Infuriating

At the beginning of this month businesses were no longer allowed to charge customers bank debit or credit card fees for a purchase or service. Good, very good. 

But oh how small businesses are bleating so loudly in protest. To use the Federal Government's conservative Opposition Party's phrase, 'the government is sending small businesses broke'.

Really? The seven cents that was added to my cup of coffee is the difference between the success or failure of a business? I have several thoughts, and so I will state them.

The price on the menu or product or service is what you pay. We don't want to go down the American road of all sorts of things being added when you pay. The price you see is what you pay.

It is cheaper for businesses to use electronic payments than cash, so why would they want to indulge in the complications of using cash when an immediate electronic payment goes into the business bank account? 

The reason is tax. They can't hide electronically transferred income like they can with cash. Your meal out costs $35, multiplied by by say 20 diners for that sitting equals $700. If all pay with cash, the business owner whips $100 out of the till and sticks it in their pocket and it won't be taxed. They are still making a profit but only $600 will be taxed, somewhat lower after business expenses are also deducted.

If business owners can't manage to work out what bank fees cost them over however long their budget predictions and need to add a separate charge, where will it end? Council rates, water usage, electricity added to your bill? Why shouldn't they all be surcharges on what you pay? 

This also goes for weekend and public holiday surcharges. Businesses need to work out their costs in advance to set your prices to cover everything. It ain't so hard. It has been done for hundreds of years, without surcharges. Number of public holidays, multiplied by the the cost of the number of staff needed including wage penalty rates, then add to the pricing structure. Not hard.

Let the wannabe tax cheats bleat away. Consumers are very happy to have these surcharges removed, not because of the cost, but the opaqueness about what you pay. 

A few cents

There is something in life that really get on my goat up my nose, and that is bank card fees.

There is another, a public holiday surcharge at cafes and restaurants when you visit on a public holiday. Yes, staff are paid higher on public holidays, but it is a known amount and should be part of the business owner's budget forecast and overall general pricing to what is sold to include the extra public holiday costs.

But let me focus on the first, card surcharges. They really took off during the Covid years, when people stopped using cash. The surcharge was generally 1.2% to 1.5%. Translating to now, a $5.00 cup of coffee will cost $5.07. Some business really tried to rip off customers with excessively high fees.

I argued with staff in a cheap Asian bakery in Balaclava, where she wanted to charge me $1.25 for a 90 cent bread roll because I refused to pay, and nor did I have any cash. Five years later, I've never been back, although I have wanted to. 

Worse is when you are charged the fee when there isn't a way to avoid paying, like paying cash. You can choose a cafe that doesn't add the card fee, but when booking a concert ticket or a plane flight, you really don't have a choice. 

I hate this extra fee. I don't care if they want to charge me $5.10 for my coffee, that includes the fee, but I don't want to see it as a surcharge added after I pay by card. It needs to be the listed price.

I remember being in New York City in 2015, I think, and what the price label or on a menu was not the price you paid. I think two compulsory taxes were added to the bill and there was an opt out environmental tax. I won't even mention tips, necessary because businesses are allowed to not pay a living wage. Tipping is a insidious disease. 

Finally in what I expect will be very popular, the Federal government is banning the card fees, as of October.

For that loss of seven cents on my cup of coffee, usurious banks are increasing account keeping fees (I don't pay any), and reducing flyer points, etc etc. That's fine with me. 

The price I see on a menu or a booking, or a label, is the price I expect to pay. And only a tip for something out of the ordinary, like if I spill my drink on myself and staff help to clean up. I don't think that is unreasonable.  

I'm Charged

I don't buy a lot in Aldi supermarkets, especially as I buy very little food now, just fruit for myself, and I don't find Aldi's fresh fruit, vegetable and meat as good as our other large supermarkets, although it is generally cheaper.

Where I find Aldi excels is its cleaning products, and quite a lot of its packaged food. 

I remember when Ray was with me, we decided a pack of 50 AA batteries in the centre aisle was a bargain, and bought them. I haven't finishing using them yet and annoyingly some have begun to leak acid. Ok, they are probably nearly three years old now. Is this to be expected? Perhaps.

Time for a forensic examination and my magnifying glass will be required.

Well, well, expiry 05-27. I am surprised that they are now leaking nearly a year before their expiry date.

I removed six and earlier I'd removed three, with the rest looking ok, for now.

  

I could complain to Aldi and perhaps get a refund, but I've no idea what we paid for them and backtracking through bank records is tedious. Although Aldi would see that they are their batteries, that they have failed before their expiry date, and work out a refund itself. Some battles just aren't worth fighting.

To save money, rather than allow the evaporation tray to use its boiling element to steam off water that drips from the aircon, I use a cheap battery powered stirrup pump to drain the water into a bucket. Even though the two Aldi D batteries that power the pump were only a couple of weeks old, they had seen not much more than half an hour of non continuous use. Yet, a couple of days ago, they would not give out enough power to lift the water from the tray. South Melbourne Aldi had run out of batteries last week, but as mine were quite new, I thought no matter that I don't have spare batteries. 

Then came Monday, and it was wet, very wet. Quite unusual for here nowadays. I had no way of pumping out the water from the tray so the steam off element did its job, all day. I've never known the aircon to drip so much water. Today I bought new batteries, this time from a major supermarket and I paid twice the price as I would pay at Aldi, and they immediately pumped water. I've been pumping out the tray for years to save the money, sitting next to the unit, being blasted with cold air in the winter, hot air in summer. It hasn't really made much water since June, and yesterday was an exception. 

The spike in electricity use was worse than I thought. 

Bad Bunnings

In blog posts I refer to it as the big green shed. In reality it's the Bunnings hardware chain. It has pretty well killed small local hardware stores because the sheer number of products it has in its very large stores.

There is no problem visiting Bunnings if you are in a motor car, but if you visit Bunnings in West Footscray by foot, it is dreadful. I visited the store yesterday by train for the second time, the store being right next to West Footscray Station. I stopped off at Footscray for a bite to eat and coffee. 

The store is easier to visit by public transport than my local Bunnings in Port Melbourne. Last visit to the store, I ended up walking through the underground carpark to enter the store. This time, I was determined to find the main entrance. I did find an entrance from street level, but as I walked towards the sensor triggered electric doors, as I guessed they did not open.

The only way to enter was via the carpark. There weren't any indicators to pedestrians of where to enter the building. I looked at where people were moving in the vast carpark and worked out that those very distant figures were headed to the entrance, with a travelator to take you up to the store. 

As I said, the car  park is vast and was far from full, so cars travel very fast in the carpark. There aren't marked walkways for pedestrians.

The store has a railway station across the street, three bus routes with a stop near the station and there is lots of housing nearby, yet without a pedestrian entrance.

To not have a pedestrian street entrance is a disgrace, let alone one near passing public transport stops and the station and I am not sure how this was allowed. Did the local council, City of Maribyrnong,  approve of this when the Bunnings store plan was presented?

Happy fourth of July to my US readers.

The price of fagging

Like it not, I will use the US currency for the price of a packet of 20 fags from around the world.

US, $8 to $12

UK, $15 to $18

France, $12 to $14

Japan, $4 to $6

Indonesia $2 to $4 

Portugal $6 to $7

Australia, $28 to $35

As you can note, cigarettes are very expensive in Australia and over 70% of the cost is government taxes, that increase often and has acted as a disincentive to smoking, a good thing. Australia's rate of smoking is around 10% of the adult population is one of the lowest in the world. 

That is until the illegally imported cigarettes arrived that sell for around US$9, which is close to what the rest of the world pays.

That came the stand over tactics, 'buy our illegal cigarette or you business will be firebombed', and mayhem arrived, with many many outlets firebombed, with flats often in the same building.

The sale of vapes has been banned unless by doctor's prescription, yet vapes are readily available in the cigarette shops that sell illegal cigarettes.

It is a protection racket, which has now extended to nail salons, dance club venues, gyms, and new car businesses, one close to the dealership where I bought my car.

Let me draw a parallel. Extortion at cigarette shops that sold illegal cigarettes and vapes was ignored by governments, just as cops ignored manic ebike and electric scooter riders speeding along footpaths. Eventually authorities were forced into action, but had they clamped down on all before they became so big, Australia would be a better and more law abiding place.

The illegal cigarettes come in by container load from China and the Middle East, the latter via Singapore, I believe. I've seen and in a minor manner used AI. Surely can't technology detect the illegal cigarettes? 

At best I suggest there has been a lack of political will, at worst, some very powerful people, and I don't mean gangs, have a vested interest.

This is mayhem that has never been seen before in my lifetime. Changing your vote on polling day will make no difference. A chilling statistic is in Victoria, nearly all Melbourne based, between mid year 2024 and mid year 2026, there has been 300 fire bombings, a shocking statistic.                                                                             

Relief and rant

Ray's relatives left yesterday morning. As lovely as the couple are, it is a bit of a relief, but also very sad as it is unlikely I will ever see them again. I had three dinners out with them and took them out on two long day trips, and they were very appreciative, and I heard about all the people I know in Ray's northern English city. They have flown to Bali, and four days later supposed to fly via Bahrain to England. Their flight has been cancelled, and alternative arrangements will be made.

A huge security guard company recently collapsed and the owner has fled overseas. We are told they underpaid security immigrant and student workers, insisting the students work more hours than they are allowed. There were many who were not paid. Superannuation was not paid, the responsibility of our tax department, and a huge amount was owed in unpaid taxes. There was sexual harassment of staff and eyes turned blind by the companies that used the security company. 

"Has collapsed owing tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands/millions in tax payments to the government", is a phrase we almost hear daily, well maybe weekly. This is an absolute disgrace. It is money lost that will have to made up by all taxpayers. There is really something seriously wrong in our tax department when it lets go unpaid tax and unpaid workers' superannuation for long periods. Never mind that the owner of the company should have had his passport blocked. He won't return to face the music.

I will shop on Thursday before a dental appointment in the afternoon. Otherwise, nothing more this week until Sunday when it will be a great niece's 12th birthday celebration. Ray's and Mother's used to be celebrated at the same time. 

A friend is just about to clear from a Covid infection. It is ages since I've heard of anyone having Covid, but the beast is still with us. She was well vaccinated and so her symptoms were mild.

Why does one Yarra Trams tram driver ring the gong seven different times when passing by (to warn flying bats I guess) and the next driver does not ring the gong at all? Yarra Trams provided an excellent service for attendees at the Grand Prix, but bugger the locals. It was awful to try to get anywhere by tram. Thank goodness for the new Metro tunnel train. 

The Chinese cult 'religion' Falun Gong has a performance called Shen Yun happening around Australia, in Melbourne at a place I didn't know, but what we call Jeff's Shed. I am bombarded by advertising for the show on YouTube. But let me tell you the organisers, if you want to advertise in Australia, at the very least use Australian voices to promote the show, and not American. I can wear American car advertisements with the steering wheel on the wrong side as the cars travel along beautiful coastal roads, because there is an Australian voice over, and I know the the ads cost a lot to make.  It may be an urban myth, but I remember a remark from Germany. 'If you want to buy something from us, we speak perfect English. If you want to sell us something, sorry, we don't understand English'. Not using an Australian voice over for Shen Yun really pisses me off.                                                                               

Hopefully something less whiny tomorrow.

Frightful Friday Pt 2

Frightful Friday turned into Sad Saturday. I proudly sat in my brand new lounge chair next morning and rechecked its features, the electric footrest, the electric recline, the electric head rest, the electric fold out drinks holder, the seven electric charging points, that is 3 sets of USBA and USBC, plus a flat surface charging point and the electric reading lamps from the non electric centre fold up part of the centre console. 

I lowered the fold up part with the lamps and I noticed it looked a bit skewiff in its folded down position. I investigated. Under a loose flap of leather were the hinges, with the screws of one hinge ripped out from the timber. I am old, I am not rough with things. Phyllis and Kosov looked at the chairs the night before while I was there. The rest of the lounge room furniture is over twenty years old and I've never broken furniture.

I discussed the matter with Kosov. I knew I could fix the issue with some matches and super glue. He said, 'Nooo, Andreeeewww. The company must fix it'. He convinced me. I sent an email to the store where I bought it, with this photo and heard nothing. Three days later. I called the store and staff informed me after sending the email, I would be contacted within two days. I wasn't, but I had a suspicion that the email direct to the store wasn't the right thing to do. Here is a photo of the screws ripped out from the timber. The hinges are very tight as they need to hold the fold up part in place when raised, and I wonder if that contributed to the screws being pulled out.

I looked at the company website, and there was a clear complaint system. Sure enough, after filling in this online form and providing a photo, I was contacted. The process was smooth, except there won't be someone to visit to check the problem until 18th March. I assume then there will another wait for repair or replacement. I replied, querying why it would take so long for someone to look at the problem and received a reply with an apology explaining that their preferred technician who deals with such matters was away on leave

Aside from this issue, I am quite happy with the chairs and the centre console.  

Frightful Friday

The new lounge chairs were scheduled for delivery late Friday afternoon. I received a call that they would be here in twenty minutes. I was in the lane waiting for them and they soon arrived but just before, Phyllis called. I had said he could take the car to a job interview and Kosov was with him.

"Andrew, Pearl won't start. What should I do?"

I was puzzled. By this time the delivery had arrived. I said, remember I told you to put the phone number of the Royal Australian Automobile Association into your phone? Yes Andrew. Well call the number to get help. 

The boxes would not fit through the door from the carpark into the building, so the men had to open the boxes to bring the furniture up. No big deal, but Phyllis called again. He needed my RACV membership number and my registration number. He didn't realise that was the car plate number. The rego number should have been enough but I could not drop what I was doing with the delivery. When I had a chance, I found the number and called him, and explained the registration number and gave him my membership number. 

He soon called back and said the RACV would be there in less than an hour, and it wasn't too long before he called back and said the man had arrived, and as I had guessed, Pearl needed a new battery. $400, ka-ching. Phyllis paid for it and I reimbursed him. 

As I was letting the delivery men out, they must have taken a little pity on this old man, and asked if there was somewhere where they could put the boxes. Not removing the packaging was clearly noted on the contract. They squashed the boxes through a door, down stairs and through two more doors and put them in the recycling room in the basement. 

Phyllis called again, the car is fine now and we are just leaving. 

Meanwhile I had to turn huge sturdy boxes into flattened cardboard to go into the cardboard recycling skip bin. I took down a cutting knife but it was too weak. Back upstairs, I found the Stanley knife with a blunt blade and used that. Over thirty minutes later, I had cut up all the boxes and stacked what wouldn't fit into the skip, next to it. This is a proper cutting knife, and I was only slightly tempted to use to cut a vein in my own arm. 

And wow, did I have sweat up. I try to avoid anything that makes me sweat. I also have purple bruises on my arm of the type that anyone who takes blood thinners will know about.

That done, I checked if there was congestion on the West Gate Bridge or wherever as Phyllis wasn't back yet. Sometime later he arrived. 

"Oh Andrew. I missed the freeway exit and had to go through the tunnel."

His convoluted explanation as why he could not use the Power Street exit, the next before the tunnel before the was beyond my understanding. More ka-ching for taking the car through the tolled tunnel.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I had new blinds installed. The company took the old ones away. I also had a quote from the company neighbour HH used for new blinds and its policy was to not take the blinds away. HH used the company and insisted the old blind removal should be part of the deal, and it agreed. 

I am a bad consumer. I should have insisted the old chairs be taken away, along with the packaging. If the company wants the sale, it will oblige, and perhaps charge a bit more. The stress of getting rid of the packaging, and having the old lounge chairs still here is not worth getting a bargain. There will be part two to this post. Jass is most unhappy with the disruption to her life.  

My unimportant life

My state of Victoria has suffered from very bad fires. And now, along the well known tourist stretch, the Great Ocean Road, there has been flash flooding from storm cells, washing cars and caravans out to sea. The footage is quite dramatic, but it least at seems like no lives have been lost.

I need to work out if the tram or the new Metro Tunnel train line gets me to the city quicker. I know the trains at the moment leave clock face every twenty minutes, 7, 27, 47. When the full service begins, it will be every ten minutes during the day when I travel, 4,14, 24 etc. It takes me ten minutes to leave the building, walk to the station and descend to a platform. 

Travel time to Town Hall Station is 3 minutes, but with the full timetable, 4 minutes. This is too much time. The journey takes 2 minutes, and the train sits at Anzac Station where I board for about a minute, and then again at Town Hall Station, a minute. It should be 2 minutes to Town Hall and 2 minutes to State Library. 

What has been done is ridiculously stupid. Another minute has been added between Anzac Station and Town Hall, and then the time to State Library has been cut to 2 minutes, so over the same distance, the time is the same. This is how private companies get trains to run on time, by giving them too much time. I certainly noticed that the same happens in Sydney with trains, although not its new Metro system.

Good luck if you understood any of the above. 

Phyllis filled in my calendar with birthday dates of family and friends. He added each day he pays the fortnightly rent, on the wrong week, so he must pay the rent on the Monday when it is not due, for the next year. You had one job Phyllis!!!

I was worried about meeting niece Jo for brunch on Wednesday, needlessly. She had driven one of her mother's cars to South Geelong Station, dealt with some bus/train substitution and arrived on time. Once in the city, she made her own way by tram to the cafe where we brunched. We chatted away about all sorts of things. We walked together through town and across the river to the Arts Centre where she was going to see the musical Cats.  She complained about Sister, her mother, trying to speak Geordie in Newcastle, England, and trying Chinese in restaurants. By the end of something like five weeks of travel, Jo had had enough of her mother, although she didn't say anything about Bone Doctor, her other mother. As I always express to my relative children who complain, it is the duty of parents to embarrass their children.

It is odd that I struggle to walk a distance at times, but I had no problem this day.

Sister did well at last weekend's women's cricket match, with over one hundred runs. A day or so ago, she was in central Victoria bike riding and ticked off visiting two more public swimming pools, Nagambie being one, and perhaps the other was Murchison.

Today after taking the car out for usual Thursday shopping, I was home quite early and it struck me to visit Myer in town to buy some new shoes and a new short sleeved summer shirt. The planets were aligned, with a 40% discount on both, and I am happy with what I bought, Blaq casual non laces shoes and a Gazman shirt. 

I accidentally looked at the Big Man rack of shirts. The sizes were marked for different countries, and it seems our XXXL is equal to the US XL. It varies here by manufacturer. Sometimes an XL can be a bit tight for me, if the maker has skimped on fabric, but the shirt I bought today was XL and a flattering fit. Oh for the days when I was S.

At home, Kosov had sent Rover to remap the apartment. He was out when I returned home and Rover was stuck under their bed. Rover eventually died, with a message on the phone app that he needed to be rescued. I can't do under beds, so Kosov rescued him when he returned.

Butter chicken by Phyllis tonight, with rice and a simple side salad. Delicious. 

Stress

You may wonder why I would ever feel stressed, but today I did. The appointment for Jass' FV vaccination was at 12.10 on the other side of the city, in North Melbourne, but not much more than a twenty minute drive. 

But Thursday is my shopping day. I can do both. I will leave early for shopping and neglect the world of blog, which I did. It took forever to reach South Melbourne in the car. Every light just turned red as I arrived. The idiot car drivers were at their worst. If I ask you to give me a character reference for a gun licence, do not comply with my request, or you will be complicit in possible murders.

To save $12 I had ordered my wine at Dan's for pick up. Why can't I just get the discount at the register in person? That went ok, although I would have liked a list on the outside of the box to check what I ordered was correct. Aldi was fine. I'm now back on track and going well, until it didn't. I went to my usual place for coffee and there was a queue. There is never a queue, but five people were in front of me to order, and five people waiting in a group for there coffee. I think I waited fifteen minutes for the coffee. 

Meanwhile, Neighbour HH's son was trying to get a bottle of cheer delivered to his mother's door, but had forgotten her apartment number. There were five text messages between us, and three phone calls to Kosov. The bottle was delivered to her doorstep, then late in the day she texted me to ask if I knew anything about it. No HH, nothing to do with me.

 Stay calm Andrew. You have allowed enough time, and theory told me I had, but practically I felt like I was late. Woolworths was so busy but I smartly moved through the store, buying what I needed, including frozen broccoli and frozen peas, that Aldi didn't have. Then there was the checkout incident, that I won't elaborate on, but delayed me further. 

The traffic on the way home wasn't any better. 

Kosov was coming with me to the vet, and he was dilly dallying but we only left five minutes late. I saw online that the vet has a free carpark. I wish I had known the last time we were there. To save three minutes for the drive to and from the veterinary practice, I could have spent $7 on road tolls each way. Instead with my vague knowledge and watching the car sat nav list of streets, I worked my way there well enough, and we were there ten minutes early. 

We entered five minutes early and were seen five minutes late. The vet was pleasant, very knowledgeable, but slightly strange. I described some of Jass' behaviour and he looked at her notes. Apparently she was quite pregnant when she was found. I assume her kittens were aborted before she was desexed. He went on. I can feel a good amount of nipple development, so perhaps that explains her nesting behaviour. It will take time for the hormones to leave her, but they will. 

As an old age pensioner, I received an about 15% discount for the cost of the visit to the non profit Lost Dogs Home veterinary practice. While I wasn't worried about anything, Kosov was, and he was reassured. Her weight matter was cleared up. She was 3.9kg when checked in, very pregnant. When we returned a couple of weeks after we first picked her up, she was 3.2 kg, and we were quite concerned at her weight loss. We didn't know she was carrying kittens when she was originally weighed. As the vet said, she is a small cat and her current weight of 3.7 kg is good. 

With more crazy driving by others on the way home, it was only a bit after 1.00 when we arrived home. Jass was very unsettled and sought refuge under the lounge room chair until Phyllis arrived home at around 4.00.

I too was unsettled and sat in the lounge room chair watching YouTube videos on tv for an hour to relax. There is a new train/tram/light rail line in Ottawa, ON, CA. That is kind of great. 

I expect Jass will return to her normal, mostly relaxed, state tomorrow. I may go for a nice relaxing train ride somewhere tomorrow, with a day free to myself. 

Privatisation is good?

Aren't we told privatisation leads to competition and a better customer experiences, along with cheaper prices?

Hey, cheaper prices really happened with the UK railways when the system was privatised! No? Certainly not. It also lead to some terrible train crashes as the system became poorly maintained by Thatcher's private companies. Slowly, slowly, catchee monkey, railway companies in England and Scotland are being returned to being government operated.

Essential services should be run by governments, who own, operate and are responsible for what happens. Governments need to put the right people in positions of power to operate the services, along with adequate funding. 

Australia's government owned telecommunication department, Telstra, was privatised and its major competition became Optus. Optus is on the back foot at the moment because of the failure of its 000 emergency call system, where some people may have died because of the failure of the system.

So Telstra is now a private company, and Optus is ostensibly a private company, but is it? It is owned by Singtel, a telecommunication company owned by the government of Singapore. So, was it a great idea to privatise Telstra and allow a foreign government owned company to become its major competition? Now our private company competes against, effectively the full resources of the government of Singapore.

In the last financial year, Optus earned AU$8.4 billion in Australia. There will be allowed deductions from the earnings, but what would you think was a fair corporate tax on such earnings? $2 billion? $3 billion? 

Try zero!

Netflix in Australia, earning $1.2 billion, no tax.

Tech giants pay a very small amount of tax in Australia.

Murdoch's corporation, owner of three major daily newspapers in Australia, and with Fox streaming, Foxtel, Sky TV, Sky News, along with the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, paid no corporate tax in Australia  

I don't blame these companies. They have complied with legal requirements. Tax is not a voluntary contribution. 

There is something seriously wrong with Australia's tax laws.

Many of Australia's major companies are US investor owned, including our big four banks, one of our major two supermarket, Woolworths and the mining company BHP. They are private investors who own so much in Australia, and not governments. I don't think that is ideal, but it is the way of the world now.

Also there is another foreign government investor in Australia, Canada's Pension Plan. While it is managed at arms length, it is still owned by the government of Canada.

Then worse, a Chinese company connected the government of China has a 99 year lease on the Port of Darwin. No one was happy with this, but it happened under our conservative party in 2015. Unbelievable. Darwin is probably Australia's most strategic port should there be trouble, and is used by the US defence force. 

Whatever your thoughts are about the merits of privatisation, I do not like Australian government assets privatised, only to be owned by foreign governments. 

And what kicked this rant off? I discovered a prominent player in Australia industry, especially public transport, is Keolis. The company is owned by SNCF, the French national government owned railway company.

The real point of this post is that Australia removes essential services from public hands to private hands, only to have our privatised assets being bought up by foreign governments. 

A Cross Consumer

I bought new heads for my Oral B electric toothbrush. What I thought were four toothbrush heads were priced at $24. Four will last a year. That is ok. 

Note the packaging. Designed in Germany. Well I bet they aren't made in Germany, and sure enough, made in China. Do you see on the packaging what I didn't see? But that is ok.

I think Oral B is owned by the Germany company, Braun. It is. That is ok.

But is it really? No, it is owned by the monster company Proctor and Gamble, with individual and institutional share market investors. But that is ok.

The time arrived to put on a new toothbrush head. Damned hard plastic packaging. I needed scissors, and still risky to my thin skin. I was careful, so that was ok.

What I initially saw was the two heads on one side, as I expected, so that was ok.

I turned the packet around, and hey, this is not ok. There is a head missing. 

This is very deceptive packaging, and most certainly not ok. I bought a new electric razor today, the fourth in my lifetime, although my first was inherited from my grandfather. It was interesting in that while it was plugged into an electric socket, it wouldn't start until you flicked a small inbuilt wheel. Has anyone ever experienced a device from perhaps the 1960s that worked like that? Could it have been a safety feature? 

Now, go back and look at the first photo and below the 100%, you can see it indicates three brush heads. But do you see that when you are buying? As I was buying my new razor today, I checked the toothbrush heads, and they are the same, with only three heads when the packaging seems to be four. 

Will I complain to Braun? You betcha. And maybe to whoever deals with deceptive conduct by companies. 

Not right

In reference to yesterday's post, the women I mentioned were all strong women and had the fortitude and self confidence to leave their abusive partners. As we know, not all women have this personal confidence, or resources to do the same. 

Anyway, just to go on with even more negativity, I had a hospital appointment yesterday at a branch of our major hospital, The Alfred. I caught the 605 bus to Caulfield and was there in time for my appointment at 4.10. It was originally 3.50, then 4.00, then 4.10. Such time precision should lead to timely appointment. 

It wasn't. Staff began to leave, the waiting area cleared, no staff seemed to be around anymore. There was one other person in the waiting area, who had arrived before I had. At 5.10, one hour later, I went back to reception to query the wait. Reception staff had gone home, and so did I, catching the 5.16 bus. I missed the appointment.

I am prepared to suffer the consequences of the hospital breaking the appointment and me leaving. Eff 'em.

I caught the bus partly because I prefer public transport around the inner city, but the 605 meanders a lot and it is slow trip, but about the same if I caught a tram and walked a few hundred metres. What I have preferred was to take the car. There is adequate parking, costing $10. But, you have to pay for the parking with gold coins, so a minimum of five $2 coins or ten $1 coins. This is hard to believe. Apparently there is a change machine inside, where you can change a note for coins. Well, I used to carry around a $20 note for emergency purposes, but after a couple of years of not using it, I just don't carry cash of any kind. 2025, and you need a pocket full of coins! How absurd.

So that was three hours of my life absolutely wasted, except I caught up on some podcasts, and quite enjoyed the passing scenery, and observing how the bus was used by other travellers. It is quite an on/off bus service, meaning there are never a lot of people on at once, but people are constantly getting on and off. 

I will make a complaint to the hospital.

I hope to post something a bit more positive tomorrow. 

An enjoyable encounter

As the sending greeting cards dies off, businesses selling cards have reduced, so I normally buy mine now in Myer department store, where they have a decent selection. I went into Myer yesterday to buy a card for my friend's ninetieth birthday and there were only nice 90 year old lady cards. BAD is not a traditional old lady type. I bought a card with roses and a nicely patterned set of tea cups, with the the 90 on the card face. There was nothing else. She probably would have preferred a rude card.

Of course when buying a birthday card, you feel the need for a new winter shirt, as winter is about to end here. Tommy Hilfiger at  half price! 

I recognised the person I paid, an older woman.

She: Are you visiting the city for the weekend?

Me: No, I live in the city, well St Kilda Road.

She: Isn't the street tragic now?

Me: Err, in some ways, yes.

She; All those beautiful old mansions destroyed.

Me: Yes, including the beautiful Illoura.

She: I'm 85 and I began here as seamstress when Myer used to make some of its own clothes.

I was gobsmacked at her age revelation.

 

She: One of the other female staff here used to make deliveries by taxi after work, the taxi paid for by work, and she lived in Beatrice Street, off St Kilda Road and she make sure she was near her flat at the end of her deliveries and be dropped home. Are you near there? 

Me: No, closer to the city. So if you've worked here so long, you must remember Freddie Asmussen?

She: My mother worked here too. We both knew him. 

Me: He was quite a character.

She: Oh yes. In his older years he used to swan around the store with Dame Merlyn. 

I then left her to her job. 

Freddie was an outrageous queen who worked his way up the chain at Myer by his talents and cultivation of his betters. He became Dame Merlyn Myer's favourite and would decorate her mansion for dinners and parties. The (I am sure gay) lads who worked under him were known as Freddie's boys.

Back in the 70s and 80s, if you met a guy for a casual hook up, if asked where you worked, you might have said Myers. 

PS, the store name was changed from Myers to Myer I think some time in the 80s or 90s. 

Australia's Trove has some information about him. 

From a website, 

The windows first began in 1956, created by Freddie Asmussen, who was the head of the display in Myer. Instead of filling the windows with the usual range of gift giving ideas, Asmussen instead decided to showcase something completely different for the Christmas windows. Creating the very first Myer Christmas Windows theme, “Santa and the Olympics”, which celebrated the Olympics, the technological marvel of television, and of course, Santa! Asmussen designed a new Christmas theme every year until his passing in 1974.

And another: 

The hidden saint of Myer's was the late Freddie Asmussen. To call him a window dresser is to say Michelangelo was a ceiling-painter. Freddie, a confirmed bachelor (as they used to say), used the Myer's windows as a series of proscenium arches framing the theatre of his miraculous mind. The Christmas windows were his annual festival, when snow and tinsel and reds and greens and elves and reindeer and Santa manifested themselves in ever-changing combinations that drew people from as far as Upwey or Alamein. At other times, Freddie was only slightly more restrained, allowing himself a few Renaissance touches while avoiding the Rococo.

It's the economy, stupid

This lamp was found by Ray many years ago in a long gone interior decoration shop in Port Melbourne, some twenty years ago. While not bespoke, which I will never have, it is an individual and you are unlikely to see one the same. We both liked it. The red is fabric and I don't know what the white colour is made of, but it's very fragile and flakes off easily. The white seems like reptile scales. 

The lamp began with incandescent frosted light bulbs and at some point about ten years was fitted with LED lamps. I thought they were fluorescent until I removed one a few days ago. The bulbs seemed to be getting dimmer, which can happen with LED lights. 

I took one bulb to the chain lighting shop and the helpful young man tested it and said it seemed ok. Maybe my eyes are failing. He said, you could replace the 6 watt LED bulb with a 7.1 watt. Ok. I showed him a photo on my phone of the lamp, and he said, ah, you need two bulbs. Yes, I do.

That's $24. Ouch, for two light bulbs. He did stuffs on his screen and indicated, wait. You can buy a pack of three for $15. I'd lie if I said I hesitated. 

Are you one of our regular customers, Sir? I gave him my phone number and he found me. Sir, there is a  discount, making the three bulbs, $13. 

Economics sure is puzzling at times. 

Given over about thirty years, with buying four combination light and overhead ceiling fans at about $400 each, plus various lamps, and light bulbs, I would guess we would have spent over $2,000. In today's dollars, maybe $4,000.

I am a happy customer. I took a peruse of modern lighting and noted that the over ten year old spare bedroom bedside touch lamp is still available. 

My Wednesday

Phyllis went off to work before ten, carrying a new broom. He had taken a new broom to work two days ago, and of course I made the dad joke, is that your transport to work today? He wanted the first broom for use at work, and his boss' wife was so impressed with the broom, she wanted one. 

Phyllis and Kosov have both being working hard, and Kosov studying hard too. No time for housework at home. They were in bed early Tuesday night, and both slept long, with Kosov waking up with a still sleepy look that can only be seen in young people after 11 hours of sleep. 

I wanted to buy something for Sister, a commemorative pack of coins and a pin for the 100th anniversary of her AFL team, Hawthorn. For some reason it was not listed on the Australia Post website, who was selling it among other such overpriced memorabilia. I tried two city post offices and they only received one each and both had been sold. I am not sure if I will persist. Maybe I can order it over the phone, or fill in a form and order it by mail. Dear oh dear. What a backward step that would be.

In frustration at our Logitech keyboard, a few years ago we bought a new one. The old one kept not connecting with the computer via the wireless system. The newer one was no better. We returned it and bought a more expensive one of the same brand. It too would disconnect from the computer. If I moved it closer to the computer, it would work. If I inserted a USB stick, that drove the keyboard and mouse crazy. Once in frustration, I picked up the keyboard and banged it down on the desk, metaphorically hitting it with a hammer, and it worked. 

So maybe every second day, I would bang the keyboard on the desk. This greatly amused Phyllis and Kosov. I told them I would buy a new one. On a whim this day I did. Rather than the flashy bells and whistles Logitech wireless keyboards, I chose a simple HP keyboard and and mouse, and it just works, without having to bang it on the desktop. The keyboard is quieter than the old one too. Happy.

Boi!, as Phyllis addresses me at times, you are having chicken noodle soup with an egg. Is that ok?

Yes Phyllis. 

It was not a packet of chicken noodle soup with a fried egg on top, as I imagined. It was packet of crinkly noodles in a delicious soup, with some chicken and a drumstick, along with some spicy chicken pieces on the side. The egg was boiled and sat in the soup. 

While looking at old photos, I came across photos of the Brighton Antique Dealer's 80th birthday party. That was in 2015, meaning this year 2025, BAD will be 90. I contacted her daughter to see if there were plans, and there is a plan, so a couple of friends and myself will attend. The official invitations will arrive next week. BAD was quite emotional on the night of her eightieth, so it isn't a great photo of her, with Ray.

An outing and home decoration

What to write about?

I had lunch today with neighbour HH. Her sister has returned to Sydney, I think somewhat to HH's relief. They are not at all alike. We chose a new cafe, where we had to drive to, Halcyon Days. It was not cheap but that staff were so nice and the food was good. Within ninety minutes, we had caught up on everything, and sorted out some of the world. I expect our basic political views are different but that is really just a guess.  

Phyllis received a very good pass for his English test, 7.5/10. I had no idea how difficult it was. Kosov is going to send me the sample paper test.

I was a bit surprised that the gubbermint has cut my pension by 2/3rds. I felt poverty stricken. Phyllis noticed I had received a letter from the gubbermint and I told him how was now in a state of poverty. I don't know how he so quickly picked it up but, "Andrew, you have too much money and that's why the government has cut your pension". I think I am repaying some money that I shouldn't have been paid after I received my inheritances from Ray and Mother.

Well, if I have enough money, I should spend some and get my pension back. I haven't spent money on a proper holiday since Ray died. 

Tuesday I booked the overnight sleeper train from Sydney to Melbourne. I had to book two bunks to get a sleeper cabin on my own, but there was a pensioner discount. I also booked a flight to Sydney and after a taste of business class when Ray I flew to and from England in 2023, via Sri Lanka, I decided I would do so for the single flight to Sydney, and so found a reasonable price with Virgin Australia. The trip will happen in October, for about eleven days. It will be a whole new experience for me to travel alone. I am full of doubts, especially the number of days I am away. Now I need to focus on accommodation. 

The two red cushions on the lounge room chairs looked grubby, without zip off covers, and misshapen. I wanted new cushions. As usual, I looked and looked, Myer, Big W, Kmart and Bed, Bath & Table. There was one I liked in Myer, and a possibility in BB&T. The Myer price was ridiculous,and the BB&T price not much better. I saw cushions for $4 in KMart. I looked again at the Myer cushions...yes, I liked them. I showed photos to Phyllis and Kosov, and they liked them.

Yay, on sale, half price. They were still expensive but I wanted them. I tried them on the chairs and they were ok, but then I thought to swap the smaller sofa cushions to the chairs and put the new cushions on the sofa, and they looked perfect. Happy, happy, happy. All done without Ray's advice and the consultation. I think I've made some very good choices on my own, getting the new carpet and the painting done, the new fridge and the new microwave. The holiday remains to be seen.

The lounge room is so old fashioned, but I like it how it is. The two single chairs are up for replacement, one with a broken spring and sagging and the other just sagging. Only visitors sit on the couch. 

I is fat

While my stomach is larger than I would like, I don't consider myself as being particularly fat. Older man with a bit of a belly is my preference to describe me.

I was in our major department store Myer buying third birthday cards for the twin great nephews , when I thought to have a look for a couple of new shirts. Up a level I went to menswear and I immediately saw a couple I quite liked. I took a large of both shirts to the change room, and wow they were 30% off. 

They were too tight to be flattering. Cheap shirts can be undersized, but expensive shirts are normally ok. 

At the age of thirty I was Small Mens. At the age forty I was Mens. At the age of fifty I became Large Mens. Now it seems I am damn well Extra Large Mens. How had this travesty happened? 

I am not sure if I would have bought the shirts anyway, Gant label, $200 each with 30% off. For a really nice shirt, I might spend up to $60. I will return to modernise my wardrobe, which is full of ten year old shirts, with suitable shirts for a Large old man.

The cheek. 

Memorable tv ads

Cadbury gorilla in the air tonight. NOT AI but still fake.

Yellow Pages Not happy Jan (This phrase, Not Happy Jan, really slipped into Australian lingo)

Louie the fly. Nowadays, this tv ad might make the kiddies cry. Poor Louie!

\

TDK. Was it some type of purgative that would do amazing things to your system? I expect my straight male readers might like this ad. 

Last but not least, if you are entertaining an Australian overseas and want to see them cry, give them a couple of cans of beer to drink, or an extra strong voddy and tonic, a schnapps, a sake or a bourbon then play this tv ad to them. Contrary to to the nonsense of politicians proclaiming we are the best country in the world, we do like to call Australia home, even if most of us don't think it as being the best country in the world. I hate to think how much this ad cost.

BIts

As they cooked me Mexican barramundi fish tonight, 'The Children' were also playing with their growing collection of model cars. A New York City hop on hop off double decker bus is the newest addition. 

There are bad floods in New South Wales. One of the most stupid pieces of advice I've ever heard was, if you have not evacuated your home and you are under threat from flooding, move to the highest point in your home. Nah, not for me. I'll just stay at the bottom as I slowly go under water and drown. Even small brained animals know to go to higher ground to avoid flooding.

Speaking of home safety advice, at least this one seems to have stopped now. At times there are factory fires and what can be released into the air can be very toxic. Good advice, keep your doors and windows closed. Stupid advice, turn off you air conditioners. This may have been appropriate decades ago when people had in the wall or window air con units that could bring in a minor amount of fresh air, but nearly everywhere now has a split system, used for both heating and cooling and the internal part does not bring in outside air. I don't consider evaporative cooling to be air conditioning. 

Phyllis is trying to pass his learner driver permit, which is all online now with some rather impressive graphics. You are given thirty on road situations and the pass level is 27 out of 30 correct. His first attempt ended with a score of 26/30, so just a fail. He sought my help for his second attempt and his score was 24/30, a worse fail. A fat help I am.

I was taken back to school days where the question wasn't phrased clearly enough. I think Phyllis clicked one choice that he didn't mean to, but where did I go wrong? Illegal parking, one in a loading zone, two cars in a bus lane, and I missed the fact that the nearest car was too close to an intersection. Twenty metres is apparently the limit.

Bicycle laws, and I am not up to speed with those. I thought it was a one metre distance to pass by, but we got something wrong in the multiple choice.

Now this to me is very odd. The question was can you drive through a red light to allow a police car with flashing lights to get past. Apparently yes. But recently I heard the question asked of an ambulance worker, and the paramedic spokesperson said the opposite. That is, no. Don't do anything illegal or dangerous. We are trained to deal with traffic and congestion situations.

Later edit: What the law says: You must give way to emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens and may proceed through a red light if it's safe and the only way to make room for the emergency vehicle.  

Today was shopping day. Unlike when Ray was alive, the shopping is minimal. I now shop nearly daily for a few things when I am out and about, and aside from staples, Phyllis and Kosov buy most of the food. Nevertheless I was instructed to buy from the supermarket delicatessen a kilo of basa fish for no more than $10. I don't know the fish.

Basa fish, also known as Mekong catfish or Vietnamese River Cobble, is a farmer white fish native to Southeast Asia. It's popular due to its mild taste, firm texture and affordability. Basa is a good source of protein and healthy fats, but it's important to ensure it's cooked properly to avoid potential food poisoning risks

The supermarket didn't have basa so I bought a kilo of barramundi for $9. That sounded incredibly cheap to me. You can book a boat trip in Queensland to go barramundi fishing for a fortune. I assumed it was an expensive and prized fish.

I don't take my reading specs with me when shopping, and so I asked the obliging lad to read out the barramundi small print. "Sourced from Vietnam and Sri Lanka", the label said. Oh well, it tasted nice, and no ill effects yet.

Centrelink sent me a letter, our social security government organisation, asking me to update my financial situation. I wanted to reply, I am still living in poverty and I need more assistance.

Instead I handed the letter over to company who deal with Centrelink on my behalf, and charges me a fortune. Now that I do receive an old age pension and my affairs are now simple, I wonder if I couldn't just do it myself. This is the first time I've considered this. I will see what the company wants to charge me next year. 

I keep hinting to Phyllis that I and they need more green vegetables. Beans, peas, broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower, silver beet, spinach, but to no avail. I will keep going on about that. They barely eat anything green. Are onions considered green?