Coaching debut
I’m trying to put a positive spin on my coaching debut. The Porepunkah Primary School football team today impressed against much bigger opponents.
Our boys may have lost all three games, but winning isn’t important at this age.
The kids actually had a great time and some of them are very skilful. They were competitive against the other schools. Considering Porepunkah only has about 125 students we did well to field a football team from grades three to six.
After being overwhelmed by Whorouly in the first game I stacked the backline with our best players and stemmed the tide.
Dude played well, especially in the first game where he took a mark, had a couple of kicks and a handpass. He was one of the tiniest boys out there.
It was freezing today. I rode the bike to Myrtleford through drizzle and it was only a new waterproof wind jacket that saved me.
I picked up another puncture on the way back, about 6km from Porepunkah, and Juliet had to come and collect me. I took the bike into Bright for repairs and should have it back on Sunday.
I enjoyed watching the football, although I’ll pay for it by having to work on Sunday.
I’m supposed to be walking up Mount Buffalo tomorrow, but the weather is lousy. It was 10 degrees today and the forecast for tomorrow is rain, falling as snow above 1000 metres.
Timeshare update
Thanks to the people who commented on my article about timeshare. We’ve decided not to go to Numurkah for the hard-sell session. Leaving the babies with a stranger for 90 minutes is not something we could accept.
We’re not interested in timeshare. When I reflect on the sales pitch, it really isn’t fair to tell someone they’ve won a holiday … but you have to attend a seminar.
First coaching gig
I’ve been appointed coach of the Porepunkah Primary School football team. Dude told me I had the job when he came home from school tonight, excited by the prospect that he might actually get to line up at full forward.
When filling out his permission slip for the carnival in Myrtleford I scribbled a note that I was available to help if needed.
Surprised at my elevation to the prestigious, keenly contested coaching position, I phoned the teacher for confirmation.
Indeed I am required to “pull a few moves” from the sidelines, at least while Barry umpires one of the games!
I told Dude that he won’t be playing full forward. He’s too small. I didn’t tell him that though, just that he’s fit and a fast runner, so he should play on the wing.
Bigpond fun and games
I wrote on April 19 that I wanted to cancel my Bigpond dial-up account. The Bigpond web site enables you to open accounts and switch between plans, but won’t let you close one.
So I sent them an e-mail on April 19, giving my user name and password, and asking that the account be closed.
I received a reply today (April 28) from Tracey, who I’m sure is a lovely person:
“In order for us to cancel your BigPond Dial-Up Residential account, Telstra BigPond requires security identification details. Due to security concerns with forwarding this type of information via email, it is preferable that you contact BigPond on 13 12 82 and a consultant can then assist you with your request.”
I rang the number and listened to the options, the last of which was for people wanting to close accounts.
As I waited, and waited, and waited, I had visions of one person serving the whole of Australia for this purpose. I have no doubt that if I’d selected the option to open an account I would have been put straight through.
After a reasonable five minutes a human being actually answered the phone and spoke to me. Unfortunately I had been routed through to the corporate sales department and he was unable to help me. He couldn’t understand how I got there, but kindly transferred me back to the Bigpond switchboard where the cycle started all over again.
Not being content to wait and be directed once again to corporate sales, I replied to Tracey’s e-mail and asked for a fax number or postal address to which I could send written instructions.
I’m interested to see if it takes another nine days for Telstra to respond. If so I will write to them at whatever address I can find. If that doesn’t work I’ll contact the telecommunications Ombudsman.
Australian Coat of Arms
Have you noticed how the Australian Coat of Arms has replaced individual logos for all Federal Government agencies and departments?
Even Medicare cheques now come in envelopes that bear the kangaroo and emu, instead of the familiar green and gold lettering.
I read in The Australian a few months ago that the decision to market a whole-of-government image came directly from the Prime Minister’s office.
Apparently it caused much heartache and anxiety among the marketers, many of whom had spent years and millions of dollars trying to build brands and corporate identities.
Government agencies needed permission to be exempt from the edict and this was rarely given … I think the Bureau of Meteorology was one of the few.
I don’t have a problem with the philosophy, just the cost.
This decision, seemingly made on a whim by the Prime Minister or one of his advisers, has probably cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions.
It raises questions about economic management that I haven’t heard asked by the Opposition.
It’s not so much how they justify the change; it’s how they justify the past marketing budgets of all government departments and agencies.
As someone who has worked on the edge of this industry I know how expensive and time consuming it is to create logos and build brands.
All that hard work and cost has been thrown away.
New low for world cricket
Zimbabwe was all out for 35 last night in the one-day international at Harare. That’s the lowest ever score in international cricket.
Apparently there were only about 500 spectators present. Sponsors are threatening to pull out and there’s no immediate hope of the dispute with players being resolved.
It’s a debacle that threatens the future of cricket in Africa. Surely it’s a wake-up call for those who want to purge the game in Zimbabwe of white players.
The report on www.cricinfo.com last night was scathing. It’s interesting though that the article appears to have been edited overnight.
I liked the original closing paragraph about Mugabe’s henchmen being more interested in power than consequences. The paragraph has been cut from the revised version. I wonder why?
Wangaratta ride
I rode 78km on the rail trail today from Wangaratta to Porepunkah. That’s the longest ride I’ve ever done in 33 years of pedalling.
I started at 10.15am and made it home about 2.45pm. Allowing for half an hour in meal breaks and photo stops I completed the journey in four hours of riding. That’s roughly a rate of 20kmh, which I’m happy with over that distance.
The rail trail distance from Wangaratta to Porepunkah is about 10km longer than the road trip. The old railway line was built to the north of Wangaratta, presumably to avoid the construction cost of extra bridges along the floodplain.
It was confusing to follow the trail out of Wang, as it shares various roads and tracks until it reaches Bowser. Signage wasn’t great either. I got thoroughly confused at the Vine Hotel, where the trail heads in the opposite direction to what you think it should.
I had gone about 10km before I felt I was going anywhere. There’s a nasty little underpass just after Bowser, which looks a real safety risk. It’s basically a one-lane tunnel on a road that appears to have a fair bit of traffic. Drivers are supposed to stop and look before they enter, but I wasn’t taking any chances and sped through there as quickly as I could.
The next 10km to Tarrawingee was flat and straight and would have been boring except I’d never been there before. I had a meal break at the Tarrawingee rest station.
It’s 5km up a gradual rise from Tarrawingee to Everton Station. This was a junction on the old railway line. One track heads to Beechworth and the other to Bright.
I turned right and enjoyed a downhill section from there to the Great Alpine Road. It surprised me how close the rail trail goes to Everton township. The decision to build the station out in the sticks must have been a controversial one in its day.
From Everton to Bowman, near Whorouly, is also straight and not very interesting. From Bowman there’s a fairly steep ascent to Taylors Gap through bush.
Taylors Gap to Gapsted is a pleasant downhill ride. From there it was back into Myrtleford and onwards to home over much-covered ground.
I felt good at the finish and could easily have carried on to reach 100km in the day … just a bit saddle sore, as one might expect.
Some photos are here.
Anzac Day: Lest we forget
Today is Anzac Day. In a secular country it’s the closest thing we Australians have to a spiritual occasion. Today I think about the sacrifices my uncles and aunts made in the service of our nation.
The memory of James Daniel Gorey, who made the supreme sacrifice, lives forever. He was wounded in action on October 3, 1918, just 39 days before the Armistice and died on October 13, 1918. We won’t forget.
Timeshare
Does anyone know much about timeshare? I was surveyed over the phone a few weeks ago and today it came back to grab me.
The Lakeside Country Club at Numurkah, part of the Holiday Concepts group, wants me to attend a 90-minute seminar next weekend, in exchange for which they’ll provide a free family holiday.
I’m pleased to take a free holiday, naturally, but what’s the catch? My internet reading suggests the timeshare thing is a hard sell.
Precious pumpkins
This isn’t turning entirely into a baby blog, but I just couldn’t resist adding this photo of Margaret and James enjoying their pumpkin dinner.
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