31 May 2008

Electrical goods cheaper

Inflation is a much talked-about topic in Australia at the moment. Interest rates are going up and the Reserve Bank is blaming inflation.

Wages, food, rent and petrol are all getting more expensive, no doubt about it.

Whether raising interest rates is the appropriate economic remedy remains debatable. I can’t see the logic myself, because it just adds to the cost of lending and housing, thereby stimulating the inflationary environment. Read more »

Tags: economy, shopping
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16 January 2008

Plastic shopping bags

There is speculation the new Labor Government will ban plastic shopping bags to shore up its green credentials.

City dog owners are unhappy with the idea because they use plastic bags to hold the poop they scoop.

I’d prefer to see the government discourage plastic bags, rather than abolish them. They should implement a 10-cent levy on them, so people have a choice.

We generally take carry bags on big shopping trips, but there are times you drop into the supermarket for eight or 10 items and don’t have one of them in your car.

We also recycle the plastic bags to hold kitchen rubbish.

Tags: Australia, environment, news, opinion, shopping, society
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17 March 2007

Online shopping bargains

It pays to shop around and that principle applies equally to the web as it does to traditional shopping. I’ve had a couple of good online purchasing experiences in the past fortnight.

The first bargain was picking up a Sony Ericsson K800i 3G mobile phone for $518 including postage from Are-Jays. The same phone was over $700 in the Telstra Shop and sells for $649 elsewhere.

The phone came with a 64MB M2 micro memory card. Considering it has a 3.2 megapixel camera that wouldn’t store many photos, so I looked around for a bigger card.

I was pleased to find a 2GB SanDisk card from Cheap Chips for $108 including postage. I was even more surprised when the card arrived by Express Post two days later.

I thought it must have come from Perth, instead of the east coast as I expected, but it was actually mailed from Norseman, about halfway between Kalgoorlie and Esperance.

It turns out there’s a sophisticated online business being run from that small, isolated town. I  had a story written about it for the paper this week.

I have seen a cheaper version of the card online since then, but the Norseman price is still competitive and cheaper than many other outlets.

The risk of buying online has diminished in recent years, I believe. It pays though to know the business you are purchasing from has a physical address and an Australian Business Number (ABN). I would be hesitant to buy from overseas.

Tags: internet, mobile, shopping, Technology
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11 December 2006

National police certificate

I'm a member of the Hannans Rotary Club and it's now a requirement that Rotary members obtain a police clearance because we sometimes work with young people.

I think it's bureaurcracy gone made. We sponsor youth exchange programs but unless you're a host family (for which a police clearance is reasonable) we hardly have anything to do with young people.

I had a day off today and went to the police station for my National Police Certificate. After paying $43 I received a piece of paper saying that I do "not appear on the disclosable court history records of any Australian Police Jurisdiction". That's reassuring.

I haven't had many encounters with police.

The first was when I was about 11 years old. A friend and I were playing on the railway embankment in Traralgon near the old hospital. We learnt that if you placed a five cent piece on the railway line for a train to run over it the result was a flat piece of metal.

The train driver must have thought we were rascals planning to derail the Gippslander and called the cops, who seemed quite satisified with our explanation. Nevertheless I'm pleased it didn't show on my National Police Certificate that I'm a suspected terrorist who once threatened to blow up a locomotive.

Thinking of that experience, it seems a clever way to convert coins to base metal and could become popular as coins are now worth more than their face value for the first time in years!

The next time I met the police was when riding my bike home from squash in Traralgon in the early 80s. I didn't have lights on my bike and took off down a side street when I saw a police car. They followed me and gave me a serve. That's not on my record either, fortunately.

That side street, which was a dirt track to nowhere, is now the road past the Kmart shopping centre and ASIC.

Tags: Australia, family, gippsland, History, police, PR, shopping, Traralgon, work, youth
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4 February 2006

Ironing blues

It’s a well documented fact the differences between men and women go beyond the obvious features of anatomy. For instance, men have a sense of direction and an ability to park between the white lines that are painted on the road.

Women are much more competent than men when it comes to ironing. I’ve been reflecting on this lately as I rediscover the trials of being a bachelor.

Juliet will arrive in Kalgoorlie-Boulder with the kids later this month. Meanwhile I’m cooking, cleaning and fending for myself as I haven’t had to do for 15 years.

I left home when I was 19, but rather sneakily took my laundry to mum for quite a few years afterward. Read more »

Tags: feature, features, History, Kalgoorlie, Kids, life, PR, shopping, war, work, world
8 comments


31 December 2005

The past few days

I’ve been offline since Boxing Day apart from some email checks and one post while staying with my parents. Here’s an update:

1. We visited my parents at Moe. It’s awfully hot everywhere at the moment, and the Latrobe Valley was no exception. After a couple of nights, Juliet and I went to Melbourne for two days, while my parents minded the twins and Kathleen and Dude went with my sister and her husband to their holiday house at Port Albert. It was the first time Juliet and I had left the little ones.

2. We stayed at the Novotel on Collins. It’s a great location and the rooms were comfortable and quiet. Read more »

Tags: business, Christmas, email, holiday, Melbourne, opinion, porepunkah, PR, rant, shopping, Twins, work, world
12 comments


18 December 2005

Better ‘prospects’ in the Goldfields

Go west, is the saying, and we are! I’ve accepted an offer to become Editor of the Kalgoorlie Miner in the Western Australian Goldfields.

Unlike my last proposed shift several years ago to Renmark, I’m excited about the role and the opportunities.

It’s a daily newspaper in a city with a strong economy and a young population. At this stage I’ll be heading over in mid January and the family will follow in late February.

The career prospects for me are much stronger in Western Australia. The company I’ll be working for is well established, with many other newspapers. The state itself is the future growth engine of Australia, I believe. The world needs resources and WA has them.

The kids will benefit from a wider choice of schools and sports. The shopping is better than Bright and the climate is warmer.

There are things I will miss about Porepunkah, but I’m really excited about Kalgoorlie and the new job.

Tags: Australia, Bright, economy, family, Kalgoorlie, Kids, news, newspapers, porepunkah, PR, school, shopping, Sport, war, work, world
7 comments


9 December 2005

The flies have it

The flies are worse than usual this year. I don’t know what it is, perhaps the tropical weather, but the irritating winged devils are out in force. They even rated a mention on the Melbourne TV news recently, so the poor city folk are suffering as well.

Friends went on a bike ride two weeks ago and reckoned they swallowed dozens of the little buggers while climbing a hill in the bush. “They’re not good without sauce,” one commented.

The mind boggled when I considered the cow pats the flies must have been feasting on previously. Read more »

Tags: Christmas, Melbourne, news, PR, shopping, Twins, war, weather
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19 November 2005

Following footsteps from the past

We had a family trip to Shepparton today. After shopping we went swimming at the indoor pool and then stocked up on bulk foods at the fruit factory.

Afterwards we travelled about 40km out of our way to enjoy a barbecue at Goulburn Weir near Nagambie. Juliet and I had been there before with the twins and liked the peaceful outdoor setting.

Goulburn Weir is close to Angustown, where my great-grandparents raised their family from 1890 to 1910 before shifting to Shepparton. Read more »

Tags: Australia, family, media, shopping, travel, Twins, war, world
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4 June 2005

My House in Umbria

I took the big kids and two of their friends to Wangaratta today to see Star Wars. While they were watching the latest in science fiction, I relaxed to view My House in Umbria.

To save some summary text, here’s the "New York Times" version … Read more »

Tags: democracy, family, fiction, Kids, life, list, PR, science, shopping, war
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