now building their own house together - not quite as opulent as Justin's house, nevertheless materially better than my living arrangements. If you are a woman, whatever sexual orientation, you can just pick and choose your partner, date whomever you like, and end up with someone wealthy. But for a man like me, 99% of women on the dating scene are interested only in scamming the living daylights out of you, bleeding you dry of any vestige of wealth, chew you up and spit you out again!! We can't simply seek out a wealthy woman and be her partner, as 99.99% of wealthy women seeks only a similarly wealthy man, no wealthy woman wants a man of lower socio economic standing. So I am forever left to fend for myself..... and I am a survivor.... I have to be otherwise I will be six feet under by now!!
Anyway in regards to Xmas, I will not be celebrating the holiday aside from the obligatory family visit since there is nothing else going for me, and buying fancy chocolates for them for Xmas gifts. Well Chanukah is over and done with for another year, so I will be celebrating the Pagan holiday Litha, also known as Mid-Sommer, on the Summer Solstice being the 21st. In the Northern Hemisphere it is Yule, which is where Xmas comes from. But Pagans celebrate their holidays at opposite times of the year in keeping with the opposite seasons, so the Pagan's summer celebration is Litha.
Speaking of Yule in the Northern Hemisphere, I had always wondered why Yule is celebrated on the 21st the Solstice while Xmas falls on the 25th. If Xmas comes from Yule, then why isn't Xmas celebrated on the 21st? The standard answer is that the birthday's of deities, from Osiris through to Jesus, falls on the 25th, but it still doesn't answer the question of why the 25th and not the 21st, especially when the birthday's of the deities ties in with the Pagan Yule holiday! Then it dawned on me..... the procession of the Earth's axis over 26000 years, this shaping the Astrological ages. We have been in the Age of Pisces, that of Christianity, for the past 2000 years, but as the axis now moving into Aquarius, we enter into the Age of Aquarius. But the Earth's axis procession has another consequence. It means the seasons also moves with it. So 13000 years ago, when the Earth's axis moved half way around the circle, the seasons would be at opposite times of the year - Winter would have fallen in June in the Northern Hemisphere 13000 years ago, while Summer would have been in December in the Northern Hemisphere, and Winter here in the South in December 13000 years ago. The procession of the seasons means the Solstices would have moved as well.
Indeed the Solstices DOES move over the years. If you take 26000 years for a full circle procession of the axis, and divide it up by 365 days of the year, then we get the result that the Solstice moves a day ever 71 years. And since it is a backwards procession through the zodiac, the Solstices moves backwards on the calender. So accounting for the 4 to 5 days between the 25th and the 21st, the Solstice would have fallen on the 25th some 300 to 400 years ago. Now considering that our current Gregorian calendar came into being in around 1582AD, that would make it about 400 years give and take a few, and so at that time, the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere did indeed fall on the 25th of December - Xmas Day. Prior to the Gregorian calendar, the Roman and later Christian world lived by the Julian calendar which was introduced around 45AD. Due to various issues, the Julian calendar moves out of sync with the solar year as governed by the stars, hence is why the current Gregorian calendar was adopted some 400 years ago - when the Solstice coincided with Xmas Day.
Now for my weekend..... since it is forecast to be over 100 degrees both days, I will do my walks early in the morning before it gets too hot. Aside from that, it be one trip to the self storage place with smaller items. Also the obligatory yard work, there is always something to do in the garden. And perhaps a trip to the shops......
Now with this current heat wave, here's an appropriate song..... ;)
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