The disaster area that is football......

The dismal football results capped off what was another dismal weekend. Nothing major happened, just many little things all turning pear shaped. So won't be talking much here. I did manage 6 correct picks in the football but most of them were easy picks with many one sided matches. The curse of the close matches happened with those Maggies losing by just 5 points. I think my prediction for a dismal year for the Maggies are coming true, it is not going to be their year in spite of a promising start prior to this round. My feelings always proves to be correct sooner or later.

So nothing more worth sharing as I face another very long week at work with hope of at least a slightly better weekend next weekend.......

Perth is so expensive that there are no Dollar stores here.....

Meanwhile at a restaurant in Perth.....

The Perth dating scene......

At a repair shop in Perth.....

The Wounded Healer

This has been a terrible day so this will be a short and not so sweet blog..... the disaster area that is the football and tipping competition. Just a dismal four correct picks, and the catastrophic Friday night match..... and to add insult to injury, the bloody Weevils won, and I did not pick them.... uh well such is life.......

I often refer to "the curse of mother's death" in regards to my football tipping, that is, prior to mother's death I had always won prize money each year in our tipping competition, but since mother's death, I hadn't won any prize money and my ranking seems to be sliding.

Well there is a reason behind this that I discovered in my study of my natal chart. A quick astrology lesson. We traditionally refer to our Sun sign when we identify ourselves with a star sign. I was born when the Sun was in Virgo, hence we say I am a Virgo, so would traditionally read the Virgo entry in any horoscopes. However there is also the Ascendant sign that we all have, the sign that was "rising" above the horizon at the moment of our birth, much like sun rise, and is actually our most important sign. For me this sign is Pisces.

What I discovered in my natal chart, that is, the chart showing the positions of the planets, etc, in the zodiac at the time of my birth, is that Planet Chiron was in Pisces at that time. Chiron is known as the "wounded healer", and to cut a long story short, it explains why I had such a difficult childhood. Chiron being a slow moving planet it spend several years in each sign, and so indeed it turns out that my diagnosis of Autism happened near the end of Chiron's transit in Pisces. Chiron moved out of Pisces in my 5th year of my life, then the 8 years of Hell happened when Chiron was moving through the next sign Aries which is opposite my Moon sign Libra. Interestingly Aries in my chart represents money and material possessions, so with Chiron the "wounded healer" moving through Aries when the abuser came into my life, he helped us with money and possessions but he also abused me badly. The abuser left just after Chiron moved out of Aries. The Xmas from Hell, the "knife incident" and my worse years with Barbara happened when Chiron was in Virgo..... I say no more about that!!!!!

Now Chiron takes about 49 years to travel around the Sun, so it is now back in my Ascendant sign Pisces. And I discovered some interesting "coincidences". Mother's death happened when Chiron entered into Pisces, and my wife's death happened when Chiron was in the same position in Pisces as in my natal chart. Chiron is still moving through Pisces and is due to move out of Pisces at the start of 2018, so a little while yet!!!!!

So the "curse of mother's death" seems to be linked to Chiron's entry in Pisces, the time of mother's death, and so since then while Chiron travels through Pisces I haven't been able to win any money in the football tipping. So  maybe I should wait until Chiron moves out of Pisces in 2018 before joining the tipping competition! LOL!!

Anyway.........

Yes indeed.......

My relationships.......

At a govt dept at the govt announcement of cuts in the public sector......

My Job is Safe......

Maybe its me being a Virgo with Chiron the wounded healer in my Ascendant sign..... either me thinking the worse or just preparing for the worst..... In any case, our staff meeting with the big boss last Friday turned out way better than the similar meeting in the dept next door. That meeting they were told the dept would be shut down and so all their positions would be made redundant...... so Virgo me thought the same would occur at OUR meeting..... but not to be..... In fact there are no immediate plans for any job cuts and indeed our dept will not be shut down in the foreseeable future - this being the warehouse "Product Supply" for Distance Education, where we send learning materials to correspondence students. They are still continuing in their plans to convert all of the courses to online courses meaning eventually there will be no more dispatches of  books nor most other items, but its going to take a while yet before the process is completed. Of course there will be some job cuts once the process is completed cos the volume of postage will be drastically cut, but not for at least 12 months.

Furthermore, they acknowledge that certain things such as Science kits for the performing of Science experiments can never be converted to online, the student still needs the hands on experiences, so no plans to cut down on Science kits. And well it happens since a few months ago a part of my change of duties is to spend half day each day in the Science kits area making up Science kits. So even when there are job cuts, my job will be one of the safer jobs. It will be those exclusively working in the mail dispatch area that will lose their jobs first - and well I do work in the dispatch area but only 1/2 day now and that is only because there are still SOME mail that needs to be processed and sent out, there's still some books being printed, not all of the courses are online yet, and even some online courses still have some books. The ultimate goal of management is to remove the books altogether and for all learning materials to be online only, but will still be Science kits being sent out minus the books.

A lot has already changed since I first started in this job 16 years ago this month. Back then EVERYTHING were sent out by mail. The books, the CDs and DVD's and indeed in those days they still had cassette tapes that were also physically sent out by mail. And many of the courses had kits with them, such as Science, Maths, Art, Home Economics and a few others. Furthermore the work that the students completed were processed by us, part of my job was to send the work back to the students after the teachers had marked and graded them.

Then one of the first things to go were the cassette tapes, most of them were just converted to CDs. Then many of the kits were cut out except for Science and Arts. The kits for the other courses were deemed to be unnecessary. Next to go were the CDs and DVDs as they were most easily converted to online format, though even this day there are still some DVDs that I send out, just not nearly as many as a few years ago. The student's marked work then drastically decreased in the last few years as more students were compelled to submit their work online, at first via scanning, then the format itself were converted to online.

However the major step which sent shivers down our job spines happened two years ago when all of the English courses were converted to online. That is books, DVDs, everything! This effectively cut out the English courses from our dispatch list. We knew then that our days in our current jobs are numbered!! Then last year more of the courses were converted to online only - such as the Accounting and Business Ed courses, and some of the Career Ed courses, Photography, and some others. This had significantly cut down my workload to the point where I often spent hours each day with nothing to do. This year, more courses were converted to online, such as all of the Humanities courses - Geography, Economics, Politics, and History, and also all of the LOTE (Languages) courses were converted to online except for Japanese. Indeed the only other courses I have left with stock on the shelves are the Science, Mathematics, Arts, Health Ed, and Woodwork. However in the Science courses many of the books have been converted to online, only the Science kits were to be physically sent out, and there were no books in the Arts courses, only the Art kits. And next year it is likely that most of the Mathematics courses will be converted to online.

So it was this year that my boss decided on some change of duties for me to keep me occupied, basically I spend the first four hours of the day in the dispatch area, then after Morning Tea break I would spend the rest of the day in the Science kits area. I get to revisit my passion in Science, remembering all those Science experiments I used to do at school !!!! Science was my favorite subject and I gotten my best scores in Science, indeed I won dux in Physics every year at school. Anyway it seems to be a most wise move on my boss part to move me to the Science area, a move that is most likely to save my job when the time finally comes for job cuts in our dept.

Now the football and I managed to get a massive 7 correct picks!! My best result yet. Of course I picked the Maggies but I didn't expect them to win by quite THAT much, I though Carlton was better than that, so being a first match of the round my points variance is shot out the window, but at least the Maggies won. And I did pick the Bombers though I thought I would deeply regret that decision, it is a VERY good thing that they managed to get over the line. I guess when it comes to tipping a win IS a win even if it is only by two tiny little points. And I did extremely grudgingly pick the Weevils, well it was only the Giants, its not as if they were playing some top team. True enough the Giants are doing better this year but being still a young team.... I judged that their trip to the distant reaches of the west coast would take a bit out of them, and well my decision was vindicated, the Weevils did manage a win..... ok it was a thrashing but then again it was ONLY the Giants and they still are a young team in the very unfamiliar environment of isolated Perth!!!

So next week the Maggies are first cab off the rank again with another Friday night match, and well its Geelong so am gonna back the Maggies again though I don't think they'll win by quite as much, so my points variance won't be so catastrophic. As for the Bombers, well after almost losing to the lowly Saints I'm going to have to back the Dockers especially being here in the distant reaches of the west coast. And the Weevils with their massively swelled heads will be brought back to reality with a THUD when they travel to meet the Port Power.

Anyway that were the major news...... hopefully this week will be far better than last week with no more mishaps nor close calls.........

Now some light heart look on spiritual topics.....

If Moses had a phone with GPS......

My energies after dealing with last weeks' near catastrophes......

The real reason why Stonehenge doesn't seem to be complete..... must have been from Ikea ;)

The never ending fight against ego..... the religious call it "sin", the spiritual community calls it "ego".... the irony in this cartoon should be apparent.... ;)

Now speaking of my job..... well I'm gonna be on the Chain Gang for some time yet...... for me it is in more ways than one as the song kinda suggest......

Back from the Dead

With tomorrow being the Samhain holiday in the Southern Hemisphere where it said the veil between the dead and the living is most thin, I suppose this is appropriate!! ;)

Last week while watching one of my YouTube vids my computer suddenly froze and died! Dead as a doornail!! For no apparent reason. So I switched it off, turned it back on, and it appeared to have power but no display on the screen, it was totally blank, and indeed it wasn't even booting up. So I checked all the connections inside the computer to make sure everything is connected, and it all seem to be ok. So being an ancient computer, about 10 years old, which is extremely ancient in computer terms, almost a museum piece, I thought it finally died.

So I began to prepare for life without a computer for the first time since my 21st birthday. I received my first computer on my 21st birthday, and I always have had a computer since then. When needing an upgrade or a new computer I always had the financial means to acquire one, and was always able to upgrade every 5 year or so.

Enter Sally's health problems..... and with her medical expenses, all my savings has been spent, and I went into debt, a debt I am still paying off to this day. I no longer have the means to acquire a new computer. So I began to adjust to life without a computer. It turns out I can do everything on my phone that I can do on my computer, even watching YouTube videos. However typing on a phone is very awkward so it be no more of my weird articles on FaceBook and no more of these blogs.

Then I was offered help, and asked to check what was wrong with my computer. So when I got back to work I Googled for computer repair shops, and contacted one by email. I got a response on the SAME DAY!!!! - that is VERY unusual for a company. I am lucky to get a reply within 24 hours, usually several days later. So it was this which clinched my business. I took in my computer after work for them to diagnose the problem, paying $55 for the privilege but at least I would find out exactly what was wrong with the computer!

Expecting a terminal diagnoses or at least a very costly one, I waited the next day for the phone call from them. I was expecting a new main board being needed, or a new computer!! Changing the main board is like changing an engine in a car, and almost as expensive! Sometimes it be cheaper to get a new computer, just as sometimes it be cheaper to get a new car.

The phone call came just after lunchtime, well within the 24 hours turn around time, and was most shocked!!! They took apart the computer, gave a clean from 10 years worth of dust, put it back together again, and it rose from the dead...... it came back to life!!!!!OMG!!!! Like a resurrection!!

So rather than the $700 or more I was expecting it to cost, I gotten my computer back for only an hour's labour charge - $130. So in total I spent $185 but I am very happy about that, they've cleaned the computer, it now looks like a new computer, and they did check all of the components and all are OK. It is a little like taking a car in for a service and safety check. So hopefully this computer will last me a few more years........

The other major development...... my job. Since gotten back from vacation there has been some interesting development. I actually wondered if I would have a job to come back to. Well it looks like I may not be working for much longer.

Tomorrow we have a mandatory meeting with the big boss of the dept, this being the first time ever that he called such a meeting. Over these past few weeks thanks to our money obsessed govt, a number of depts has been shut down, and many others with job cuts. So far my dept had escaped. The dept next door had been told they will be shut down.

So my feelings is, and I am usually pretty accurate, is that my dept is going to be shut down, meaning, I will be without a job for the first time since 1989. I had been in a job continuously since 1989, I had never been unemployed since then.

Anyway I will learn of my fate tomorrow. At best it could be change of duties, and well my duties have already changed to reflect the govt cutbacks that has already occurred. So at best it could be just more duty changes or perhaps transfers to another dept. Or it could be just a percentage of jobs being cut. There is currently 10 in my dept, so maybe it be cut to say, just 5 people, and hoping I be one of the 5!!! Or else it could be that the dept IS going to be shut down but maybe not for 12 months, or until Xmas. But the worst it could happen is the dept would be shut down tomorrow and we be all out on the streets with a payout equal to several weeks wages plus vacation and sick leave.

I don't think it will be that drastic, I think it will be a few months notice, perhaps the rest of the school year, being shut down at Xmas. I am kinda hoping to be in a job for another 12 months, I have about 12 months remaining on my lease, and need time to consolidate my possessions, mostly legacy of Sally's tendency to hoard things!!!! I am currently renting a self storage unit to keep mostly Sally's items. Indeed this past week I started the task of going through her items, transporting as much as can fit into my car back to my house, and going through them, either giving away what is surplus to my needs, or recycling them.

Anyway....... the meeting is set for 10:30 tomorrow, so will know by 11AM my fate....... Things happens in the universe for a reason even if we don't always immediately know the reason.......

More to come this weekend.......

I hope I don't get this one re tomorrow's meeting......

What it felt like being without a computer ;)

When I receive packages from Australia Post LOL

That's Better in the Football !!!

Well my tipping result has improved from last week, well it couldn't get much worse! LOL! Up from just three correct picks last week, I managed to get right up to seven correct picks. But this was an easy round to pick with many of the matches set to short odds to the favorite on the TAB. It was the two closer matches that I missed, and I am certain that there be plenty in my office comp who would have picked all nine correct. Unfortunately with the diabolical new system in place online they still haven't given the rankings nor even the results of my fellow competitors, despite now being several hours since the end of the last match. Last year the results and rankings were available within a short time of the round's end. Uh well I'm not worried about rankings anyway.

I am very happy anyway, with the two top results happening - the Maggies had a good win, and the Weevils got a bit of a thrashing!!!! Most of the extremely deluded tipsters here picked the Weevils but not me, I picked the dockers to win, and so they did. Now everyone is gonna say the Weevils has a lot of players out with injuries! Ohhhh poor ole little Weevils! I feel for them...... NOT!!!!!!! Suffer Weevils suffer!!!!!

And the Maggies..... well I knew they would win..... just not quite by that much!!! And being the first match of the round, the points variance came into play, with my already diabolical points variance count in my tipping getting even worse!!! I picked only a 10 points margin. Uh well, the Maggies won and that is really all it matters!!!

So next Saturday the Maggies and the Bombers..... oh yes of course, ANZAC Day, the Maggies always plays the Bombers on ANZAC Day, one of the traditions of football. Um.... let's see.... the Maggies by a couple of points.... nah.... more than that...... a little bit more than that...... ;)

Now for life beyond football...... well just one week to go on vacation!! Dang!!! It seemed like yesterday that I was at work! I am certain time moves faster on vacation time, it's a dimensional shift caused by vortex activity at the workplace...... time moves faster on weekends and vacation time, and moves much slower during the working week. It's that or just a matter of perception ;) - time moves slower when doing things we don't like cos we have our attention on time and always looking to the end of the time. While when having fun or enjoying ourselves, we don't focus on time but on the activity at hand, so time seems to move a lot faster. Now if we can find a way to reverse this trend...... hmmmmm......... ;)

So this week I will finally get my bicycle serviced..... in desperate need of a service, with brakes so worn down that my speed down hills actually increases while trying to use my brakes, it made for some very interesting moments, my guardian angel earning her keep on more than one occasion!! And my back tire more bald than my head!! But with April being a horror month for bills, this 3D thing called money and trying to save as much of it as possible became an extreme priority. Aside from the annual bills that comes in April, there were the utility bills. However both the power bill and water bill were less than I thought. The water bill always most expensive during summer, water being so expensive due to the drought, and much of it coming from our desalination plants just like in the Middle East - turning sea water into fresh water - a very energy intensive operation. Perth is the most expensive city in Australia to begin with, that is a proven statistical fact, and why I will be moving east should I ever lose my job, as the dole/pension is the same Australia wide but doesn't go as far in Perth cos everything in Perth is more expensive than on the east coast - so the east coast I will be if and when the time comes for me to depend on the dole/pension. But my job is safe for the foreseeable future - at least a couple of years or so.

Anyway back to the current situation...... well its all under control now, and got a bit of extra money due to lower than expected power and water bills, so will have my bicycle booked in for a service this week, in time for my return to work next week.

Money is indeed the root of all evil, the root cause of all of this world's problems, wars, crimes, etc. Money exists only in 3D societies and 3D planets such as planet Earth, In higher dimensional planets such as my home planet in the Pleiades, they don't use money, there is no rich or poor, all are provided for. This happens in the animal kingdom on Earth, eg with dolphins, monkeys, and other animal colonies. None of them uses money yet all are looked after and provided for. Indeed any problems with animals are caused by humans and our destruction of the environment. But clearly, animal societies does not use money and human interference notwithstanding these animal colonies are operating perfectly well. As I say, this is how it is with intelligent civilisations on 5D and higher planets in the universe, they don't use money and they operate far better than here on Earth. It is a true fact that there are more than enough resources on planet Earth to provide ample food, water, housing, health care, and other human necessities for all 7 billions of us. It is money that separates us with 90% of the wealth held by 1% of the population, hence the widespread famines, poverty, etc. For example, the amount of money that America spends on war, military, etc, is enough to supply every homeless citizen in America with a mansion worth $600 000!!!! 'Nuff said!!!!! Uhhhhh enough of my ranting.....

Now on a more humorous note..... even if it is my quirky and often sarcastic humor.......

The standard practice of paying bills in Perth.......

Now for paying taxes in Australia.......

To hire a tax consultant in Australia.......

The next thing in my workplace due to budget cuts.......

Nothing more true can be said as in this song........

Tis the season

Oh so the Weevils had a win, and I didn't even pick them to win! Silly ole me! I shouldn't be so down on them Weevils. I should really change my attitudes about them and give them more respect. They are not all bad. They do have good points, and they do try very hard...... now just need to do some under cover research to attempt to determine just how much money Carlton was paid to throw the match...... ;)

The latest addition to my bugs collection..... hehehe......

As for them Maggies..... well I don't think I picked them anyway, I face reality, I knew they wouldn't win...... tis not the year of the Maggies. Perhaps I should change teams to the Bombers..... nah..... I am very loyal to my Maggies, I supported them since year dot - or since I first became aware of there being a football competition ;) Them Bombers almost blew it again but the China man must have forgiven them at the last minute! hehehe!!

So I did really well in the tipping this round, got a grand total of..... um...... three !! hahaha!!!! Not sure where that places me in the office come cos the bloody website doesn't seem to be working very well. The webmasters does not believe in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy and so in their "wisdom" or lack thereof they updated the website and made changes to it..... and well had nothing but problems with it!!!! Uh well, its a pretty safe bet that my ranking would be a downward direction after this week. Uh it's ok, just more experimenting this year, choosing a roughie or two, and etc. Just refine the strategy a bit for next round. Probably should pick the Bombers! LOL! ;) Uhhh they're playing Carlton.... hmmmm....... ;) The Maggies..... they play the Saints who had a good win this past round...... ummmm..... *scratching head*....  anyway I don't decide until the day of the first match, usually Friday.... which I think is exactly when the Maggies/Saints match is on.

OK what else has happened..... uuhhhh yes all this lovely rain!! We almost forgotten what "rain" is around here, being a relatively rare meteorological phenomenon in these parts! LOL! But now five days of it, it's like we won lotto!!! And I go out walking and riding in it without rain wear! Yes there is something very healing about water, letting it soak through to the skin. It's to do with the vibrational energies of the water molecules, it does wonder to the chakra system ;) But it looks like its going to clear up this week, and probably won't rain again for another three weeks.......

Aside from that..... haven't really done much else this past week, just enjoying a much needed vacation from work. I have two more weeks of it, but plan on doing a bit more, some tasks around the house and garden which I never have time to do during working weeks.

Yes very exciting life I lead........ LOL......

Yeah.... back in the days when I worked in IT, when responding to call outs where the usually very panicked client claims the PC is not working at all, the first thing I check is the power outlet!! Cos on more than one occasion I do find that the cord is not IN the power outlet, by which I try to keep a straight face while I casually hold up to the client the end of the power cord, seeing the look on her face as in "I desperately need a hole to crawl into and NOW!!!!!!"

This must be the website of the Australian ATO..... LOL.....

What I used to tell Mother...... but it didn't ever impress her....... LOL

OK I don't usually post the same artists twice but I just LOVE them sooooo much..... and I never quite heard an AC/DC song quite like this..... another of my favorite songs from my rebellious past ;)

Ishtar Weekend

Well I'm likely going to regret it but I did at the last minute decided to join the tipping competition. So we shall see if the curse of Mother's death continues. I did manage a reasonable start, managed to get 5 correct tips, would have been 6 if I had put faith in the Maggies!! Sheeze..... hmmmm..... maybe it won't be so bad for the Maggies afterall..... well its early days yet...... and am pretty pleased for my 5 correct picks cos the first round is always most difficult to tip. This year there is only 35 people in the competition, mostly a consequence of govt cutbacks with many losing their jobs or otherwise leaving the Dept. In previous years there's been about 50 or so. With one person managing to jag 7 correct, my first up rank is a so-so 23rd. With it being less people, I think probably one has to get into the top 3 or so to get any prize money, so if nothing else, it be the virtue of there being less opportunity for prize money that the curse of Mother's death will continue........

The Maggies won, unexpected by me but very happy even if I didn't pick them!! And almost equally as happy that the Weevils lost!! And it seems they now have a 2nd player out for the season with injuries! excuses! excuses! excuses! (sarcasm - what Mother said when I try to make excuses for doing something I should not have done)... Poor ole Weevils, I feel for them.... NOT!!!!!!! Suffer Weevils suffer!!!!! haaaaaaaaaa!!!!! And those Bombers, them China man they killed in their past lives really coming back to haunt them, they had the match virtually won... then what happened????, sheeze..... hmmmm...... grim..... very grim......

It's been an eventful Ishtar weekend..... I mean, Easter weekend...... the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar is where we get Easter from, hence is why I call it Ishtar ;)...... I didn't get to see the eclipse, bloody cloud cover!!!! And what made it worse, it didn't even rain!!!! If it had at least rained then it would have made up for the disappointment of not seeing the eclipse, cos rain in Perth is almost as rare as eclipses! LOL! Uh well...... those I didn't see the eclipse, I still felt its energies, but that is another matter altogether, the weirdness that only Star Seeds would understand.

Then on Ishtar Sunday the family gathering at Kings Park for picnic lunch, and well thought I had better show up. The previous family invite I made excuses for not going, well I wasn't feeling well anyway, I had hay fever. And well this time no physical sickness but just effects of lunar eclipse LOL...... so anyway I turned up..... and it all turned out fine..... sunny as usual, no rain as usual, and indeed a bit warm..... and well half of Perth also had the same idea of having picnic in Kings Park. By the time I gotten there all the parking lots were full and the rangers were opening up alternative parking along the streets, and well I managed to find a parking spot about halfway to Subiaco from the War Memorial area where the family set up camp..... so did my walk for the day! LOL!!

Now on vacation for the next three weeks, basically until the ANZAC day holiday weekend, and after recovery from the Ishtar weekend, I'll be back on my walks and bicycle rides, and catching up on things that I don't get the chance to do during working weeks..

Here some more of my quirky sense of humor.......


What I need for my office as my pens mysteriously goes walkabout on a regular basis ;)

Um..... no comment needed..... ;)

It is said that cartoons very often reflect the truth....... more than we think.... hehehe......

This vid.... these musicians I only just discovered on FaceBook and I just LOVE them sooooooo much...... their very unique style in doing covers for metal and other rock classics..... This one is one of my favorite metal songs originally by Iron Maiden....... enjoy ;)