Guest pulls up in the hotel dirveway & allows concierge to park his car. The concierge jumps in the brand new Audi, pulls out of the dirveway, past the car park entrance, up the street, picks up his girl friend & drives off. All this is performed with the guest looking on in horror.
A short while later, the car is returned (thankfully unscathed) with a very apologetic concierge.
I'm still to figure out which part is worse - the fact the concierge took the car for a spin or the fact they were allowed to keep their job!
I thought this morning's post was pretty self explanatory.
On Monday night, all reports were coming through that New Orleans was to be decimated, but by morning, we all heard of this change in direction which averted disaster. Whilst this was the case, a hell of a lot of stuff still got wet & in a few weeks, a final death toll will filter through.
Since Katrina crossed on to terra firma during prime time, news services followed by handing over to their correspondents amongst the action. If they've ended up as part of the death toll, it really does serve them right. Seeing some complete dick in a bright orange raincoat, microphone in hand, getting hammered by fast-moving, horizontal blocks of water, all whilst standing amongst a back drop of 90 degree angled palm trees, is nothing short of amusing! It's the sort of stuff which makes blooper reels!
While these guys risk their lives for their careers, I can understand the feelings of those who stayed behind to ride out the storm. To leave everything behind would be near impossible, but material things can mostly be replaced. Lives lost in such a way is all a bit pointless.
One thing which truly pissed me off was a quote on CNN I spotted last night which simply read - "Katrina is our Tsunami". Does such a comment tick anyone else off??
However big the hurricane, it was never going to take out a couple of hundred thousand people & to make such a comparison can only be described as pretentious.
Maybe it proves just how self obsessed the country between Canada & Mexico has become!!
When I'm not getting spam in my inbox, I'm getting it through the mail box. Normally, it's credit card applications, trying to steal my hard earned & throw me into debt.
However, when someone sends me free stuff & it's actually a quality product, I don't mind being on their mailing list.
This engraved pen, in the sexually frustrated colour of purple, arrived yesterday in the hope I would purchase multiple engraved pens for my business. Well, since I don't actually have a business, I have no need for more, but this one will come in handy!
During a full fire drill, a few staff who have been delegated fire wardens, need to ensure the building is cleared of both staff & guests.
At a preset time, the alarm goes off & a warden announces the procedures to evacute. The guests file out, as do the staff, across the road & out of harms way.
Down in the basement, where us lowly admin staff operate, is a guest business centre, which was being used at the time. The warden responsible for the area merely saves themselves & on the way out, locks the guest in the basement area!
Thankfully, the guest involved was none the wiser & the building wasn't actually alight!!
So you go to a foreign country which has some of the toughest drug laws in the world & you're fully aware of this after seeing Schapelle Corby get a 20 year conviction, but you fully ignore this & admit to having drugs in your possession!
In the end, it doesn't matter how you came into possession, whether you were holding someone else's belongings, whether they were planted or they were in fact yours. The Indonesian drugs policy doesn't distinguish amongst these possibilities. It merely looks at the facts. If you're in possession of drugs, regardless of quantum, you are guilty of possessing drugs! It's that simple.
When 24 year old Michelle Leslie partied in Bali on the weekend & the place was raided by police, drugs were found inside her purse. Stories have come out about the drugs being planted on her & another in which friends were storing their purses inside hers. Both of which are plausible, but if there was even a faint knowledge of drugs being available at the party, why would you own up to any of it.
"Deny Everything" is an old X-files motto & is put into practice every day by Governments the world over, to protect themselves. Maybe it should be a policy adopted by travelers. If you can't guarantee the security of your belongings, deny ownership!
The Indonesian Police Chief has stated the only reason she was arrested was a confession that the drugs were hers & that a witness also heard the admission. This will be the solitary line which will likely put her in prison. Without the possibility of bail in Indonesia, she is likely to spend the next ten months in a cell just waiting to be tried.
I wouldn’t even try to guess whether she’s innocent or not, but to have the modeling world at her feet & throw it all away for a couple of ecstasy pills is insane. If they were not hers, it’s a tragic scenario, which must herald a warning to anyone traveling around the globe. You can never be too careful.
Maybe it’s a legacy of complacency due to Australia’s drug laws. At one point, I could have had ten dope plants in my back yard & it would have been legal. Get used to such leniency & applying it overseas is just trouble waiting to happen.
The saddest part about Michelle Leslie is another Adelaide man (only 20 years old) has been caught with over 2000 pills & whilst Michelle had only a couple, they could both serve the same sentence. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but that’s the reality of it!
I remember the first time I heard The White Stripes. The song was “I think I Smell a Rat” & I was driving down Diagonal Road towards Glenelg when it was back announced on Triple J. I could not believe anyone would even bother recording such a song, let alone anyone actually giving it airplay. Everything about it just seemed wrong.
I don’t know why I remember that moment so vividly, but it seems ridiculous that a couple of years later, I own The White Stripes’ latest album “Get Behind me Satan” & at this very moment, their DVD, “Under Blackpool Lights” provides a soundtrack to the room around me. Both are getting pretty damn addictive.
The hype which has surrounded the two piece outfit has been rather excessive, but unlike the band “Jet” (who are certifiably crap!), Meg & Jack White actually pull off the attitude & dirty, obnoxious sounds associated with a rough rock/blues band. They don’t bask in their fame, but just get down to making music in their style, their way. Hence, they attract some of my respect along the way.
Questionable lyrics? Absolutely! In fact, quite a few are cringe worthy, but they’re still far less troubling than “The Wall” by Pink Floyd, which in my book is the most disturbing album of all time!
I thought Australia might have got it right when Vesna left the house on Sunday night, but alas, the Logans won Big Brother. Yes, I was hoping for Tim to walk away with the bucket full of cash & he would have been a good spokesperson outside the house. However, it was not to be.
Of course, even though I wanted someone to win, it still didn't inspire me to pick up my mobile & start voting. I just can't bring myself to vote, at great expense, for reality television & people who are have literally just sat around for 100 days. Therefore, I really can't be disappointed with the outcome, so I won't be!
Last night's finale was a good show & really went well with the finalists watching the show live in the garden of the house. The overview of the series with all the old housemates kept the show, which is normally dragged out to within an inch of sanity, interesting. The actual announcement of the winner however, ended up being incredibly lacklustre. A big novelty cheque, a bunch of glitter, some gate crashers & within a couple of minutes the series was over! We waited two & a half hours for a two minute celebration. Maybe it was just me, but it didn't quite work!
Big Brother 6? Well, it will probably happen in a new house at Fox Studios in Sydney, if it goes ahead that is. I might have to try out & get my fifteen minutes of fame! Of course, blogging from inside might be a bit hard & no one really wants to see me naked in a spa, trying to "get it on" with anyone who has appendages resembling breasts!
It's definitely that time of year again... "tax time".
Tax shits me at the best of times, but having the role of someone remotely involved with accounting means the question of, "assisting" every man & his dog with their personal tax return, will be raised.
Now being a Pisces gives me that generous streak, which results in a misguided answer of "yes" when someone asks for my help. People will grovel like crazy if it's going to save them money which would have otherwise been spent getting a tax agent to prepare their return.
The horrible part of helping someone with their paperwork comes at the point where they click the button to submit, or seal the envelope for posting. They turn, look you directly in the eye & say - "If I get caught for anything by the Tax office, it will be all your fault!"
This exact situation occurred yesterday afternoon & gee, it really does give me that warm & fuzzy feeling... not!
Remind me next year to tell these people that I missed the tax lectures at University & can't help them!
Another weekend over! For the last few weeks the working hours & weekends have been a blur. It's been good since I've achieved miracles, but I just can't seem to step back & relax & that's bad.
Work has changed significantly & it now has the same people in management roles which were originally at Glenelg while I was there. The boss has placed his son in charge due to reasons which will earn a post of their own some day.
I was over Winter before it began, so now it's just sending me completely insane. Being stuck inside makes my head feel cramped up & unable to think. I need to be able to get out & about & get some fresh air in. On a side note, maybe it's the size of my ego which needs lots of space!
Speaking of space... Discovery lands in a bit over seven hours from now.
I've been lucky whenever I've watched NASA TV, that I've caught all the big events; the space walks, the removal of the tile gap fillers & the undocking on Saturday afternoon. I've also watched them go overhead while standing in the backyard a couple of times. Last night, the Shuttle & Space Station would have gone over around a minute apart, but the clouds stopped their appearance.
I imagine NASA has learnt more about their space programme during this flight than any other, which makes me believe it may be quite some time before they try again. I hope however, that they work it all out & send up another soon, otherwise I'll have nothing to watch (or blog!).
I've been harping on it for a couple of weeks, but for the first time, I & suspect a whole lot of people, are fascinated by the space flight of Discovery. Apologies for my ranting, but hey, who's gonna stop me!
Maybe it's the coverage due to this missions significance or the footage which is coming back, which is simply amazing.
After watching the space walk on Saturday evening, I can't believe just how fragile these guys (& gal) are, just floating in a big area of nothingness. Now they're sending Steve Robinson out into the void to swing on a pole & check on some grout.
To get it all in perspective is near impossible for my head to handle. Mission Specialist Robinson will be maneuvered to the underside of the Shuttle by his feet on a robotic arm, where he cannot be seen from anyone on the Shuttle, Space Station or from Earth. He'll be left alone amongst the blackness of space with a wall of Shuttle tiles, also black!
Is there training which can prepare someone for such an experience? The risks involved are huge & he's got nothing to hold onto should anything go wrong.
The fact, NASA has so many cameras this time around & is spotting so many potential flaws in their vehicles, it makes you wonder just how close previous missions have come to disaster.
I'll continue to watch the coverage & be transfixed by the possibilities & potentials of space, but come tomorrow, there's no way in hell I'd swap places with Steve, even though he'll be the first person in history to stand alone & savour the sights of the Universe with no one else in sight.
Think about it too much however & it'll do your head in!
